Microsoft’s You Make IT Smart “Code – Play – Win” campaign shows Swiss students how to be innovative and creative with computer science in the field of game development. Important aspects of the campaign include various competitions and opportunities to win a free Xbox 360® Arcade console.
In addition to this campaign aimed at students, Swiss educational institutions have the chance to win up to 5 free consoles to be used in the educational activities within their institution.
Up to 50 Free Xbox 360 Arcade Consoles Available for Swiss Educational Institutions
Swiss Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences
The total number of Xbox 360 Arcade consoles available to Swiss universities and universities of applied sciences is 25. Each institution can win up to 5 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles by submitting their commitment to set up an “XNA Game Programming Lab” within their institution and use the lab in their lectures. The lab must to be set up and made part of lectures before June 30, 2010.
- Send us a short, free-format description of the kind of “XNA Game Programming Lab” that you/your institution is planning to set up, how many consoles you would need, with what schedule the lab will be set up and in which course(s) you will use the lab for educational purposes. Please send your idea to swissarm@microsoft.com with your full name, your postal address and the name of the institution at which you work*.
- Meet Microsoft Academic Team Members (Lead Student Partners or Academic Program Managers) and discuss your “XNA Game Programming Lab” ideas. After the discussion, you can send your confirmation including a schedule and course plan to this contact person per e-mail. Please feel free to contact us and arrange a meeting on the topic.
Swiss Vocational and High Schools and Teacher Training Institutions
The total number of Xbox 360 Arcade consoles available to Swiss vocational and high schools as well as teacher training institutions (pedagogical universities and others) is 25. Each institution can win up to 3 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles by submitting their commitment to set up an “XNA Game Programming Lab” within their institution and use the lab in their classes. The lab must to be set up and made part of classes before the June 30, 2010.
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1. Send us a short, free-format description of the kind of “XNA Game Programming Lab” that your institution is planning to set up, with what schedule the lab will be set up and which class(es) will use the lab for educational purposes. Please send your idea to cbalocco@microsoft.com with your full name, your postal address and the name of the institution at which you work*.
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2. Arrange a meeting with Claudia Balocco, Education Programs Manager by contacting her at: cbalocco@microsoft.com. During the meeting you can discuss your “XNA Game Programming Lab” ideas.
We will be evaluating your submission and providing consoles for the 5 first “winning ideas” from the professors and mid-level faculty members of Swiss universities and universities of applied sciences, and for the 8 first “winning ideas” from teachers of Swiss vocational and high schools.
Please note that the number of consoles is limited and only the first 5 professors/mid-level faculty members and 8 teachers submitting a high-quality idea and commitment to set up an “XNA Game Programming Lab” by June 30, 2010 (in order of receipt of the e-mails or descriptions during the meeting, on a “first come first served” basis) will be awarded up to 5 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles for their higher education institution or up to 3 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles for their vocational school, high school or teacher training institution.
Submitting an idea does not give the submitting person or institution any entitlement to receive consoles. Microsoft holds the sole right to judge the submitted ideas and will contact each institution’s contact person receiving an award in person (the decision to award consoles may also be communicated during the meeting at which the idea is submitted)**.
The “winning idea” submission is open to professors and mid-level faculty members working at a Swiss university or university of applied sciences as well as teachers of Swiss vocational schools, high schools and teacher training institutions under public law (employees of Microsoft and their family members excluded). The submission period will end when we have distributed the 50 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles or at the latest on May 31, 2010.
Get Microsoft XNA Teaching Resources via Faculty Connection
Faculty Connection (FC) is a worldwide community platform for professors, teaching assistants, and other teaching faculty members interested in technical and design topics. It offers an immense repository of teaching and research material, as well as access to Microsoft products, forums and events.
Faculty Connection includes a great amount of resources to support Microsoft XNA game programming teaching, including for instance:
If you don’t yet have access to Faculty Connection, please contact us by e-mail at
swissarm@microsoft.com.
Encourage Your Students to Show Their Talent at the Student Technology Olympics
Imagine Cup is an annual worldwide student competition with categories ranging from digital arts to software design. As with the Olympics, Imagine Cup finalists will compete at the world finals held in Warsaw, Poland in the summer of 2010. For Imagine Cup 2010, programmers, artists and technologists aged 16 or older are invited to submit innovative projects with the topic: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today.” Students can obtain inspiration from the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Imagine Cup 2010 is not only a global competition. Microsoft Switzerland, together with the local jury hardware sponsor HP, will award the best Swiss competitors in local finals in May 2010. Read more about Imagine Cup 2010 activities in Switzerland: www.microsoft.ch/imaginecup.
Take advantage of the Microsoft IT Academy Course at your lectures
The Microsoft IT Academy program is designed for accredited academic institutions. The program provides educators with the tools they need to effectively train students in Microsoft technologies. This subscription-based membership program offers curricula, courseware, and online learning for students focused on a profitable career path, life-long learning and professional Microsoft certification.
The program offers access to a wide variety of Microsoft curricula and certifications, teaching resources, e-learning courses for educators and students, software licenses for lab and classroom use, a range of instruction from computer basics to high-level programming and architecture, and use of the Microsoft IT Academy logo and other marketing resources. For more information, please contact Marc-Alain Steinemann, Education Lead, Microsoft Switzerland (mastein@microsoft.com).
*We will process the personal data and/or communication data provided by you within your e-mail submission in order to run and handle the competition and in conformance with our General data privacy rules. Please ensure that any personal data that you provide to us is accurate.
Please note that you must send us your entry from your personal e-mail address at the university or university of applied sciences at which you are studying. If you are studying at a vocational, high, secondary or primary school and your school hasn’t given you personal e-mail address, you may send your entry from your private e-mail address, but you must also send us a scanned copy of your student card.
**Microsoft Switzerland has no obligation to disclose any results, reasons, names or any other information connected with the competition (no correspondence). Competitors have no entitlement to reimbursement of any expenses they may have incurred in order to take part in the competition or to any remuneration whatsoever against Microsoft.
No correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition. No recourse to legal action is permitted.
