[Yr11 Information Technology] New Games Programming Competition

[Robert Mercer]

Hello Everyone

My name is Rob Mercer. 
Working in association with VITTA, Swinburne's Software Development academic group has developed the "Swingame 08 Computer Games Design Competition", for year 11 and 12 students.  Students can enter this competition in teams of up to 3 (from the same school).  Your school should have received a letter from the Dean and competition details about this competition last week(see attached).

A lot of work has gone into the development of this initiative including:
-The creation of Game Development Kits available in Delphi, Pascal, VB.NET, VB6 and  C#to give students a host of tools and examples to assist in the creation of their game;
-3 sample games on the website which include tutorials with videos on how to create them;
-A forum where participants can ask questions, get help and post ideas about their games;
-A teacher only forum for teachers to discuss ideas and ask questions.

Prizes:
1st Place -  $3000;
2nd Place - $2000;
3rd Place - $1000.

The competition is currently open and entries must be submitted by 11 August 2008.  All entries will be judged by a panel of experts and winners will be announced on 17 August at Swinburne's Open Day.  The Dean of the Faculty of ICT will visit the winners' school and present them with their prize and trophy.  This is a good way to get students excited about software and games development, which will hopefully encourage younger students to choose IT as a subject in schools.

This is a new initiative and we are keen to involve as many people as possible - especially IT Teachers.  Having worked as an IT Teacher in secondary schools, I know the important role that IT teachers play in getting initiatives like this out there into schools, and getting students on board.  We are currently developing a similar project for students in Years 7-10 which will hopefully help with the current curriculum in that area.  

A class presentation is available for your students on the Swingame 08 competition which can help them get started.  If you would like one of the creators to come out to your class and present Swingame, please contact me on the number/email below. We also plan to run a workshop around May, for participants in the competition to review and support their Swingame projects.

All information regarding this initiative can be found at the following web site:
www.swingame.com 

To organise a class presentation or for further information, please contact me.


Cheers,
 
Rob Mercer
ICT Outreach - Project Officer
Faculty of Information & Communication Technologies
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218
Hawthorn VIC 3122 Australia
 
PH:  +61 3 9214 8768
FAX :+61 3 9214 5320
rmercer at swin.edu.au 



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