STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) educators and parents are beginning to see the educational value in video games. Consequently, teens can now do more than simply play games. They can create and develop them, with help from programs like iD Gaming Academy.

Powered by internalDrive, iD Gaming Academy offers courses in game programming, development, level design, 3D modeling and animation. It has also broadened its course offerings with a new course titled Game Development – Minecraft. 

Held at nine different university campuses throughout the U.S., including Harvard and Stanford, iD Gaming Academy runs in a two-week format. Students stay overnight on campus. They also tour game studios, interact with industry professionals, learn tips to get into the game development field, and collaborate with like-minded peers and instructors.

The Academy offers accredited Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from Stanford Continuing Studies, enabling teens to demonstrate they’ve completed courses with college-level difficulty. Students work with industry-standard software including programs like Unreal Development Kit, XNA Game Studio, Unity, and Autodesk Maya®. This summer, iD Gaming Academy will debut their Game Development – Minecraft course, which utilizes Minecraft and Eclipse for Java. For more info go to www.internalDrive.com .