GCG Feature: 'Student Soapbox: Out of School'

Author: by Beth A.

In today's Game Career Guide feature, game writer and part-time student John Henderson reflects on fellow students and the state of game education in the context of Austin Community College's third open house. Henderson introduces Austin Community College's program in the following extract: "ACC's program began through the efforts of Bob McGoldrick, coordinator for the college's High Technology Institute, which includes technical certifications useful for IT jobs in hardware and software management. Retired from IBM and now a workforce development specialist, McGoldrick readily admits, as he did during open house, that he is not a gamer. Rather, his interest in game development came from realizing how important it was to Austin, as a subset of the city's technology sector as well as creative arts. After talking to several developers, studio heads, and academics, some of whom make up his advisory board and instructor base, the next step was creating a curriculum, separating the disciplines, and designing the program to encourage specialization in art, programming, design or production – but also to encourage cross-training for a more well-rounded experience – all with the help of pro developers with first-hand knowledge of the business." You can read the full Game Career Guide feature on the topic to get in on Henderson's thoughts on game education (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).