What does Back to School mean for coders?

If you are a student, or you know a student, do let them know about the programs we have in Canada just for students!

Did you know DreamSpark gives students access to Microsoft developer software for free? That includes Visual Studio. Since not all schools teach .NET languages, it’s important to know that Visual Studio isn’t just a code editor for C#, you can use Visual Studio to code HTML& CSS , C++, Python , Unity, even nodeJS.

Canada is also bringing back the Developer Movement program. This is Canada’s developer rewards program. Last year students completed tasks to earn rewards and took home everything from $100 gift cards for the Microsoft store all the way up to laptops and Xbox One consoles. Watch the site because Developer Movement for 2014/15 is coming soon!

Another great way for students to stand out is the Imagine Cup . For coders and non-coders this is an opportunity to showcase their talent and potentially win a trip to represent Canada at the World finals at Microsoft headquarters in July 2016. For the coders there is usually a games category, innovation category (for all those great business ideas), and World Citizenship category (for those who want to help others). For the non-coders watch out for things like a pitch video challenge or the user experience challenge for those with a passion for design! Last year a team of students from New Zealand won $50,000 at the World Finals in the Innovation category for an app that allows you to see how far away your friends are when you meet up. I’ve seen lots of students building similar apps at hackathons, do you think they had any idea if they finished and polished up their app it could have put them on stage at the world finals? We will be announcing specific details for this year’s Imagine Cup soon!

Anyone who wants be first to know about all the student programs in Canada, can keep informed by liking our facebook page fb.com/MicrosoftStudent