Digital Media Academy: Find Top Courses & Training Locations

Students at Digital Media Academy can study digital skills like programming, design, animation, and robotics. The school offers a range of options for programming, including summer and school break virtual camps, after-school online programs, in-person summer camps, and self-paced on-demand programs.

Since 1999, Digital Media Academy has provided technical training to over 500,000 students. Its goal is to provide innovative tech training and to empower life-long learning.

Digital Media Academy was founded to provide technology training to K-12 teachers and develop technology immersion classes for students. It was based on the Stanford University campus in 1999. Since then, it has expanded to some of the world’s most prestigious universities, including Oxford, NYU, Penn, University of Chicago, UCLA, University of British Columbia, and UC San Diego.

School Locations

Digital Media Academy started in California at Stanford University. Since then, it has expanded to several prestigious universities and global franchises worldwide.

Now, the majority of Digital Media Academy’s programs are offered virtually. This includes after-school training, self-paced courses, and virtual camps. These courses are offered year-round, including special classes and bootcamps offered during summers and spring breaks.

Although most of its courses are now virtual, Digital Media Academy still offers a large number of in-person classes at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Digital Media Academy has several course offerings in a variety of tech topics. Courses are divided into several career pathways so that students can begin building their desired tech career while still young. Digital Media Academy’s career pathways are Computer Science and AI, Business & Entrepreneurship, Music Production, Creative Design, Game Development, and Digital Storytelling.

If you’d like to find out more about similar classes in artificial intelligence and data science being offered in your area, take a look at Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool.

Age Requirements

Digital Media Academy’s courses are geared toward two primary age groups: those aged 9-12 and teens aged 13-18. Classes geared toward 9-12-year-olds are introductory, while the courses offered for 13-18-year-olds are more varied and can be selected based on interest.

What Classes Are Available?

Digital Media Academy’s “Adventures in …” courses are introductory courses aimed at 9-12-year-olds with topics intended to introduce them to a career pathway.

These courses are Adventures in Animation, Adventures in Game Design, FUNdamentals of Creative Storytelling with Film, Adventures in Coding & Artificial Intelligence, Adventures in Music Production, Adventures in Filmmaking, Adventures in Java Programming with Minecraft, and Adventures in App Development. These “Adventures in …” courses are introductory and can be paired with more advanced classes in that career pathway once students are 13-18. For example, a student who took Adventures in Coding & Artificial Intelligence is prepared to take any course in the Computer Science & AI career pathway once they’re 13.

Students can take courses as part of a sequence in one of Digital Media Academy’s career pathways. They can also mix and match courses. For example, a student might want to become a Data Scientist, so they enroll in Digital Media Academy’s Computer Science & AI career pathway. However, they also want to study entrepreneurship so they can start their own business or consulting firm. This student could take Entrepreneurship 101 and Launch & Scale Up Your Business to add business training to their technical training.

In the Computer Science & AI career pathway, students can take classes in Python Programming, Mobile App Development with React, Java Programming, Data Science, Java Programming in Minecraft, Coding and Artificial Intelligence, and App Development.

Digital Media Academy’s Creative Design career pathway offers a variety of design options from digital design to animation. Students can also learn graphic design with Photoshop, Illustrator, Classic Animation with Flash, and 2D animation.

Class Formats

Digital Media Academy started on college campuses but has since expanded across the world. Most of its courses are taught virtually, but it offers many in-person classes at the University of British Columbia campus.

Students in other areas can choose to take week-long camp courses or virtual after-school courses which last ten weeks. Camps and after-school programs are taught live online by remote instructors. Digital Media Academy has also recently added online self-paced courses that students can take on their own time.

Self-paced courses with a virtual teacher are offered by grade level. For example, some of the self-paced courses provided for students in Grades 3-6 are Fun with Robots, Watch Cartoons? Why Not Create Your Own?, or The Power of Pictures: Digital Illustration. Self-paced courses for later grades include topics such as Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (grades 6-10), Graphic Designer Studio (grades 6-8), Meet the Future: AI & Machine Learning (grades 6-10), and Data Literacy in a Global Society (grades 9-12+).

Admissions Process

There is no admissions process for Digital Media Academy. All courses are open-enrollment for students in that age range or skill level.

Pricing & Payment Options

Pricing depends on what type of program you’re enrolling in. Camps are priced from $1565 for week-long camps to $1125 for virtual after-school programs. Digital Media Academy offers a monthly payment plan option for all its courses.

Scholarships are available for talented students who can demonstrate financial need. Digital Media Academy is dedicated to making the tech industry inclusive, so 50% of all scholarships are given to female students.

Benefits of Attending Digital Media Academy

Digital Media Academy has flexible course offerings for kids who want to get a head start on the careers of the future. Its Career Pathways are a great way to launch a child’s interest in coding. The “Adventures in…” series gives younger kids the option of exploring potential interests.

What Do Students & Parents Say?

The online reviews of Digital Media Academy are mixed, with an overall Yelp score of 2.5 stars.

Many of the complaints from parents about Digital Media Academy have similar themes: that Digital Media Academy’s curriculum never goes beyond the basics and that underqualified and indifferent instructors teach its courses. Many parents mentioned issues and complaints about the program’s refund policy. One parent shared, “The catalog of what the kid will learn looks far more appealing than what they learn. For the amount of time they have the kids in the class and the amount of money you pay, they should have learned a lot more and had fun doing it. This was in no way worth the time and money.”

Parents whose children were enrolled in film-related courses left better reviews than parents whose children were enrolled in other more technical camps and programming courses. One parent wrote, “Our 11-year-old son attended a filmmaking camp…declaring it his ‘all-time favorite camp’...he learned about many different aspects of filming: storyboarding, filming, editing. He loved it so much he wanted to do it again.”

Another parent, whose child was enrolled in a programming camp, noted, “The write-up of the class/camp that we signed up for was fantastic with many promises of creating a fun, exciting and very interactive experience to explore different types of programming for gaming. The feedback we got from our son was that he was able to do nothing for hours at a time, and it was much like a babysitting situation.” A similar review notes that Digital Media Academy’s programming courses were “parking your kid in front of a computer and never checking in, demonstrating commands, or helping troubleshoot.”

Some parents have not been satisfied with the level of instruction received by their children at Digital Media Academy. They note that many of Digital Media Academy’s courses are taught by undergraduate college students, not someone with industry or instruction experience: “They hire unqualified student instructors and have fancy course names like AI, Python programming, etc. There is no coursework, no structure in the class.”

One parent noted that when they asked for the qualifications of their child’s instructor, Digital Media Academy told them that was private information. Another parent shared, “...if you think that you are paying $200 per day for staff that can notice, engage and inspire your kid, think again. My daughter found the teachers confusing and dull and the curriculum uninteresting. The staff did absolutely nothing to inquire about this, work with her, engage her, encourage her to put her phone away, or [do] anything other than to blame her for not being interested.”

Some parents say their children’s classes were canceled last-minute and without adequate warning or notification. Many customers have complained about the refund policy, including not being reimbursed for canceled courses or having difficulty getting a refund for course changes. One parent said, “There are no refunds for any reason, so if your kid hates it, too bad.”

Key Takeaways

Digital Media Academy began on college campuses but has recently pivoted to virtual camps and after-school courses, with some in-person instruction still available in Vancouver.
The career pathways courses are intended as comprehensive tech accelerators for children aged 13-18.
The school offers payment plans and scholarships, especially for female students.
Reviews are mixed with parents complaining about non-rigorous curriculums, unqualified instructors, and no refund policy available.

Top Courses at Digital Media Academy

Here are courses that were historically offered at Digital Media Academy. See subjects taught at Digital Media Academy to find similar courses offered at other schools.

Adventures in Coding and Artificial Intelligence
Students ages 9-12 learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning through hands-on practice in this weeklong course. As they build chatbots and discover natural language processing, students learn to program in scratch and Python.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- Orange County
- San Diego
- Boston
- Toronto
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays
- Beginner
Mobile App Development with React
In this course, young programmers get hands-on experience with the full process of developing applications. Students learn priniciples of UX design as they put into practice new skills in UX Design to build their own mobile application.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- Orange County
- San Diego
- Boston
- Chicago
- Austin
- Toronto
+ 2 more
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays
- Beginner
Data Science
This course introduces young programmers to topics in data science, including data visualization, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing. Students work with Python tools, SQL, Matplotlib, and scikit-learn as they make data analyses and build machine learning models.
Locations:
- Boston
- Live Online
- $2,278
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Beginner
Intro to Java Programming
Young programmers in this course develop a solid foundation in programming by learning Java. Students discover object-oriented programming, animation, and basic UI design as they learn to program their own Java-based games.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- Orange County
- San Diego
- Boston
- Chicago
- Austin
- Toronto
+ 2 more
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Beginner
Graphic Design with Photoshop & Illustrator
Young designers develop professional skills with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in this hands-on class. Students gain experience with design theory, layouts, color, and typography as they develop several portfolio projects.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- Orange County
- San Diego
- Boston
- Chicago
- Austin
- Toronto
+ 2 more
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Beginner
Drawing & Design
With this course, young artists learn learn tools and skills for digital drawing and animation. Working in Photoshop with a digial drawing tablet, students practice perspective, color, poses, backgrounds, and storyboards.
Locations:
- Live Online
- Orange County
- San Diego
- Boston
- Chicago
- Austin
- Vancouver
+ 2 more
- $2,278
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Beginner
Computer Programming 101
Not currently offered
Designed for young coders, this course gives students a full introduction to computer programming. Students work with Python, HTML, and CSS to build their own working programs hosted on their own interactive website.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Beginner
Computer Programming 102
Not currently offered
In this course, young programmers build on their knowledge of artificial intelligence to continue their exploration of computer programming. Students get hands-on practice working with data structures and navigating databases.
Locations:
- Vancouver
- Live Online
- $1,978
- 1 Week
- Weekdays or Evenings
- Intermediate

showing 8 of 8 courses

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence and involves creating programs that learn from data and optimize. Machine learning is prevalent in our everyday lives, from the recommendation engines for music and TV to the search engines and the voice assistants. Machine learning models leverage vast amounts of past data to learn to solve problems on their own and predict future outcomes. With the power and prevalence of machine learning, it is a highly in-demand set of skills, and the field of machine learning continues to grow.

In-Person Machine Learning Classes Live Online Machine Learning Classes

React

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It’s maintained by Facebook but it’s free and open-source. React is often used as a framework in the development of single-page websites, mobile applications, social media platforms, and other interactive websites.

In-Person React Classes Live Online React Classes

Data Science

Data science is one of the fastest-growing career fields, with competitive salaries and nearly endless opportunities for specialization. Data science uses machine learning algorithms, statistics and other analytic tools to understand data.

In-Person Data Science Classes Live Online Data Science Classes Data Science Bootcamps

Java

From basic single-computer programs to enterprise-level solutions, Java is the most widely-used code in the world. It is a simple, open-sourced code which is relatively easy to learn. Those who master it have solid employment prospects now and in the future.

In-Person Java Classes Live Online Java Classes Java Bootcamps

Graphic Design

Graphic design is visual communication through artwork or combining images and text. Graphic designers create logos, ads, social media graphics, magazines, books, websites, apps, and more.

In-Person Graphic Design Classes Live Online Graphic Design Classes Graphic Design Bootcamps

Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is widely known as the best photo editing software for photographers and photo retouchers. It's also used by digital painters as well as graphic designers for creating a wide variety of designs such as social media graphics, web designs, app designs, graphics that will be animated in Adobe After Effects, and much more.

In-Person Photoshop Classes Live Online Photoshop Classes

Featured Classes from Noble Desktop

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Featured Classes from Noble Desktop

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Digital Media Academy

School Locations

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Age Requirements

What Classes Are Available?

Class Formats

Admissions Process

Pricing & Payment Options

Benefits of Attending Digital Media Academy

What Do Students & Parents Say?

Key Takeaways

Top Courses at Digital Media Academy

Adventures in Coding and Artificial Intelligence

Mobile App Development with React

Data Science

Intro to Java Programming

Graphic Design with Photoshop & Illustrator

Drawing & Design

Computer Programming 101
Not currently offered

Computer Programming 102
Not currently offered

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Machine Learning

React

Data Science

Java

Graphic Design

Photoshop

Map of Digital Media Academy Locations

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

Top Certificate Programs

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

School Locations

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Age Requirements

What Classes Are Available?

Class Formats

Admissions Process

Pricing & Payment Options

Benefits of Attending Digital Media Academy

What Do Students & Parents Say?

Key Takeaways

Top Courses at Digital Media Academy

Adventures in Coding and Artificial Intelligence

Mobile App Development with React

Data Science

Intro to Java Programming

Graphic Design with Photoshop & Illustrator

Drawing & Design

Computer Programming 101 Not currently offered

Computer Programming 102 Not currently offered

Subjects Taught at Digital Media Academy

Machine Learning

React

Data Science

Java

Graphic Design

Photoshop

Map of Digital Media Academy Locations

Computer Programming 101
Not currently offered

Computer Programming 102
Not currently offered