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Microsoft Virtual Academy is a free access training portal site from Microsoft, that is focused on helping those in IT to easily learn about Microsoft technologies. It consist of several courses you can study at your own pace. The courses are worth a determined amount of points depending on their depth level. The MVA site in turn works on a  points based system and scoreboard as way of encouragement and as way to rank you in the site.

All courses got self-assessment at the end.  There are 4 levels of memberships for students in the Microsoft Virtual Academy site:

• Bronze: 0 to 370 points.
  
• Silver: 371 to 699 points.
  
• Gold: 700 to 999 points.
  
• Platinum: 1000 points or more.

Beyond the points and scoreboard within the MVA community. Finishing courses and getting points get anyone enrolled in the MVA discounts for Microsoft Certifications and access to special Microsoft promotions related to Microsoft technologies with courses on the MVA. 

The Microsoft Virtual Academy is free for anyone wanting to enroll in, the only thing needed is a Live ID and being interested in a specific course.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy site in itself is very well laid out and as something worth of pointing out, it happens to sport a Metro UI-UX styled design. Something that looks to be spreading over all Microsoft web properties now. And I must say it works very well to make things fluid and pleasant.

For further questions about the MVA, the site got a fairly clear F.A.Q page you can take a look at.

Microsoft Virtual Academy results in a very interesting hybrid of e-learning portal and promotional vehicle from Microsoft as its main function beyond promoting Microsoft Tech is to help as a easier to follow and use learning aid for those interested in Microsoft Certifications. But that thanks to it being well balanced, works pretty well. 

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Microsoft Virtual Academy

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