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Esports is about much more than just playing video games. The values below are central to our club, as are some skills we'll learn in order to successfully live by those values.
Our leadership team is reading Start with Why by Simon Sinek. So why do we do esports?
Our leadership team is reading Start with Why by Simon Sinek. So why do we do esports?
From an educator's perspective:
From an educator's perspective:
1) Student engagement in extracurricular activities is strongly correlated with better GPA, social-emotional wellbeing, and post-high school outcomes, but one third of kids do not participate in any extracurricular activities. Many of these previously non-participating students will join esports!
2) Gen Z is different. So are their career opportunities. Esports promotes skill development in a variety of online literacies not typically found in any other school medium.
3) 97% of teens are playing video games of some form or another. Some gameplay is social, but most isn't. Some teens display unhealthy and addictive gaming habits, and are surrounded by highly toxic communities while gaming. Esports provides a chance to make all gaming social, promote wellness and health, and provide a safe inclusive space with good sportsmanship and a positive impact on the community as central goals.
4) Lastly, we should not underestimate the importance of play, and of building and leveraging positive relationships between students and teachers.
References:
ISTE Standards for Coaches | ISTE. (2020). Retrieved March 31, 2020, from Iste.org - Link
Lipscomb, S. (2007). Secondary school extracurricular involvement and academic achievement: a fixed effects approach. Economics of Education Review, 26(4), 463–472. - Link
NASEF. (2020). Curriculum. Retrieved March 31, 2020, from Esportsfed.org - Link
O’Brien, E. Rollefson, M. (1995) Extracurricular Participation And Student Engagement. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from Ed.gov - Link
O’Hagen, J. The Academy of Esports [YouTube Video]. (2019). - Link
Pew Research Center. Teens, Video Games and Civics. (2008, September 16). Retrieved October 21, 2019, from Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech - Link
Schaefer, D. R., Simpkins, S. D., Vest, A. E., & Price, C. D. (2011). The contribution of extracurricular activities to adolescent friendships: New insights through social network analysis. Developmental Psychology, 47(4), 1141–1152. - Link
US Census Bureau. (2018, November 6). Child’s Play. Retrieved October 21, 2019, from Census.gov - Link
From a student's perspective:
From a student's perspective:
Games are fun! All of our students need a safe space to meetup with friends at the end of their school day and do something they enjoy. In the meantime, they may as well benefit from deliberate coaching and purposeful play to improve their skills, meet new people, develop better communication and leadership, and add a recognized Varsity sport to their college and job resume.
They may also be able to get a college scholarship or job in the industry!
But this doesn't explain why students take gaming so seriously. It comes down to a few aspects of sociology: serious leisure (article posted below), self-determination theory, and consumer culture theory as each relates to identity formation, which is an especially big deal during teenage years. When a gamer says they're a Silver I and are trying to climb to Gold IV, that's a much bigger deal to them than most people outside the gaming community realize.
Stebbins2001_Article_SeriousLeisure.pdfReport abuse