I was asked to write a piece on esports and its value to collegiate curriculum (something I get asked about a lot) for the Emmanuel College faculty Insights blog. Here's a snippet. You can read the full post here
Having grown up playing video games almost my entire life, I have always had a deep-rooted love for them – so much so that they became the focus of my academic research, and a big component of my teaching. In my several years of experience teaching gaming-related courses and now helping to develop Emmanuel College’s esports team, I am accustomed to parents asking, “So is my kid just going to school to play video games while they’re in school?” Schools throughout the U.S., at both the high school and college level, are launching competitive teams and even esports academic curricula. Some schools have begun offering scholarships to students to complete on their collegiate esports team, just like traditional athletic programs have done for decades. Getting your college paid for in exchange for playing video games sounds like a pretty good idea. But esports offers students even more in the way of a potential future in a rapidly growing global industry.
Yet, there’s still a lot of confusion from those unfamiliar with esports. What is it? And what role does it play in educational settings? What are the job prospects in esports?
In this post, I answer these questions, clarifying the value of gaming and esports programs in higher education.
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