There’s a lot to learn about esports and its potentially positive effects on children and their education. In the past esports and gaming carried a stigma and stereotype of socially awkward, isolated kids playing video games in their darkened bedroom or dorm room, surrounded by copious amounts of soda and snacks; their only social interaction with the outside world coming via a headset that could use some disinfecting.
As esports continue to grow in popularity, educational institutions from high school to the college level have begun implementing esports programs, teams and leagues on campus. The dimly lit corners in a forgotten campus classroom that once housed a few gamers are giving way to sophisticated educational esports labs featuring state-of-the-art, ergonomic furniture.
What is behind this movement? At Spectrum Industries, we offer thorough analysis for esports lab and furniture setup in education, and our in-house experts think they may have the answer. No, we don’t attribute the popularity of esports in education to cyber addiction or the deterioration of our interpersonal communication skills. Simply put, we feel esports offers unique opportunities in several facets of education.
Esports On Campus Offers Educational Opportunities For Students
What educational opportunities present themselves to students within esports? Consider the crucial building blocks, skill sets and values we strive to instill within our children as they grow. Does esports offer the chance to teach a broad number of lessons on campus through gaming? At Spectrum Industries, we respond with a resounding yes when exploring the checklist below.
• Math? Check. Statistics, analytics and forecasted metrics are a major part of the esports phenomenon.
• Information and Technology? Check, esports often requires that a team of students sets up, understands, operates and maintains their own streaming channel.
• Writing skills? Check, recaps of games are of extreme interest to potentially millions of followers. And we’re talking actual compositions, that don’t read like a text message and are devoid of emojis.
• Sponsorship outreach and marketing? Check. As with any school funded sport, raising money for uniforms and equipment is crucial to keep esports programs going.
How about the goals and purposes most commonly associated with any traditional team sport? Esports also meets a number of criteria on campus.
• Accountability and team building, check. As a group of competitors striving for a common goal, students learn to work symbiotically, celebrating both victory and defeat as one unit.
• Collaboration and community, another check. please see above.
Esports Offers Opportunities For Growth In Colleges & Universities
Opportunity in esports isn’t limited to students. Colleges and universities have begun using gaming to attract premier esports student-athletes to campus, with some implementing a scholarship model that closely rivals traditional team sports. Organizations such as the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), CSL and Tespa all lay claim to leagues supporting hundreds of colleges and universities. Along with increases in esports programs comes expected increases in enrollment. Campus tours that once included a tour of the football field or soccer complex are giving way to tours of state-of-the-art esports labs where the emphasis is on bandwidth rather than weight training.
Spectrum Industries - A Leader In Furniture For Esports Classrooms & Labs
As more educational institutions look to begin or improve upon their existing esports classrooms, questions arise on how to best plan this creative space on campus.
Spectrum Industries is a leader in comprehensive consulting for esports labs and furniture in high schools, colleges and universities. Esports labs and classrooms should be flexible and deliver a commercial quality superior to standard products. With that in mind, Spectrum Industries engineers the Esports Evolution desk to enhance game play and provide superior ergonomics for gamers.
Interested in learning more about esports classrooms or furniture on campus? The in-house, esports experts at Spectrum Industries are available for a comprehensive analysis of your educational institution and it’s programs; get in touch with us today