- College esports are playing a growing role in colleges and high schools across Scotland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the world
- The first Esports in Education Conference will be hosted on March 24 and discuss the future of competitive video gaming in education
- Esports help create communities, says one of the hosts' spokesperson, and they offer a viable career path for others
The role competitive video gaming plays in education will be the topic of the Esports in Education Conference held in March hosted online.
Esports in Education Conference to Discuss the Industry
Scotland is hosting the first Esports in Education Conference on March 24, organized by the British Esports Association and College Development Network. The conference will be held online to avoid pandemic restrictions, and it will focus on the growing role of esports in education.
In North America, hundreds of high schools and colleges now officially accept students based on their interests in esports, and this trend is crossing the pond with the British college esports scene gathering momentum.
The conference will have a practical focus, discussing the opportunities for students who have graduated with an esports college degree. It will also touch upon the challenges educators and the industry face and may face in the future.
To add an esports feeling to it, the organizers are going to award the winners of the Scottish College Cup in Rocket League won by Edinburgh College in November. The event will continue with discussions and panels focusing on what it means to have a career in esports and if that is something young men and women should be looking forward to.
Giving Esports a Meaningful Place in Education
Commenting on these developments, British Esports Association spokesperson for Scotland, Mark McCready, welcomed the event as an exciting opportunity to further push esports and find a meaningful role for it in education.
McCready believes that allowing young students to explore their passions could lead to greater satisfaction with their degrees and pursue a rewarding career after college.
CDN Head of Digital and Innovation Kenji Lamb pitched in, adding that esports is instrumental in building communities, especially when the world has gone on a self-imposed lockdown.
It's not just about communities, though, argues Lamb, adding that “for those with the skills and passion, there's a pathway to a range of careers in the industry.” Esports offers many viable career paths, argues HitmarkerJobs, a publication specializing in analyzing the esports job market.
In the first half of 2019 alone, job opportunities in esports increased 185%, although most of those opportunities were focused in the United States and fairly few employment hubs. It all starts in college.
