E-Sports Equal Engagement for Education Reform
Revenue Streams Untapped
E-Sports is a niche that has evolved out of the changes in skills needed to be a functioning member of today’s society, including the highly coveted metacognition coupled with tech savviness. The development of technological advances has allowed this alternative ‘hacker’ hobby to evolve into a mainstream industry that grosses $100’s of Millions of dollars annually. According to a study, from the University of Tampre, What is eSports and why do people watch it?, 70.5 Million played E-Sports in 2013, the World of Tanks made $475 Million in 2013, and ‘wargaming’ was expected to meet and exceed $500 Million in the coming years. (Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017) (Warr, 2014).
Most of the viewership is streamed via the Internet and opportunities to both play and watch live play tap into this unique revenue stream. According to the Business Insider, Amazon’s $970 million purchase of Twitch makes so much sense now: It’s all about the cloud, even Amazon has gotten in on the game of it all; the retail powerhouse bought the live stream service, Twitch, in 2016. This allows any Amazon Prime member to tune into a Twitch channel at no cost and pay the gamer $5. In short, this is no longer a basement hacktivist movement but a Multi-Billion Dollar industry.
E-Sports & Education Reform: Common Denominator-Engagement & Motivation
From a purely education reform point of view, E-Sports offers a way to reach some of the most difficult students whom we still have trouble understanding. When I read about the downsides of E-Sports in, Esports Corruption: Gambling, Doping, and Global Governance, from the Maryland International Law Review (2017), the main risks lie in a concern over gambling and prescription drug misuse in teens. Other articles further cite an increase in gambling at large, see Bloomberg, Legal Sports Books Get Ready for Billions in E-Sports Betting, E-sports gambling is projected to exceed $7.4 billion.
While the concern over ‘doping’ with amphetamines, teen gambling, and the like should not be understated, they are not unique to the nascent field of E-Sports. Further, when a claim such as this is made, I look back at the crimes of traditional sports, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Concussive Syndrome, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) within the NFL and other contact sports. The point being, yes, there are concerns, but the opportunity E-Sports offer outweighs the risk. Further, the risk is not unique to E-Sports per-say, but rather, is a consistent concern throughout Sports arenas. In sum, the opportunity for student’s to capitalize on this new sport bears great importance for all students, not only those that gravitate towards gaming. This is because there is a finite of amount of teaching resources, and research repeatedly shows that engaged learners cost less to educate and produce greater return on investment, globally speaking.
As a coach working with disengaged and misunderstood students, it greatly frustrates me that E-Sports has come under such significant scrutiny. In the larger role of society, schools are meant to socialize ALL students to be productive members of the community, not only the ones that fit the mold. We are no longer an assembly-line society, yet we still educate in this manner. We must transcend our educational methodologies today to be competitive in the global economy of tomorrow.
Just one of the Gang: Why categorizing E-Sports Matters
Why the controversy over E-Sports? That question remains at the heart of this debate. I have had to defend my point of view multiple times for both my students and my daughter. Many cite that it is an antisocial hobby, however, listening to her virtual playdates with her best friend while Robloxing, I would passionately oppose that statement. Simply put, not only do I staunchly disagree that E-Sports has to prove its way into the sports arena, but I would make the argument that many times we categorize things through a short-sighted, judgmental lens of what we ‘know’ yet fail to see the broader applications thereof. This attribute bleeds into every facet that we have discussed in regards to E-Sports to date. It also highlights the way that we as a society are so quick to cast someone aside for failing to be like the ‘norm’ or fit the standard mold of the traditional student and inadvertently quash the very student engagement we seek to foster.
From Neurodiversity, or the difference in brain wiring, and the apparent ‘pathology’ that thinking differently causes, to the stereotypical views of academic education, reform will continue to remain impossible if it is plagued with the protracted views of society that are rooted in a different time representing different needs and skill sets. While the risks of E-Sports should not be ignored, examining the concerns of gambling and doping, which as cited earlier are not unique to the field of E-Sports, but rather permeate other more traditional sports, can be mitigated through respecting and enforcing the coordinating terms and conditions of acceptable use and privacy policy.
Potential Pitfalls
Further, according to the Esports Corruption: Gambling, Doping, and Global Governance, along with other readings, we have learned that E-Sports meets all of the ‘tests’ that traditional sports meet. Yet, there is still considerable debate over whether it is an ‘actual’ sport. In other words, what we are saying with this statement is, Okay, E-Sports counts as a sport, but not a truly ‘authentic sport,’ and we shall further continue to look for further ways that E-Sports are not actually ‘real.’
The one aspect that concerns me with the field of E-Sports is the vindication of violence. Particularly in the wake of school violence events. However, many cite that these aberrations that shake the country to its core could be caused by undiagnosed mental health issues or the lone wolf shunned by society, and to that end, my earlier argument offers hope that if we were able to truly reach and engage all students, they would be validated, understood, and be at less risk of issues, which derive from poor self concept, bullying, loneliness and other mental health issues either diagnosed or undiagnosed.
Balance Point: Educational Benefits
Shockingly, all of this categorization is done without looking at the positive aspects of gaming and problem-solving which are inherent to E-Sports. For example, according to, the research article, Video Games and Higher Education: What Can “Call of Duty” Teach Our Students?,
“It goes without saying that persistent motivation and goal-orientation are characteristics sought after by most students, the latter of which is no better demonstrated than with the example of Ultima Online. In this massively multiplayer online game (MMO) hundreds of thousands of players play together online in real time, both cooperatively and competitively to develop their virtual characters. Players work on their skills and acquire in-game wealth either through trade, force, or in some cases, much like in real life, a mix of both.” (2012, p . 1)
In sum, “Educators can and should take advantage of the untapped resources with COTS [Commercial off the Shelf games] to establish contemporary pedagogy that is exciting, interesting, and relevant for the modern day student.” (2)
Paradox: The Cost of Disengaged Learners
An enormous problem within Education is engagement or lack thereof. Those that game, tend to not be the most social and academically oriented students. They tend to be the disruptive students who are known as the black sheep of families and societies. The same students that may take valuable teaching resources away from students engaged in more traditional roles.
E-Sports appeals to students with a range of differing needs, from processing preferences to differing cognitive capacity or programming. In the end, the school foots the bill for these students, because of the regulations that surround free and appropriate education for all. Therefore if tapping into alternative engagement platforms can ease the cost, then is it not both socially and financially responsible?
The Opposite of Play is not Work, it is Depression
The gamification of education has proven to be a potent concept as our brain is wired for play. According to NPR and the Play Doesn’t End With Childhood: Why Adults Need Recess Too,
“Play is something done for its own sake,” he [Dr. Stuart Brown from the the National Institute for Play] explains. “It’s voluntary, it’s pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome…”What you begin to see when there’s major play deprivation in an otherwise competent adult is that they’re not much fun to be around,” he says. “You begin to see that the perseverance and joy in work is lessened and that life is much more laborious.”
Further research in play as noted in the works of Keil’s TED Talk, Manifesto for Play from Bulgaria and Beyond where Keil cites the research of infamous Cognitive Affective Neuroscientist, Jaak Panskeep. play, in general has been shown to stimulate nerve growth in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, leading to emotional maturity and better decision making. Keil further notes,
The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression. It’s depression. In fact, play improves our work. Just like there’s benefits for humans and animals, there’s benefits for play at work. For example, it stimulates creativity. It increases our openness to change. It improves our ability to learn. It provides a sense of purpose and mastery — two key motivational things that increase productivity, through play.
Even places of employment are jumping on the play and gamification bandwagon and rightly so, take Google for example, the article, Looking for a Lesson in Google’s Perks, underscores the value.
“I’ve found that people do their most creative work when they’re motivated by the work itself.”
The Journal of Cyber Psychology, further reinforces the concept,
“Even the “casual games” with which individuals spend idle time can elicit fresh thinking about aspects of workplace and off-work experience.” (Anable, 2013) & (Oravec, 2015)
So, while there are potential problems with E-Sports, gamification yields productivity as does engagement. Moreover, butting heads while literally crushing neurons, seems to be less than beneficial, but people engage and honor these traditional athletic roles. Hence, while E-Sports may not be for everyone, no one should be made to feel they are less a student than the norm simply because they enjoy gaming, especially when those skills may better prepare them for the 21st century.
Had I not watched the power of games unlocking the social skills of students throughout my career, I would be in the camp of, E-Sports is not real. However, I have seen the most needy frustrated students, those that need significantly more resources than, I, as an educator could offer, blossom when they are commander of their own domain. Many cite that screen time is filled with isolation and that children need to interact. However, in the 21st Century, most gamers are interacting with other likeminded gamers, and as their minds are free from the stigma of learning, they are solving high level problems through strategic thinking that everyone touts as the missing link in schools.
Just as traditional sports is another medium that without which, students would be lost in the assembly line education filled with a lack of engagement and motivation, so is E-Sports for similar reasons. I found the film, A New Hero: The Rise of College Esports, to be further validation to the aforementioned views.
Looking purely at the financial implications of the disengaged, perhaps the costs of the disengaged seem nominal, or the idea that school is supposed to be boring is begs to be stated. However, the costs of the disengaged and bored are steep, and anything my minute, as cited in Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
“Every nine seconds, a student drops out of school (Lehr, Johnson, Bremer, Cosio, & Thompson, 2004). Although recent indicators point to progress within overall graduation rates, even the encouraging reports still indicate that a fifth of our students drop out (DePaoli et al., 2016; Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, 2012).
In Education Reform we are gambling with the future of children and our society. We have both the research to understand why current methods are failing students and research illustrating the need for alternative programs, clubs, and curriculum that is more responsive to preparing students cognitively, physically, and socio-emotionally for the sustainability of society.
We must think outside the proverbial box for solutions that engage and motivate all students. Reform and creative solutions need to become mainstream. Whether through E-Sports, other project-based learning protocols, or STEM initiatives, such as Crypto Maven and her projects designed to address these changing needs, it is our social responsibility to educate ALL students.
STEM & Gender: Inherently Unequal
Since E-Sports inspire STEM, and STEM is the wave of the future, the discussion cannot be complete without examining the sad state of females in STEM. a great graphic for females in STEM can be found here. Below is a graphic of my daughter Facetiming with her best friend, while Robloxing. The data is taken from The National Science Foundation’s, Science and Engineering Indicators 2016, A broad base of quantitative information on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise.
Case in Point A Leader of the Pack: Chicago a Club Leader In E-Sports Opens the Door to Change
Gaming is paying large dividends for collegiate E-Sports teams. Robert Morris University right here in Chicago hosted its 2nd Gaming & E-Sports Invitational has both embraced the trend of Varsity E-Sports teams and has also given scholarships for same.
As reported in the article, Video gaming: the next high school sport? Competitive esports gain traction,Chicago Tribune May 2017,
High Schools are also coming on board albeit from enrichment clubs, not teams per say. This article examines the Gaming Championship of 2017, demonstrating the interest present.
Last year, Jones College Prep, a Chicago Public School Selective Enrollment institution played Oswego for the title. Both team Coaches cite the same reasons for forming and nurturing these athletes.
Whitlock from Oswego East, a Gamer, and French Teacher, said the club gives students reasons to stay vested in school because the students must keep their grades up to be eligible, Further, as a collateral effect, it has allowed students to refine their communication skills and ‘manners.’
Jones coach Terrel Mahoney, cited he would like to see E-Sports, “achieve parity with traditional high school sports.”
“For people who are not athletically gifted, this is a way for them to form camaraderie doing things that they love,” he said. “And it’s just something fun to do. You’re playing video games with your friends — and for your school.”
While no State has officially endorsed E-Sports, The Illinois High School Association, which, “governs the equitable participation in interscholastic athletics and activities that enrich the educational experience, and as reported in the same Tribune article cited that it takes approximately 80 schools to create a viable sport, should interest arise, it could be a very real possibility.
In conclusion, times are changing, reform is needed, and alternative revenue streams are needed to create engaging opportunities. See Ripples in Education Resonate. Since school funding is the bottleneck to most engaging projects, particularly in STEM, it is time to look for equally innovative ways to fund these innovative projects.
Sources:
Amazon’s $970 million purchase of Twitch makes so much sense now: It’s all about the cloud, Business Insider, [Taken from] http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-970-million-purchase-of-twitch-makes-so-much-sense-now-its-all-about-the-cloud-2016-3
A New Hero: The Rise of E-Sports. Youtube, [Taken from] https://youtu.be/-WrSY6ZGZMs
Gamers: The rising stars of collegiate athletics | Kurt Melcher | TEDxNaperville, [Taken from] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcX11m1g3hs
Hamari, J., & Sjöblom, M. (2017). What is eSports and why do people watch it? Internet research, 27(2). DOI: 10.1108/IntR-04–2016–0085
Himmele, P. & Himmele, W. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner, 2nd Edition, ASCD, [Taken from] http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Total-Participation-Techniques-Making-Every-Student-an-Active-Learner-2nd-Edition.aspx
Holden, John T. and Kaburakis, Anastasios and Rodenberg, Ryan M., The Future is Now: Esports Policy Considerations and Potential Litigation (March 15, 2017) https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1663&context=mjil
Holden, J.T., Rodenberg,R. M. & Kaburakis, A. Esports Corruption: Gambling, Doping, and Global Governance, 32 Maryland Journal of International Law 236 (2017).
How Play Makes for a More Adaptable Brain Comparative and Neuronal Perspective, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1043959.pdf
IHSA Mission & Belief Statement, The Illinois State High School Association [Taken from] https://www.ihsa.org/AbouttheIHSA/MissionStatementBeliefs.aspx
Keil, S. A case for play: From Bulgaria & beyond. [Taken from]https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_keil_a_manifesto_for_play_for_bulgaria_and_beyond/transcript
Legal Sports Books Get Ready for Billions in E-Sports Betting, Bloomberg, [Taken from] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-26/legal-sports-books-get-ready-for-billions-in-e-sports-betting
Looking for a Lesson in Google’s Perks. The New York Times Business Day. [Taken from] https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/business/at-google-a-place-to-work-and-play.html
Oravec, J. A. (2015). Gamification and multigamification in the workplace: Expanding the ludic dimensions of work and challenging the work/play dichotomy. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(3), article 6.http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2015-3-6
Panksepp, J. (2010). Affective neuroscience of the emotional BrainMind: evolutionary perspectives and implications for understanding depression. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(4), 533–545.
The State of Girls and Women in STEM, Science and Engineering Indicators 2016, [Taken from] [https://ngcproject.org/sites/default/files/ngcp_the_state_of_girls_and_women_in_stem_2016_final.pdf
Tannahill, N.,1 Tissington, P.,1 and Senior, C. 2Video Games and Higher Education: What Can “Call of Duty” Teach Our Students?, Front Psychol. 2012; 3: 210. Published online 2012 Jun 25. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00210
Video gaming: the next high school sport? Competitive esports gain traction, [Taken from]http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/ct-esports-high-school-met-20170511-story.html
Warr, P. (9 April 2014),“E-Sports in numbers: Five mindblowing stats”,Red Bull, available at http://www.redbull.com/en/esports/stories/1331644628389/esports-in-numbers-five-mind-blowing-stats
