The British Esports Association, in partnership with CDN, is hosting the first Esports in Education Conference in Scotland this March.
The Esports in Education Conference is an event designed to encompass all sectors of the Scottish education system.
The conference will take place on Wednesday 24th March 2021 on a Zoom webinar. This will feature both a morning and afternoon session with discussions across all education sectors (schools, colleges and universities) and career development opportunities currently available within Scotland.
In addition, there will be a presentation during the conference to award the Scottish College Cup winners Edinburgh College which will be presented by CDN CEO Jim Metcalfe.
This event follows the success of the Esports in Education Summit last year, which brought together educational institutions from across the UK to a virtual conference.
The conference aims to connect and welcome all institutions by providing information and awareness about the industry to support the future development of esports in Scotland.
The event will bring together key speakers from education, industry and the British Esports Association.
Mark McCready, Scotland Representative at the British Esports Association commented: “It’s an exciting opportunity to develop the first Esports in Education Conference to cover all sectors of the Scottish education system. We’re privileged to have some of the leading stakeholders and institutions participate in the discussion and show how dynamic the esports industry is on a national scale. Being education focused we hope that this will provide a greater scope of the esports industry and the benefits of engaging young people in their passions.”
Kenji Lamb, Digital and Innovation Lead at CDN, said: “We’re excited to be working with British Esports to host the conference. Esports helps to build community in these difficult times, through gaming societies and inter-college competition. And for those with the skills and passion, there’s a pathway to a range of careers in the industry.”
Program details
10:00 – Introduction
Andy Miah, University of Salford
10:05 – More than playing the game
Chester King, British Esports Association
10:30 – What do you get out of an esports degree?
William Huber, Abertay University
Mark McCready, Queen Margaret University
11:05 – Game to learn: feeding pipelines & building community
Michael Griffiths, Glasgow Clyde College
Andrew Smirthwaite, Forth Valley College
11:40 – Meeting the esports challenge
Emma Liston, Alva Academy
Brian Clark, Education Scotland
12:15 – Lunch
13:00 – Scottish College Cup award ceremony
Jim Metcalfe, College Development Network
13:15 – A career in esports: play, production and performance
Brian Baglow, Scottish Games Network
Mike Kent, Dexerto
13:50 – Shaping the skills pipeline
Gary Tibbet, British Esports Association
Fiona Callaghan, Pearson
14:25 – Cyber secure competitive gaming
Alex Postbechild & David Batho, Jisc
14:45 – Women in Esports
Morgan Ashurst & Alice Leaman, British Esports Association
15:05 – Researching the case for esports
Aaron Koshy, International Journal of Esports
Brian McCauley, Esports Research Network
15:40 – Closing
Andy Payne, British Esports Association
15:45 – End
Sign up to join the first Esports in Education conference here.
About British Esports
The British Esports Association is a not-for-profit organization established in 2016 to support and promote esports in the UK.
As a national body, its aims are to foster future British talent, increase the awareness of esports and provide expertise and advice. It’s focused on the grassroots level of esports and is not a governing body.
The Association helps educate the masses – including parents, teachers, media and government – around what esports is and what its benefits are. Its three goals are to promote, improve and inspire.
www.britishesports.org
About College Development Network (CDN)
College Development Network (CDN) is the national agency in Scotland that supports skills and sector development across colleges and vocational learning. Our mission is to support the college and skills system in enhancing success for students, their wider communities, and regional economies. We do that by supporting the learning workforce to develop excellent digital skills; promoting leadership development; developing collaborative research and enquiry programs; and leading and growing the college Climate Emergency Expert Group.
https://www.cdn.ac.uk/