Generation Esports’ award-winning education team has released their newest Gaming Concepts scholastic gaming curriculum Exploring Interactive Media and Esports Topics. Along with improving academic skills and providing preventative mental health, schools that are offering Gaming Concepts are reporting other benefits as well which include: better attendance, improved peer-to-peer interactions, and increased confidence.
“Since our first Gaming Concepts curriculum was introduced on the Microsoft Educator Community over four years ago and viewed over 400,000 times, we have continued to have educators ask when the next course was coming out,” Dr. Michael Russell, co-writer, stated. “Through discussions with 100s of educators across the country, we decided an interactive media course with an esports focus fit the most educators’ needs while also opening funding opportunities through CTE as well as ESSER.”
Unique to all Gaming Concepts courses are that they include embedded preventative mental health that seamlessly integrates academic content into natural discussions and activities that are designed to strengthen the mental health determinants of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and meaningful relationships. Senior health advisor and co-writer Dr. Christopher Jensen is leading a national longitudinal research study of over 30 schools and 700 students who used Gaming Concepts during the spring semester. The study is measuring the mental health determinants in response to US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murth’s call for a swift, coordinated response to the country’s youth mental health crisis.
“At Fresno Unified, we strive to provide college and career opportunities for all 74,000+ students. It is essential that we create an esports program that trains students not only on how to grow as competitors and teammates but as individuals as a whole,” Julie Mavrogeorge a Tech Support Specialist in California said. “We want to bring awareness of the individual health and wellness of the athletes and provide an inclusive environment while developing the social and emotional aptitudes of all. Gaming Concepts provides lessons that allow us to achieve every one of these goals.”
Enhancing the robust curriculum, Gaming Concepts partners with Gameplan’s engaging learning management system to digitally deliver the curriculum and help schools manage their entire esports program. Through game reviews, training programs, and team scheduling, Gameplan helps schools take their esports programs to the next level.
“Teaching the Gaming Concepts curriculum on Gameplan helped save our esports program,” Kansas principal Michelle Hillard said, “We lost our experienced esports coach, and our new coach knew very little about esports or gaming. The easy-to-use Gaming Concepts lessons, coupled with the Gameplan training programs helped us to transition the class, as well as coaching responsibilities, seamlessly.”
The full-credit course was written due to the demand for high-quality, standards-based curriculum with an esports focus. Gaming Concepts courses also help teachers guide students to explore careers and learn skills they will need beyond high school including: communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving.
“Many students who struggle to engage with traditional curriculum find Gaming Concepts an opportunity to be excited about something at school,” Michigan teacher Kale Schafer said. “With the quality of resources available in the Concepts curriculum, anyone with the ability to operate a computer could guide students through these exciting lessons.”
To learn more about Gaming Concepts, please visit https://www.gamingconcepts.gg/.
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