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![U.S. eSports viewers by age group. Source: [40].](profile/Gregory-Rothwell-2/publication/333118114/figure/fig1/AS:758880212627457@1557942550515/US-eSports-viewers-by-age-group-Source-40.png)
U.S. eSports viewers by age group. Source: [40].
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![Figure 1. U.S. eSports viewers by age group. Source: [40].](profile/Gregory-Rothwell-2/publication/333118114/figure/fig1/AS:758880212627457@1557942550515/US-eSports-viewers-by-age-group-Source-40_Q320.jpg)
eSports is a rising modality of sports entertainment in the United States and has growing implications for education. Providing competitive eSports teams in schools satisfies the growing desire to train and educate students on the skills emphasized in STEM and Career Technical Education (CTE) education, as well as in programs such as English and La...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... additional argument for an emphasis on eSports at a post-secondary level is the demographic of the sport. According to SuperData [40], 15% of eSports viewers are 13-17 years old, and 46% are 18-26 years old, as shown in Figure 1. This data uncovers that over 60% of eSports viewers are either secondary or post-secondary age, with post-secondary-age viewers being the majority. ...
Context 2
... additional argument for an emphasis on eSports at a post-secondary level is the demographic of the sport. According to SuperData [40], 15% of eSports viewers are 13-17 years old, and 46% are 18-26 years old, as shown in Figure 1. This data uncovers that over 60% of eSports viewers are either secondary or post-secondary age, with post-secondary-age viewers being the majority. ...
Citations
... Additionally, perceptions among the academic community vary widely (e.g., Chan et al., 2022;Funk et al., 2018). Despite the growing recognition of esports (Harvey & Marlatt, 2021;Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019), concerns about esports being associated with the potential for addiction, sedentary behaviors, and exposure to online toxic environments (Macey & Hamari, 2018;Wattanapisit et al., 2020) have led to reservations regarding its value. ...
Esports (electronic sports) or competitive video gaming has taken its place as a leading form of entertainment for young people worldwide. However, esports were generally studied as a popular form of entertainment, and rarely have studies examined esports from an educational perspective. This study aimed to investigate the perceived impact of various types of esports on the acquisition of the 4Cs skills (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication) through the lenses of higher education students. A sequential mixed methods research design was adopted, with a questionnaire survey involving 628 participants followed by semi-structured interviews with 46 participants. The quantitative findings showed that the players generally perceived that esports can cultivate the 4Cs skills and their perception was significantly related to gaming experience, gaming frequency, and time spent on each gameplay. The higher level of engagement in games was associated with higher 4Cs skills. No significant difference was found in scores of the 4Cs skills across nine esports genres. Apart from statistical inferences, natural language process (NLP) techniques combined with thematic analysis were used to identify various mechanisms and elements of different games associated with the 4Cs skills development. The quantitative and qualitative findings collectively shed light on the potential of integrating esports elements into innovative pedagogies for promoting learning and developing the 4Cs skills for both life and career.
... Some existing work has already focused on how esports industry reporters might best cater to the audience (37). As a result, the demand for skilled and knowledgeable esports reporters has increased (38), making it a promising career path for aspiring professionals. However, despite the growing importance of this role, there has been little research on the impact of esports reporters on the industry. ...
Esports is a rapidly growing industry and related information garners the attention of audiences both inside and outside the arena. The electronic competition system has become more structured over time and there are now standard off-seasons, which coincide tightly with an intensive period of player transfers. However, at the same time, the off-season has few events to cover and transfer information is highly confidential, so any insights regarding possible transfers are of deep interest to audiences. As a result, unofficial esports insiders often leak transfer information. To explore this phenomenon in greater depth, the methodology used in this study was based on the content analysis of information relating to 10-years in the life of the esport Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Data was collected from the Perfect World Esports APP and the HLTV websites to analyze the informants and the development of transfer information and its influence. It was found that, during the off-season, insider transfer revelations became the primary focus of content in the esports media sector. As the number of viewers participating in discussions about potential transfers has grown, esports tipsters have discovered a new career path within the industry. A comprehensive assessment of the audience and professional practitioners reveals the essential qualities that esports insiders should possess to excel in this field and for their careers to develop.
... Serious games are not the only games that occur in high school education. While video games in elementary schools primarily serve educational and recreational purposes, high school students may already engage in e-sports [121,122]. However, based on the gaming genre, the players of competitive games may share a single perspective (e.g., fighting games). ...
Three-dimensional visualization technologies such as stereoscopic 3D, virtual reality, and augmented reality have already emerged in training and education; however, light field displays are yet to be introduced in such contexts. In this paper, we characterize light field visualization as a potential candidate for the future of training and education, and compare it to other state-of-the-art 3D technologies. We separately address preschool and elementary school education, middle and high school education, higher education, and specialized training, and assess the suitability of light field displays for these utilization contexts via key performance indicators. This paper exhibits various examples for education, and highlights the differences in terms of display requirements and characteristics. Additionally, our contribution analyzes the scientific-literature-related trends of the past 20 years for 3D technologies, and the past 5 years for the level of education. While the acquired data indicates that light field is still lacking in the context of education, general research on the visualization technology is steadily rising. Finally, we specify a number of future research directions that shall contribute to the emergence of light field visualization for training and education.
... Similarly, regular, and scheduled club participation, such as practice and meetings, helped students to be more conscientious, efficient, organized, and systematic as well as have greater self-esteem (Bradley & Conway, 2016). Specific to esports and other competitive teams, working with others allows students to develop their ability to communicate, present themselves, and react appropriately in a given situation (Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019). Additionally, Kuzu (2021) revealed that student clubs primarily exhibited diversity in their categorization based on profession and department/program names, making these entities easier for businesses to target for recruitment. ...
... Similarly, Rothwell and Shaffer (2019) discovered that the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills cultivated in a STEM-oriented learning environment provided a valuable dimension to future employees. Accordingly, these individuals developed the ability to collaborate within teams, acquire technological proficiency, and enhance critical thinking skills. ...
In recent years, businesses have continually struggled to diversify their talent pools in an organic manner. This paper offers a new perspective on fostering organic diversity. Using data on club membership from one four-year liberal arts institution, different indices were created to rank each club in the sample according to the proximity of the demographic distribution of the club membership to that of the overall student population. This method identifies clubs whose activities have universal appeal and thus produce diversity organically. These findings have important implications for businesses seeking to improve workforce cohesion and meet their DEI recruitment objectives.
... In the existing literature, the purposes of esports in real life are primarily categorized into two types: one is using esports as a means of livelihood, and the other is self-entertainment. Furthermore, we have also come across new articles that utilize esports for educational purposes [51][52][53]. In traditional sports, the purposes of different sporting activities often serve as criteria for categorizing sports. ...
This study conducted a systematic scoping review to collect definitions and explanations of esports and its related concepts in the existing literature. A thematic coding approach was used to screen possible disagreements and issues between the different characteristics of esports as presented in the existing definitions. Based on a critical discussion, the results of the coding were combined with the objective facts of the current esports industry and theories from similar fields to reconstruct the construction of an esports definition. In addition, the relationship between esports and its related concepts was discussed based on the proposed esports definition structure. The proposed esports criteria can help avoid misunderstandings and confusion in future studies regarding the research subjects related to esports and propose standardized usage of relevant terms in the field of esports research.
... Following and watching such events either in a co-located manner at a stadium or via digital streaming is a common practice among digital natives (Salo, 2017). Therefore, including similar experiential, motivational, and fascinating events (Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019) as a part of introductory studies for new students is a concept worth exploring. ...
Emotional contagion is an intriguing subject in many academic fields, and it is also
relevant in collaborative learning, where learners share a physical or virtual space.
We aimed at exploring the possibilities of motivating, fascinating, and experiential
elements of virtual reality (VR) in a collaborative learning context, with a focus on
emotional contagion. We adopted the eSports mode as a competency development
strategy in collaborative learning, using VR to evaluate emotional contagion that is
invoked between the presenters and spectators. For this purpose, we created a VR
application (HHVR) that allows freshmen students to learn about the premises and
academic life at a university. We then divided 43 adult participants into presenters
(N=9) and spectators (N=34); the presenters experienced the HHVR application
frst-hand, whereas the spectators watched the experience through a monitor. We used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to measure what feelings of being existential feelings that affect the way we react to the world the participants
experienced. The collected data were analyzed by Principal Component Analysis and qualitative data coding, and the results revealed emotional contagion; the spectators who followed the presenters on a monitor showed similar emotional engagement with the presenters who used the application. In conclusion, the proposed eSports mode can be a useful pedagogical technique in the context of collaborative learning with VR, as it engages both the presenters and spectators. These findings can be helpful for designing emotionally engaging collaborative learning experiences with VR and for conducting group-based UX evaluations of VR applications.
... It is known that serious steps have been taken, especially in the United States (USA), South Korea and China. Rothwell and Shaffer (2019) stated that the establishment of esports teams in schools has been used to teach and develop skills such as STEM, Career Technical Education (CTE) and foreign language education. In addition, they stated that it is effective in gaining social skills expected from an individual who has graduated from high school. ...
... Currently, there is limited empirical evidence on the associated benefits of participation in adolescent esports programs. However, research indicates that such programs have the potential to positively impact the development of communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills (Rothwell and Shaffer, 2019), professional and academic skills, social and emotional learning (Reitman et al., 2020), social belonging and mental health (Tjønndal and Skauge, 2020). In addition, only a small proportion of students enrolled in these programs have report problematic gaming behaviours (e.g., gaming addiction; Ortiz de Gortari, 2019). ...
... The perception among adult e-athletes that PA is not important for performance may be due to the previous lack of developmental esports programs. Current research suggests that PA is becoming a normal part of high school esports program, with high schools in Austria, Norway and the USA including regular PA as part of their esports programs (Rothwell and Shaffer, 2019;Tjønndal and Skauge, 2020;Wimmer et al., 2021). This study seeks to build on the findings of previous literature by exploring the frequency of which e-athletes enrolled in a high school esports program are physically active and compare their PA levels with an aged-matched control group. ...
... The growing influence of esports has garnered international attention. With the growing size of the market and number of competitors, esports is increasingly being incorporated into the curricula and extracurricular activities of several high schools and universities (Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019;Scott et al., 2021;Taylor & Stout, 2020). In a social environment that promotes the participation of young people in esports, it has been reported that it may have harmful effects on health (van Hilvoorde, 2016;van Hilvoorde & Pot, 2016). ...
A steep increase in young people’s participation in esports in Japan has demonstrated potential adverse health effects as well as impacts on their well-being. Therefore, protective guidelines are required to address this issue. Hence, a novel measurement tool was used in this study to understand the social and health effects of esports. Using an online survey ( n = 1,612), factor analysis yielded a two-factor structure for the 12-item esportsmanship scale. Analysis of covariance was used to test whether the factors of enjoyable and normative esportsmanship and time spent playing esports were associated with well-being, physical health problems, gaming addiction tendencies, empathy, and self-positivity. Enjoyable esportsmanship was associated with favorable psychological tendencies, such as well-being, empathy, and self-positivity. The findings also suggest that increasing normative esportsmanship may be able to inhibit physical health problems and the degree of gaming addiction. The analysis of covariance demonstrated that more time spent on esports was significantly unfavorably associated with physical health problems, gaming addiction tendencies, and aggressive feelings. Future research should aim to clarify the causal relationship between these psychological tendencies and esportsmanship and conduct a detailed analysis of whether the effects and impacts of esportsmanship differ according to game genre.
... Currently, there is limited empirical evidence regarding the impact of adolescent participation in esports programs. However, research has suggested that esports programs have the potential to positively influence the development of communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills (Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019), professional and academic skills, social and emotional learning , social belonging and mental health (Tjønndal & Skauge, 2020). Despite this evidence, no study examining youth esports have used a longitudinal research design. ...
The number of esports education programs continue to rise globally (Jenny et al., 2021; Jenny, Gawrysiak et al., 2021). Quality programs teach transferrable skills which are needed within the esports ecosystem and other job sectors (Scott et al., 2021). Esports can be used as a tool to motivate students and teach knowledge, skills, and competencies within a holistic learning experience. There are six papers presented within this “Esports and Education” track at the 2022 Esports Research Network Conference. First, Trotter and colleagues offer an examination of the impact of school esports program participation on student health and psychological
development. Next, Becka and colleagues discuss how an esports training space may impact students, teachers, and graduates, as well as complement the higher education, at a public university in Argentina. In addition, Rusk and Ståhl provide an analysis of gaming inside and outside of school from the Finnish student player perspective. Fesharaki and colleagues then describe the development of a dual career higher education program being launched at Jönköping University in Sweden that aims to offer opportunities for student athletes in both esports and traditional sports. Moreover, King and Burton examine varying perspectives regarding mental health, burnout, and performance with a United States collegiate Overwatch
esports team through single case design. Last, Gortari and colleagues research the motivations to enroll in high school esports programs in Norway while investigating gaming habits and potential mediators for motivations and risk factors.
