Compton District Combines Esports and STEAM

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/01/19

A California school district is launching a joint STEAM career program with an esports tournament. The Compton Unified School District esports program is intended to help students develop STEAM skills, especially in computer programming, and develop their abilities in collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving.

The program is being co-sponsored by the Carrot Group, a company that sets up STEAM programs for education, and professional football team the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have donated $20,000 to supply team gear and transportation for teams to practice and attend tournaments and career days. Several players will also serve as honorary team captains at the tournaments, including wide receiver Geremy Davis, defensive tackle Justin Jones, defensive end Isaac Rochell and quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

The district will bring its four high schools together for the tournament, which will begin play on Oct. 14. Each student team will have six players and one alternate. Once a week for six weeks after school, they'll play a 60-minute Overwatch match online. Participants will also attend a two-hour orientation and career pathway session that will cover jobs in the video game industry and access to a free online, college-level course in game design.

The tournament, provided at no cost to students, will finish in a play-off round with the best team from each school competing until two winners face off in a live two-hour championship event in December. Prizes will include tickets for the winning team to attend a Chargers home game, a gaming accessories package, a VIP trip to meet with leading video game production designers, a district esports championship ring and a scholarship to attend a game design bootcamp.

Registration is free and open until Oct. 4. More information about the tournament can be found at: compton.k12.ca.us/esports.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • An elementary school teacher and young students interact with floating holographic screens displaying colorful charts and playful data visualizations in a minimalist classroom setting

    New AI Collaborative to Explore Use of Artificial Intelligence to Improve Teaching and Learning

    Education-focused nonprofits Leading Educators and The Learning Accelerator have partnered to launch the School Teams AI Collaborative, a yearlong pilot initiative that will convene school teams, educators, and thought leaders to explore ways that artificial intelligence can enhance instruction.

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Supported by OpenAI

    OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.

  • closeup of laptop and smartphone calendars

    2024 Tech Tactics in Education Conference Agenda Announced

    Registration is free for this fully virtual Sept. 25 event, focused on "Building the Future-Ready Institution" in K-12 and higher education.

  • cloud icon connected to a data network with an alert symbol (a triangle with an exclamation mark) overlaying the cloud

    U.S. Department of Commerce Proposes Reporting Requirements for AI, Cloud Providers

    The United States Department of Commerce is proposing a new reporting requirement for AI developers and cloud providers. This proposed rule from the department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) aims to enhance national security by establishing reporting requirements for the development of advanced AI models and computing clusters.