DoD STEM Outreach Office Sponsors Esports in NJ
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 07/20/20
A
Department
of Defense STEM
outreach office in New Jersey is providing a free esports summer
league for students in that state, to promote summer STEM learning.
Kids in grades three through nine can join an esports summer league
for free. The league is being run by DimensionU,
a company that develops esports programs for education.
Players
have free access to a platform that lets them practice their math and
literacy skills through August 31. The games available are
Towerstorm, Meltdown and Velocity,
all covering both math and literacy and all available on the web or
via mobile apps. The league will display the names of the top players
for all three games on its leaderboards each week. If a school or
organization used DimensionU before the summer, a group leaderboard
will show the top players from those organizations. Family members
are being invited to create their own accounts and play alongside
their children.
DimensionU's
Velocity for Math & Literacy is one of three games available forfree until the end of August for students and their families in New
Jersey, through a Department of Defense STEM outreach program.
The
program is being sponsored by the Department of Defense STEM Outreach
Office at Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, NJ.
"We
wanted to support summer learning, and since DimensionU's games align
with New Jersey's standards, they were perfect," said Steven
Hoy, CEO of DimensionU, in a press release. "When schools had to
transition to distance learning during COVID-19, it created
achievement gaps. And since in-person enrichment activities aren't
being held this summer, these games will help keep those gaps from
widening."
To
gain free access, students must attend schools in New Jersey. They
can register on
the DimensionU summer access website.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.