How video games in the classroom are helping to jump the digital skills gap
How video games in the classroom are helping to jump the digital skills gap
How video games in the classroom are helping to jump the digital skills gap
By Tom Hoggins
June 11, 2021
Summary
The Xbox Academy was hosted alongside East London Arts & Music, a sixth form college in Bromley-by-Bow which counts a Game Design diploma alongside its more 'traditional' cultural disciplines of music, film and TV. "Keeping our finger on the pulse is crucial to feeding industries new talent," says ELAM's Curtis Le Blanc.
"The games industry in the UK is exploding, expanding every year and economically a larger contributor than music and film combined. Compare that industry size to the training available and there was a huge gap. Coupled with the huge lack of diversity in the industry and it's clear education has a big role to play in supporting a diverse range of new talent."
The college has strong ties to British developers such as Football Manager creators Sports Interactive and strategy gurus Creative Assembly who host work experience, game jams and set tasks.
According to Le Blanc every one of ELAM's trainees has gone on to secure a place at university for a games design course.
While there is an obvious gravitation towards actually making games in these education initiatives, the hope is that a connection to something that children are invested in will help bridge that digital skills gap beyond just providing a pipeline into the games industry.
"Gaming can be an incredible way to learn," says Microsoft's Director of Education Chris Rothwell.
"Many games are highly collaborative, require deep problem solving and tenacity - all critical skills for the workplace. Meanwhile, games development can be a great entry point for inspiring young people to learn digital skills, as it can be difficult for people outside of the tech world to understand how these critical digital skills might be useful in tech professions."
Reference
Hoggins, T. (2021, June 11). How video games in the classroom are helping to jump the digital skills gap. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/video-games-classroom-helping-jump-digital-skills-gap/.