How Esports and innovative studies prepare students for the future

London (January 23, 2023) – Acer will take part in BETT, the biggest education technology exhibition in the world, also covering the role of Technology Partner for Esports @Bett The event will be held from January 24th to 26th at London’s ExCel Convention Centre, in the UK.

Boasting over 30.000 delegates from across the world, BETT is the place to meet a global community of educators and changemakers, create connections and spark ideas, strategies and real solutions to improve global competitiveness through quality and innovation in education.

During the three days of the event, visitors will find Acer in the Esport arena | boot NJ70, where fully functioning 3D and gaming settings will give the opportunity to see in action Acer’s innovative solution designed for schools.

Esports in education: a data-driven growth story

Esports’ monumental rise in the educational landscape is backed by a staggering 75% viewership increase since 20201, hitting an all-time high of 2,76 billion hours watched in 2023. This surge reflects the sector’s potential to reinvent educational paradigms.

With live sporting events on digital platforms experiencing a 2.100% increase in viewership, Esports stands as a powerful tool to engage students and cultivate skills in collaboration, creativity and STEAM disciplines.1 Furthermore, it offers practical experience in video and sound editing, graphic design, broadcasting and event management, laying a solid foundation for academic and professional excellence.

Acer success story with Barnsley College aims to demonstrate how Esports can be seamlessly and effectively integrated into academic curricula, thereby driving interest in STEAM fields. The company’s technology aligns with the needs of contemporary education, empowering students to channel their passion for gaming into viable career paths.

During their keynote speech on January 25th – “Level up your academic studies with Esports” – Acer, Intel and Barnsley College will talk about the school’s adoption of Esports into its curriculum, facilitated by technology. The session will focus on the role of Esports in creating new educational and career paths within higher education and in cultivating entrepreneurial skills, also encompassing the integration of Esports into K12 education, with a special focus on inclusivity and the pivotal role of women in the sector.

The role of 3D and AI in education

Immersive learning is the latest frontier of education, upgrading learners’ experience to enhance their information retention skills thanks to engagement. Within a dedicated SpatialLabs area, visitors will be able to engage with Acer’s SpatialLabs Experience Center Pro, poised to transform educational approaches within the Esports domain. This platform empowers students and professionals to visualise and interact with complex 3D models, fostering an advanced level of engagement and understanding. It’s an illustrative example of how Acer’s immersive 3D technologies are being adopted in Esports education, enhancing not just the gaming experience but also providing valuable, transferable skills in 3D design and development.

At the beginning of January, at CES in Las Vegas, we announced two new additions to our SpatialLabs stereoscopic 3D lineup: the new Aspire 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition laptop – coming with AI-powered applications for glasses-free 3D viewing and content creation – and the Predator SpatialLabs View 27 gaming monitor.

Like 3D, also Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting the way we learn. AI and education go hand-in-hand to enhance the learning experience for students. Teachers can streamline their lesson plans and create more interesting and appealing class content. Likewise, young learners can utilize AI to enhance the learning process and gain a better understanding of complex topics.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 empowers students with advanced capabilities to maximize their productivity and express their creativity with ease. With Firefly-powered generative AI features and the precision of Photoshop together with Adobe Express’s all-in-one app, students have everything they need to create images and design their content.2

Built-in editing capabilities also enable quicker and easier photo and video enhancements. For example, the AI-powered Magic Eraser feature in the built-in Google Photos app easily removes unwanted distractions, while a few easy clicks of the movie creation tools provide advanced video edits. When Acer Chromebook Plus schools are away from an internet connection, they can now take advantage of File Sync, which ensures Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are always accessible via Chromebook Plus File Manager, whether online or offline.3

Acer’s range of TravelMate laptops with Windows 11 Pro embeds Microsoft’s Copilot, which is an AI-powered chat service created for organizations and schools. It encourages students and workers to be more creative and efficient in their tasks and allows them to quickly generate content, summarize documents, and learn new skills. It can even teach coding and other complex topics. Most importantly, Copilot ensures data security and will not leak user, school, or business data outside the organization.