The Esport research project
Esports is a form of human v. human competitive video gaming between professionals, amateurs or teams, who often battle for a cash prize. It differs from traditional video gaming in that it is competitive and usually incorporates spectators like traditional sports. As such, the gamers who play at this level often know their games inside out, much like a pro athlete would. However, the sport can be enjoyed by anyone, and it’s uptake has very much been on the rise in recent times.
One of the worlds leading technology companies, Dell, who are driven by the power technology holds to drive human progress wanted to understand more about the value Esports can hold in and outside of education.
The research
Working with OnePoll, Dell, through PR agency Hill and Knowlton, commissioned two arms of Esport research, the first focusing on 1500 parents of 11-18 year olds who play Esports, and the second focusing on 500 key educational stakeholders (e.g. head teachers) with knowledge of Esports. The aim was to ascertain what parents and educational stakeholders alike understand about Esports, and the educational and personal development values that the sport holds.
Both surveys were quantitative in nature and were conducted online. They comprised of agree/disagree style questions, as well as multi choice questions, that would allow OnePoll to ascertain which options come top overall when analysing the data later. Parents answered 16 questions, while the educational stakeholders answered 4. There were also cross breaks of age, gender and region.
The results
The results of the Esport research were very interesting, with 68% of parents agreeing that Esports could play a positive role in education, 69% agreeing that Esports allows their child to develop skills they would not get through traditional education methods, and 48% agreeing that “Esports should be added to the school/college curriculum”. Additionally, 70% agreed that Esports promoted inclusivity amongst children at school/college, and over half said their children can develop: Teamwork, problem solving, technological, confidence, communication, and creativity skills through playing Esports.
Fortnite, Call Of Duty and FIFA came top when parents were asked which games their child plays, with over half of parents selecting these.
In a similar vein, 79% of educational stakeholders said that they think Esports should be played in schools, with the top reasons being because it teaches children soft skills (e.g. communication, teamwork, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, leadership, work ethic, flexibility/adaptability, creativity) and because they think it will help increase their grades in other subjects.
Educational stakeholders did agree that there were however some barriers to implementing Esports in schools, the top ones being that Esports equipment is too expensive, and that the network connections are not strong enough. Furthermore, of those educational stakeholders who said esports should not be taught in schools, the top reasons for this were that there is not enough evidence to show it is educational, and that it might distract pupils from other school subjects.
To support the data analysis, OnePoll delivered summary tables and worked with sister agency 72point to deliver detailed news copy incorporating the key statistics
View the News coverage document here