I have a hunch this will be the first of many “I knew him when …” stories! Check out the recent profile of an NSF-funded Esports project with Dr. Jason Engerman, Assistant Professor at East Stroudsburg University (ESU). As presented in the profile:
Esports is competitive gaming, meaning students will play video games they already love, but this time to be able to learn from them. “We see Esports becoming this billion dollar industry very rapidly, we understand that there is a new emerging opportunity for job growth,” said Dr. Jason Engerman, Assistant Professor at ESU … The school is preparing to hold a camp and other events to give students the chance to participate in Esports games … they tell News 13 they would like to help at-risk youth. “The at-risk youth which we define as homeless, out of home placement, out of school placement or out of community placement. These students are really the ones who get left behind,” added Dr. Engerman.
Jason was a co-founder of Designers for Learning, and during his 3-year term on our board he helped us design and facilitate our early service-learning projects, including our first collaboration with the AECT Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) when he was GSA President. I remember meeting him like it was yesterday. He paused by my booth at the AECT Convention when Designers for Learning was just an “idea” for a service project I was trying to launch. After my 30-second elevator pitch, he told me something along the lines of, “I want in. Contact me. I’ve gotta run to my next session.” To my amazement, he MEANT IT and many web conferenced brainstorming sessions followed. I can’t tell you how it makes my heart swell to see him achieve much-deserved success as he follows his passion and finds his purpose!