Bryden Parker and I excitedly looked out the window of his father’s car at our reward for the extra work we put in for the eSports club during the last week or so. The Berna Facio Professional Development Center stood triumphantly despite the snow still coming down slowly outside. Owned by Albuquerque Public School, the complex was often used by APS for events and conferences, one of which being the entire reason we were there: The New Mexico Digital Learning Conference.
The NMDLC is a gathering of educators, students, and organizations with the purpose of showcasing different ways technology can be utilized in the field of education. Unfortunately, the same day it was set to take place ended up being the same day Albuquerque got a snowstorm. Luckily, the Conference started on schedule, at 8 o’clock sharp that morning.
Bryden’s dad let us out and wished us luck at our booth. Walking in, a staff member asked us if we were part of the eSports booth. We nodded yes, and were pointed in the direction of our area. Our school eSports team, the Raiding Raptors, had been invited there to share our experiences with eSports and advocate for its benefits and growth. Attending the event from our team was Kyran Hollis, Jacob Roybal, Ryan Vargas, and Bryden, who was mentioned before.
The booth, as we found out, was actually a fairly small room (about half of a typical classroom) containing a flatscreen TV, touch-sensitive Promethean Board, and three higher-end computers. The rest of our group from the eSports team was already there, including our coach and Media Literacy teacher Dr. Miles Harvey. Also joining us was APS eSports Coordinator Josh Martinez, who is good friends with Dr. Harvey. The students met him on the stream for the East vs. West Rocket League Tournament, which pitted five teams from the west side of Albuquerque and five from the east.
We ended up playing Rocket League, League of Legends, and Super Smash Bros. for the majority of the day, showing off our skills and connecting with other eSports players and coaches. There were also a lot of interested educators and journalists from the ABQ area and elsewhere. When asked about his experience at the conference, Yousef Dakmih says, “It was fun, enjoyable, and I got to learn a lot of new things.”
The NMDLC is a gathering of educators, students, and organizations with the purpose of showcasing different ways technology can be utilized in the field of education. Unfortunately, the same day it was set to take place ended up being the same day Albuquerque got a snowstorm. Luckily, the Conference started on schedule, at 8 o’clock sharp that morning.
Bryden’s dad let us out and wished us luck at our booth. Walking in, a staff member asked us if we were part of the eSports booth. We nodded yes, and were pointed in the direction of our area. Our school eSports team, the Raiding Raptors, had been invited there to share our experiences with eSports and advocate for its benefits and growth. Attending the event from our team was Kyran Hollis, Jacob Roybal, Ryan Vargas, and Bryden, who was mentioned before.
The booth, as we found out, was actually a fairly small room (about half of a typical classroom) containing a flatscreen TV, touch-sensitive Promethean Board, and three higher-end computers. The rest of our group from the eSports team was already there, including our coach and Media Literacy teacher Dr. Miles Harvey. Also joining us was APS eSports Coordinator Josh Martinez, who is good friends with Dr. Harvey. The students met him on the stream for the East vs. West Rocket League Tournament, which pitted five teams from the west side of Albuquerque and five from the east.
We ended up playing Rocket League, League of Legends, and Super Smash Bros. for the majority of the day, showing off our skills and connecting with other eSports players and coaches. There were also a lot of interested educators and journalists from the ABQ area and elsewhere. When asked about his experience at the conference, Yousef Dakmih says, “It was fun, enjoyable, and I got to learn a lot of new things.”