On Wednesday, June 7th, Astralis Nexus welcomed 19 Danish educators, primarily teachers and scholars from primary schools, who were all invited to learn more about Astralis' new collaboration with the Center for Educational Resources (CFU).

This collaboration results in a series of exciting courses on facilitated gaming, all of which will be held in the autumn of 2023.

As an organization, Astralis has a declared ambition to support and promote all the positive aspects of gaming and esports, thereby taking social responsibility.

And Wednesday's meeting was just one of several areas within health and digital education that Astralis has chosen to engage in.

The concept behind the courses in the autumn has been developed by special consultants Asger Ravn Nissen, MSc Sport Psychology, and Sofus Bynge, Cand.ling.merc., both employed by Astralis with the responsibility of communicating how esports and gaming can be used to achieve better results in the educational and health work with children and young people.

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Asger Ravn Nissen, MSc Sport Psychology and special consultant at Astralis says:

- At Astralis, we want to improve how esports and gaming are used in the Danish school and education system by providing further training for teachers and educators to better incorporate game-based learning in their teaching.

- More educators are starting to recognize gaming and esports' significant learning potential. Complex team games such as CS:GO, for example, require training in communication and collaboration, and games like Minecraft provide a fun and ideal platform for creativity and innovation.

Sofus Bynge, Cand.ling.merc. and special consultant at Astralis adds:

- There is no doubt that children and young people already have great motivation for gaming, which is why there is tremendous value in helping educators use games as a learning platform, thereby highlighting the learning that occurs through facilitated gaming.

Focus on digital empowerment 

The initial meeting at Astralis Nexus also included the presents of Jakob Damgaard Laursen, special consultant in IT didactics at the Future Classroom Lab at CFU KP, who himself teaches how young people can utilize the skills they naturally acquire by playing games like Counter-Strike, as well as how educators can develop their educational tools to work with well-being and communication.

The purpose of the courses in the autumn is to shed light on how facilitated gaming can be positively used in educational contexts to develop skills such as problem-solving, communication, and collaboration (also known as 21st-century learning skills).

The meeting, held in Astralis Nexus' auditorium, began with a presentation by Jakob Damgaard Laursen on technology understanding and digital empowerment, followed by a one-and-a-half-hour intense CS:GO workshop by Astralis.

The presentation, which focused on gaming as a meaningful educational tool, gave the 19 educators a taste of what they can expect as participants in the courses in the autumn.

These courses will emphasize the "game-proficient educator" who, with insights into the game's culture and mechanics, can act as a positive role model and promote digital education and a healthy gaming culture focusing on ethics and good communication.