shindigs Profile Blog Joined May 2009 United States 4775 Posts Last Edited: 2012-07-27 18:19:39 #1 Intro

In Fall 2011, I held the first BarCraft at UC Irvine where I met a post-doc researcher who was interested in studying StarCraft and eSports. I offered to help out and since then, I've been involved in a variety of projects with the group that aim to study the community and culture of SC2.



One of these projects is a coaching platform in order to study interest based learning and interest based match making. The platform first supported matching people with mentors for Web Development, Photography, and even StarCraft 2! We've already ran the first trial with about ~10 coaches and are looking to recruit 30 coaches for this next trial!



All skill levels are welcome. We're aiming to coach students who have little to seasoned RTS experience. Last trial, we had students who were casual bronze-leaguers to master league students looking for that extra edge - and all our coaches filled those roles. If you're passionate in sharing your interest in ESPORTS, please consider helping us out!



Sounds awesome, but what is this exactly?

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate what it takes for someone to take a hobby or interest that delivers the individual useful and lifelong skills (multitasking, critical thinking, patience, competition, etc) and how they can develop this interest or hobby into something much more serious (see: StarCraft 2). There's a great phenomenon online where people have taken a small interest in games, web development, video editing, etc and have been driven and motivated enough to make this interest into full time careers (sometimes)! We're not promising you'll be coaching the next Flash, but we're interested to evaluate the role of mentors in this transition.



TL;DR

What: We want StarCraft 2 coaches!

When: ASAP! Sign up now and coaching trials begin in the next few weeks and end August 30th

Why: To study the role of a coach/mentor in taking an interest and turning it into something more serious



Sound awesome?

We've finished recruiting our coaches and are now taking students!

Students and Practice Partners sign up here:

http://teachmestuff.net/starcraft2/starcraft2-coaches/

Sorry, NA only









About the program

About the team



Relevant links and affiliation:

Connected Learning Research Network



More details from my colleagues:







It's hard to get good at StarCraft II, and even harder if you don't know other players who can help you improve your game. Personal coaching can push players to work harder at getting good, take the leap into the StarCraft II community, and eventually become an awesome player.



Imagine a 13 year old kid who got StarCraft II for the holidays. He loves the game. The problem: he has no siblings, and no friends in his school who play. After a period of time playing mostly alone, and unable to advance on the ladder, he gives up playing.



We can change this situation! We can show kids and even parents about what a challenging and awesome game StarCraft II is. We can teach them basic techniques and can tell them how the game makes us smarter, and why it is worth learning to get better at!





Who Can Apply?



Players with any skill level can apply. We have recruited students anywhere from being completely new to StarCraft II, to being in the Master’s league.



+ Show Spoiler +



Coaches who apply will need to fill out a “Coach Signup” form. For all accepted coaches, we will display their profiles on TeachMeStuff.net. Soon after, we will launch the student application. Any students who are interested in learning StarCraft II can visit TeachMeStuff.net, pick a coach they like, and fill out a student application form.



Coaches can access the application forms of students who have applied to them. Coaches are free to accept or reject any application. A coach is free to coach any number of students.



We will begin recruiting students from June 18, 2012. The trial will end on August 30, 2012. At the end of the trial, we will ask coaches to fill out an exit survey.



Sounds good. How Do I Apply?



Sign up here:

http://teachmestuff.net/starcraft2/starcraft2-coach-signup/



About TeachMeStuff.net



TeachMeStuff.net is a scalable matchmaking platform that provides mentor matchmaking to a variety of different learning needs. TeachMeStuff.net has run matchmaking programs in StarCraft II, web development, and photography. To learn more about TeachMeStuff.net, check out the about page:

http://teachmestuff.net/about/ How Does It Work?Coaches who apply will need to fill out a “Coach Signup” form. For all accepted coaches, we will display their profiles on TeachMeStuff.net. Soon after, we will launch the student application. Any students who are interested in learning StarCraft II can visit TeachMeStuff.net, pick a coach they like, and fill out a student application form.Coaches can access the application forms of students who have applied to them. Coaches are free to accept or reject any application. A coach is free to coach any number of students.We will begin recruiting students from June 18, 2012. The trial will end on August 30, 2012. At the end of the trial, we will ask coaches to fill out an exit survey.Sounds good. How Do I Apply?Sign up here:About TeachMeStuff.netTeachMeStuff.net is a scalable matchmaking platform that provides mentor matchmaking to a variety of different learning needs. TeachMeStuff.net has run matchmaking programs in StarCraft II, web development, and photography. To learn more about TeachMeStuff.net, check out the about page: Why Are We Doing This?It's hard to get good at StarCraft II, and even harder if you don't know other players who can help you improve your game. Personal coaching can push players to work harder at getting good, take the leap into the StarCraft II community, and eventually become an awesome player.Imagine a 13 year old kid who got StarCraft II for the holidays. He loves the game. The problem: he has no siblings, and no friends in his school who play. After a period of time playing mostly alone, and unable to advance on the ladder, he gives up playing.We can change this situation! We can show kids and even parents about what a challenging and awesome game StarCraft II is. We can teach them basic techniques and can tell them how the game makes us smarter, and why it is worth learning to get better at!Who Can Apply?Players with any skill level can apply. We have recruited students anywhere from being completely new to StarCraft II, to being in the Master’s league. In Fall 2011, I held the first BarCraft at UC Irvine where I met a post-doc researcher who was interested in studying StarCraft and eSports. I offered to help out and since then, I've been involved in a variety of projects with the group that aim to study the community and culture of SC2.One of these projects is a coaching platform in order to study interest based learning and interest based match making. The platform first supported matching people with mentors for Web Development, Photography, and even StarCraft 2! We've already ran the first trial with about ~10 coaches and are looking to recruitAll skill levels are welcome. We're aiming to coach students who have little to seasoned RTS experience. Last trial, we had students who were casual bronze-leaguers to master league students looking for that extra edge - and all our coaches filled those roles. If you're passionate in sharing your interest in ESPORTS, please consider helping us out!The purpose of this trial is to evaluate what it takes for someone to take a hobby or interest that delivers the individual useful and lifelong skills (multitasking, critical thinking, patience, competition, etc) and how they can develop this interest or hobby into something much more serious (see: StarCraft 2). There's a great phenomenon online where people have taken a small interest in games, web development, video editing, etc and have been driven and motivated enough to make this interest into full time careers (sometimes)! We're not promising you'll be coaching the next Flash, but we're interested to evaluate the role of mentors in this transition.TL;DRWe want StarCraft 2 coaches!ASAP! Sign up now and coaching trials begin in the next few weeks and end August 30thTo study the role of a coach/mentor in taking an interest and turning it into something more seriousSound awesome?We've finished recruiting our coaches and are now taking students!Relevant links and affiliation:More details from my colleagues: Photographer @shindags || twitch.tv/shindigs