“Ben makes a point of encouraging students to pursue their passions. I was at a crossroads for deciding my capstone project, and a conversation with Ben helped remind me of why I joined the program. He’s adept at guiding students to an answer without giving the answer away. He’s fantastic at breaking down and explaining complex concepts with the use of visual aids and a little humour. Ben has been a pillar to his students, prioritizing our success, and is quick to notice when a student is struggling. He’s easy to approach and has been incredibly reliable when in need of guidance. Ben’s encouragement has pushed me to believe in myself, which is difficult for me at times. He’s helped to reignite my passion.”
Ben, a recipient of a Teacher Recognition Award in 2026, is a faculty member in the Computer Science department at Camosun. “I graduated from Camosun Computer Science in 2000, then worked as a software developer all over North America. In 2019, Saryta [the Computer Science Chair] asked me to consider teaching a course for the new Interactive Media Developer (IMD) program. My company hires a lot of Camosun grads, I know what they can do, but also what I can offer in terms of additional context for the course work. That first class led to more and more work, and eventually I became continuing – it just kind of snuck up on me.” When Ben started, he taught web development, object-orientated programming, and virtual reality development. “Game development has been my teaching focus for the last few years.”
I wondered what it is Ben enjoys about teaching. “Originally, it was the change in the social dynamic of my workplace. Being the ‘boss’ is fine, but it can be a little lonely in terms of collaboration. Teaching is a different dynamic, it is about engaging with people, people who are perhaps a little less jaded than I am, who believe this industry is for them. Industries will always evolve, and it happens when young people bring new ideas and the desire to make changes. Tear things down and build them up again. I try to give students some awareness that creativity has a place in the industry they have chosen. And I hope they feel that way when they leave here.”
In terms of what happens in Ben’s classrooms, “I try to stay focused on why students are here – mostly for jobs. We repeatedly have them produce high-quality work that, in their first semester, they couldn’t figure out how to start. That’s the valuable part they take to their first interview. We don’t train them how to use a specific tool, because we can’t – the tools change too often. Every year, I rewrite my courses to keep up with workforce requirements. And even then, that will likely be out of date when they go to use it. So, we’re just building foundations.” And Ben tries to provide tailored opportunities for his students. “By the time they’re in second year, you have a good idea what they want to do. You know what they’re strong at and you know what they’re weak at. And you can have honest conversations about what they want to focus on, maybe on programming, or maybe on the technical art side. I try to look at them individually, understand what they want to accomplish, and help them produce work that will get the attention of people in the industry.”
Students don’t often come into Ben’s program right out of high school. “Usually, they’ve had a gap year or two, and most of our students are in their early 20s. Students right out of high school sometimes struggle in the first year of the IMD and Information and Computer Systems Technologist (ICS) programs, although some of them do great and I love when a student right out of high school challenges something I say. Sometimes it’s valid.”
I was interested in what impact AI has been having on the curriculum in Ben’s courses. “Students need to be able to use it, but it needs to be used as a tool. We work in a creative space, and while AI can suggest some things, AI can’t read their minds. An issue we’re going to have to navigate is the push back against AI training in creative fields we’re seeing from high-school students. So, while corporations and governments are pushing for AI, the on-the-ground reality is a little different.” Ben himself does like to use AI at times “because how many times do I have to manually code the same feature for a new client? I know how to code it, but AI can do it faster. Students must know how to do things without AI, so, for us, it’s there as a helper. Some of the companies we work with use AI for tedious manual tasks, like training a neural network to do game related generation or video editing which is very expensive to do manually. So, AI can help us, but ultimately, I find that students like to complete their work with their own hands.”
I was curious what kinds of assessments students complete in Ben’s courses. “We’re building games all the time. We start off on a kind of atomic level where we build little features. As we build larger games, students have the freedom to do things the way they want. Regardless of what the icing on the cake looks like, we’re still baking the same cake. All the logic and the functionality, all the things the industry would expect these students to know, are there and reinforced through labs and quizzes.” And what kind of games do students build? “Sometimes we’ll challenge students to build a game in an hour, resulting in little brain teasers and reaction tests. With our adoption of Unreal Engine, a widely used game-development engine, students are building games a lot more like those you’d see in the mainstream. Graphics look fantastic with very little effort these days. Students have built big zombie shooter chase games like you’d buy and play at home. Seeing the craftsmanship and discussions that go into the game development is what I’m interested in. I want to hear students having the correct level of discussion with each other to deliver their visions. I don’t really care what it is they deliver; I just want to know that they have the right thought processes along the way while they’re developing it.”
I asked Ben if he had some memories from his teaching to share. “I’ll always remember the first cohort I taught. Those students become important people in my life, and when your second class comes along you see the new “Tony” or the new “Maggie”.” In terms of specific memories Ben says “We build games, a wonderful combination of technology and art. Students can do some very impressive things with very few tools. I enjoy the interactions where I feel someone has learned something, and the feedback I receive to help me adjust and make my spiel a little tighter, a little more focused. In my first year, I had a student who was able to think of four different ways of architecting one problem in the programming midterm. She coded all four of them and then asked me if I could show her how to performance test them to see which one was the best. That will always stick with me, because she took it further than I was going to take it, so I love that.” And then Ben shared a little anecdote that stuck with me, really speaking to all of us as humans, whether we are instructors or students. “The first day I started here, it took me an hour and a half to get here from Langford. I ran into the room with zero minutes until class started, put my bag down, and one of the students (original Tony) said, ‘You want to take a minute?’ I said, “Yes, I would love a minute.” He said ‘Yeah, we’re good. Why don’t you take five minutes.’ This affirmed that we’re in this together. I’m an industry guy and I’m here to make students feel like they’re getting value for their time and money. And that’s really all that matters.”
Finally, I asked Ben what advice he had for instructors coming to teach at Camosun for the first time. “The main advice I have is that you don’t really have anything to prove. This is not about you. It’s not about feeling like you’re the best at anything. Our job is to make students feel that they’re capable through skills and hope, and that’s it. Make it about them, and it’ll be okay. Being nominated for the Teacher Recognition Award was really touching, I know it came from the students. It’s nice they recognize that I’m working for them.”