Gamify Your Teaching
Increasing vocational competences of entrepreneurship Teachers with the use of gamification
Agreement n. 2015-1-RO01-KA202-014975
The idea of GAMIFY stems from the need to update the training system in Europe, considering that today in the EU more than 5 million children under the age of 25 are unemployed. According to the “Rethinking Education” (2012) initiative, in order to build “new skills for the 21st century”, more space should be given to entrepreneurial capacity, considered one of the main skills capable of filling the unemployment gap. Although entrepreneurship is currently the subject of teaching in many of the European school courses, this is still not treated with an effective teaching method.
In response to these needs, the Gamify Your Teaching project aims to support the development of professional skills of teachers and trainers dealing with entrepreneurship, as well as to improve the teaching of ICT through innovative pedagogy and an approach to teaching linked to the use of specific game techniques.
Indeed, teachers and trainers from the vocational training sector are directly involved in the project activities, as are the students.
The project has a total duration of 24 months, starting in September 2015 and scheduled for September 2017.
The project is based on a partnership between 7 European countries (Romania, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom, Spain and Greece) involved in activities that aim to create and test a game, as well as to develop an innovative methodology for entrepreneurship training, through the use of game techniques. The bases of these activities are given by a specific analysis carried out by the partners and by external experts in the field of social research, in order to understand what are the fundamental requirements and characteristics for the creation of the game and the teaching materials for teachers and trainers. The results of the analysis will be elaborated in a specific report. Furthermore, case studies of successful companies are collected, which can be a source of inspiration useful to students and to all those who wish to open an independent activity.
What will the project concretely produce? (Intellectual outputs, concrete products):
- 01 REPORT ON THE ANALYSIS OF NEEDS – the analysis has the purpose of defining the main characteristics that will have to play, as well as the level of competence in the field of ICT for teachers and trainers.
- O2 THE PLAY – consists of 7 teaching modules related to entrepreneurial skills. The game will be divided into levels based on scenarios and content that will simulate an entrepreneurial activity. The level of the game consists of a real scene composed of a series of possible paths to be taken based on the decisions taken.
- O3 TEACHING MATERIALS – are intended to guide teachers in the use of the game. The materials will be in electronic format and can be downloaded directly from the dedicated site.
- O4 CASE STUDIES – consists of a collection of at least 35 successful business experiences to support all those who want to undertake an entrepreneurial journey.
Expected results:
The project will have a significant impact, which will be noticed in particular on teachers and students who will use the products and who will therefore have the opportunity to increase their entrepreneurial and ICT skills. In the long period the project will have a significant impact on how to increase the spirit of entrepreneurship not only of the students who will take part in the project, but also of other young people who will be reached through different communication channels.
The project also represents an important opportunity to increase collaboration between vocational training schools, companies, social partners and other sector bodies throughout Europe, as well as the sharing of experiences and skills among all the partner countries of the project.
Official website of the project: http://gamify-project.eu/it/
