European Network for Growing Activity in Gamebased learning in Education - ENGAGE
Final Report
Public Part
Project information
Project acronym:
ENGAGE
Project title:
European Network for Growing Activity in Gamebased learning in Education
Project number:
143881-LLP-1-2008-1-AT-KA4-KA4MP
Sub-programme or KA:
Transversal Programme KA4 (Valorisation)
Multilateral Project
Project website:
Reporting period:
http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/
From
01/01/2009
To
31/12/2010
Report version:
1
Date of preparation:
25/02/2011
Beneficiary organisation:
FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences
Project coordinator:
FH Prof. DI Dr. Maja Pivec
Project coordinator organisation:
FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences
Project coordinator telephone number:
+43 316 5453 8623
Project coordinator email address:
[email protected]
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein.
© 2008 Copyright Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency.
The document may be freely copied and distributed provided that no modifications are made, that the
source is acknowledged and that this copyright notice is included.
Executive Summary
The establishment of an European Game-Based Learning Portal provides the main
dissemination area for the ENGAGE project, specifically for games for learning providing a
central information resource for people interested in games for learning and using games for
curricular contents. This target audience not only includes practitioners (teachers, trainers,
tutors) and students of all levels, but also industry representatives involved in game
development of recreational games that are used for learning and educational games
designed specifically for the curriculum.
The project objectives included the creation of this web based dissemination portal, as well
as the establishment of a user community to foster the use of GBL within the education
sector. The portal also includes decision tools and game review catalogue to reduce the
learning curve and assists the implementation of GBL with curriculum contexts. A printed
version of the game review catalogue was made available in 2010 and is also downloadable
in a pdf form from the Teacher section of the ENGAGE portal.
The partners involved in the ENGAGE project have extensive experience in both the
Pedagogical and Game-Based Learning domains. Having involvement in previous (Unigame,
Sig-Glue, Discover) and other ongoing EC funded projects (Imagine) that utilise Games with
Education, this consortium brings forward the knowledge and tools previously developed,
adding to the sustainability of other GBL projects.
By adopting an iterative and incremental approach for the project methodology, the target
audience will feed the development cycle for the tools, workshops, and the portal, ensuring
that the project outputs are usable and correctly aimed at the end user.
With 43 606 unique visits of portal in both years; with 766 550 hits in 2009, and in 2010 that
almost doubled to 1 350 090 hits, with 36 066 unique visits only in 2010, the portal has grown
into a valuable resource for the GBL community. The portal has been actively promoted at
major European conferences (ECGBL, GBL2009, Online Educa 2009 and 2010, EDEN
2010, Eminent 2010) and also over social network sites such as Facebook (406 friends) and
Linkedin ENGAGE group. Other sites receive RSS news feeds from the portal and partner
links ensure a high level of visibility for this project.
Within the 2010, further workshops were conducted in 12 EC countries, summer school for
educational game design and Golden Pineapple Awards ™ – a student contest for designing
learning games was hosted by the consortium.
Partnership experience from the workshops organized in the European landscape is collated
in the GBL Methodological guidelines for uptake of games for learning. In second half of
2010 a bi-monthly newsletter was issued to inform ENGAGE stakeholders about activities
and results.
At the Quality award ceremony on 3rd December 2010 at the Online EDUCA Berlin, out of
submissions from 11 countries, winning games in categories Best Practice, Best Learning
Game and Inclusion were awarded.
Further detailed information on the above activities can be found on the project website and
ENGAGE portal at www.ENGAGElearning.eu.
Table of Contents
1. PROJECT OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 5
2. PROJECT APPROACH....................................................................................... 7
3. PROJECT OUTCOMES & RESULTS ................................................................. 9
4. PARTNERSHIPS ............................................................................................... 13
5. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE............................................................................... 18
6. CONTRIBUTION TO EU POLICIES .................................................................. 20
1.
Project Objectives
The experiences in previous and on-going projects show that there is; a high potential in
the application of games for learning; a strong interest amongst an increasing group of
practitioners in the introduction of new game-based approaches; a lack of awareness
amongst other stakeholders of the potentials of games for learning and for curricular
contents; a lack of information about where to obtain resources and good practice
relevant for curricular contents; and a lack of awareness regarding quality issues in the
context of games used for learning.
The ENGAGE activities are structured to have a wide-ranging impact: (i) the objective is
to prove that game-based learning (GBL) is a method applicable for all five sectors of
education, (ii) the ENGAGE tools will support adaptation of GBL regarding local and
cultural issues, and (iii) the valorisation activities are defined to cover directly 12 EC
countries and to initiate further dissemination and uptake of tools and methods in the rest
of the countries.
The specific objectives of ENGAGE are:
1. The creation of a European Games-Based Learning (GBL) Portal: a central
information resource for people interested in games for learning and using games
for curricular contents. The promotion of the portal through social networking and
professional groups on networks such as Facebook and Linkedin, will increase
awareness of GBL and encourage practitioners, students, and the game
development industry to become involved and utilise this resource. Using a
combination of Web 2.0 technologies (forums, wikis, blogs, podcasts, webspaces)
the portal will provide:
a. Documented methodologies for developing and implementing game-based
learning for practitioners, developers, and other stakeholders of the learning
community. These methodologies will be in the form of publications, case
studies, and forum discussions, and be fully searchable via an indexed online
database.
b. A basis for a Europe-wide dialogue on the role of games and game-based
approaches in Education and training and their acceptance by and effects on
society, focusing on localisation and cultural issues as well as safety and
rating agendas. The portal forum and news blog will allow interested parties
and community groups to comment and discuss relevant GBL topics on a
daily basis, increasing awareness and encouraging the formation of a
network.
c. Dissemination for past and ongoing eLearning and LLP projects and
their outcomes, related to the application of games for learning and the
valorisation of these. Through a link and document repository, the outcomes
and output of these projects can be shared not only with practitioners, but also
with students interested in GBL.
2. Development and implementation of targeted workshops in 12 EC countries
thus:
a. Supporting practitioners/teachers/tutors in developing a predictive and
proactive capacity to select games. Be it recreational games to teach with or
educational games to utilise, these workshops will provide information and
methodologies to teachers in selecting what works in the domain of GBL and
why.
b. Assisting stakeholders in the adaptation and adoption of learning games in
their teaching and learning processes, thus increasing the pleasure of
learning. Through examples and case studies, the workshops will allow
teachers and tutors to utilise GBL as a tool to accelerate the learning of their
students by developing documented approaches to implementation.
c. Collaborating with game designers/producers in the development of new
educational products. The views, needs, and wants of teachers and tutors will
be discussed, analysed, and conveyed to the development community and
on-going dialogs will be promoted between all stakeholders via the ENGAGE
Portal.
3. Increasing the monitoring capacity of policy makers on the development of
GBL in Europe and on the promotion of quality approaches to education and
learning supporting the motivation to learn thus also the pleasure of learning. The
ENGAGE Portal will collate outputs from other eLearning and LLP projects, as
well as ongoing initiatives within GBL, to aid practitioners and policy makers in
school-based, adult and vocational education in their strategies for the
implementation of Game-Based Learning.
2.
Project Approach
The Project Methodology utilised for the ENGAGE project in the implementation of the
Portal and Workshop outputs, was the Iterative and Incremental approach. By having the
ability to implement different phases of the project process iteratively, enabled the process to
be executed successfully, by incrementally aligning the required output and resources with
the end-user and stakeholders.
The specific activities to comply with the projects objectives are ongoing and continually
evolve with feedback from the project stakeholders in compliance with the adopted
implementation methodology.
The predominant project outputs and specific activities are described as follows:
1. The creation of a web based portal, adapted and extended from the collaborative
tools developed within the project SIG-GLUE to the specificities of the ENGAGE
project, including the refinement and maintenance of existing community tools, and
the creation of frameworks based on Web 2.0 technologies and methodologies,
allowing collaborative dialogue, networking, and interaction of participants and
interested parties from all targeted sectors across Europe. The portal will support
stakeholders at many different levels, providing for their needs and requirements, and
soliciting input prior to and during the development of the following:
a. The set up of an interactive web-based users guide, (i.e. a toolkit for the
application of game-based learning approaches, also covering quality issues
relating to games and game-like learning materials),
b. Creation of decision-making tools for practitioners, and support for a reduction
of the learning curve on the basis of a roadmap for transferring and federating
game-based learning into a range of learning contexts, taking into account
cultural and localisation issues.
c. Organising a Europe wide valorisation process using the twinning method
(where each partner will find a strategic partner i.e. ENGAGE promoter in a
neighbouring country, that will help in valorisation activities within this country)
and involving national e-learning and/or teacher associations, including the
promotion of forum discussions and content upload on the ENGAGE platform,
evolving to a range of self sustainable services for stakeholders.
d. The documentation of the state of the art in game-based learning research,
with a special focus on cultural and localisation issues, with the inclusion of
this and previous project results, and the creation of online questionnaires and
surveys to solicit feedback in order to support further valorisation of results.
e. The creation and publication of a handbook of games for learning and good
practices, and the issue of a yearly report on game-based learning.
2. A structured set of valorisation activities based on targeted international workshops
and a series of national seminars to promote GBL and the quality of learning games.
Specific events will be:
a. Workshops offered to targeted groups: teachers, headmasters, university
professors, students (Education sector), trainers, mentors, tutors (Training
sector), offering highly relevant and ready-to-use resources by experienced
practitioners and industry experts.
b. Seminars and presentations at targeted events involved with eLearning,
teacher training, and Game-Based learning, promoting the ENGAGE portal
and ongoing project activities.
The Evaluation Strategy employed to comply with the required quality assurance is certified
according to ISO standards, specifically the requirement to commit to more informal quality
standards and evaluation processes. The adopted evaluation process employed for this
project has four basic requirements as outlined below:
1. Usefulness – clearly defined evaluation goals, demands of users of evaluation
results,
2. Feasibility – realistic planning concerning methods, time, costs, diplomacy in
evaluation processes,
3. Fairness – respect of standards of how to deal respectfully and fairly with
evaluation objects, and
4. Accuracy & Exactness – production and arrangement of valid results addressing
evaluation questions, aims, and targets.
3.
Project Outcomes & Results
The major achievements and results of the ENGAGE project are listed as follows:
1. The Project management handbook: This document which includes the proposed
project structure, the communication flows, assigned partner responsibilities, and
documented methods for resolving conflicts, gives the necessary project internal
formal structure to support productive work and ensure the completion of proposed
outputs by the international multidisciplinary project team.
2. The ENGAGE Portal http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/: This European Game Based
Learning Portal is main dissemination area for the project, specifically for games for
learning and provides a central information resource for people interested in games
for learning and using games for curricular contents. The portal also contains sections
for partners of the project within this web site. With 43 606 unique visits of portal in
both years; with 766 550 hits in 2009, and in 2010 that almost doubled to 1 350 090
hits, with 36 066 unique visits only in 2010, the portal has grown into a valuable
resource for the GBL community. The portal is also promoted over social network
sites, e.g. the Facebook fan page has topped 400 members and the Linkedin group is
well on it’s way to 100 members.
The portal uses a combination of Web 2.0 technologies (forums, wikis, blogs,
podcasts, webspaces) supporting Europe-wide community activities of educational
stakeholders on the topics related to the role of games and game-based approaches
in Education and training and their acceptance by and effects on the society. The
portal also offers a set of so-called decision-making tools for practitioners that
provide guidance on “If”, “How” and “What” are the steps related to introduction of
game-based learning within different learning contexts. See
http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/teachers/?page_id=28 and
http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/community/?page_id=13
3. Online Catalogue of Games for Learning: This resource contains game reviews
and case studies of how selected games may be used in a classroom environment
and suggested implementation of these games. The experience of the reviewer is
tabled and a walkthrough to reduce the learning curve is detailed within the
document. These reviews are available from the portal and accessible using the
search tool, where one can select either a combination of the proposed keywords or
just use the quick search of the page.
http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/teachers/?page_id=26
4. Valorisation & Dissemination Plan: This document contains specification of
valorisation methodology broken up by workshops and follow up activities, that will be
carried out in the countries of project partners and neighbouring countries. To reach
maximum EC coverage, national multipliers from other countries are invited to take
part in these events and act as promoter within their own country.
For more details see http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/teachers/?page_id=30
5. International Workshops for Teachers, Promoters: ENGAGE hosted a successful
workshop at Online Educa 2009 in Berlin. The target audience of this workshop were
practitioners e.g. university teachers, school teachers and trainers in continuous
education, educational game developers, digital learning resource developers,
training organizations, and others who want to make learning engaging and fun! See
presentation slides and workshop details at http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/?p=580
Second workshop wan carried out as an online workshop offered via ENGAGE portal
forum. The workshop was scheduled between 16th and 24th of December 2010. The
discussions from the second workshop are available in the forum
http://www.engagelearning.eu/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=28
6. Dissemination Activities: As well as the formation of social network groups on
Facebook and Linkedin, web links have been co-ordinated with sites such as
www.elearningeuropa.info and RSS news feeds from the ENGAGE portal are
supplied to sites such as www.qualityfoundation.org and
www.gamedesigncampus.com.
Brochures and flyers were created and distributed at information stands, in
conjunction with formal presentations at conferences such as GBL 2009, GBL 2010 in
London, at the FH JOANNEUM Didactic day and e-learning day, aimed for Teacher
Training in Austria in 2009 and 2010. Press release was compiled and distributed to
relevant media. ENGAGE promotional video in English language was created early
2010 and uploaded on the portal. Promotional video in German language targeting
mainly students was uploaded to utube. Several promotional videos related to portal,
game catalogue and summer school are available in the ENGAGE learning video
vault http://www.engagelearning.eu/?page_id=891 and were promoted over social
network sites.
The keynote presentation on day 2 at the European Conference for Game-Based
Learning (www.academic-conferences.org/ecgbl/ecgbl2009/ecgbl09-home.htm)
focused on the ENGAGE learning project, presenting the Portal, the tools, and
promoting the project goals. Three partner members of the project consortium each
spoke to a full auditorium and answered questions following the session.
The keynote presentation at the Teaching & Leanring Conference 2010 was also
promoting ENGAGE resources for teachers and GBL methodology.
There was also an ENGAGE workshop session presenting the portal and tools at the
EDEN 2010 conference.
The ENGAGE portal has been referenced in major publications such as the
Teacher’s Handbook on how to use digital games in schools by the European
Schoolnet, and in report from Becta, the UK Government agency promoting
technology in schools, in Imagine recommendations for policy makers, distributed
throughout EUN to education ministries, EC Design and Learning Conference 2010
amongst others. At the DiVa regional round table (Good practices for dissemination
and valorisation http://www.diva-project.eu/), ENGAGE was presented within the
frame of selected EC projects, with respect of dissemination activities and reaching
general public.
7. Evaluation and QA Plan: This document outlines different evaluation segments
related to the various objects of the evaluation. Furthermore an evaluation framework
i.e. tools and techniques are developed to assure coherent and permanent evaluation
to collect feedback necessary for improvement of work processes as well as project
results.
8. Sustainability and Exploitation Plan: The document provide analysis of services
and products of the ENGAGE project with respect to the added value for stakeholders
and will include analysis of threads, successes and possible courses of action. This
will enable to establish cooperation with pertinent groups and make adequate actions
to ensure the sustainability of the results and continuation of activities after the project
end.
9. Two sets of workshops and follow up activities were carried out in the first half of
this year, i.e. in each partner country and in six neighbouring countries. Based on the
collated feedback from the first set of workshops improvement for second set of
workshops and international events will be implemented in accordance with the
project methodology. For the second set of workshops and international activities, the
project team strived for proactive involvement of multipliers from all EC countries.
Lessons learned from valorisation activities and good practice examples were
presented at international events for stakeholders (e.g. EDEN 2010, Design and
Learning Coference, Eminent conference, Online Educa 2010,).
Timelines, and details for national and international workshops and events are
published at the web site. Application for workshops were carried out via the form
available on the portal.
http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/teachers/?page_id=30
10. GBL Uptake Methodological Guidelines was compiled and includes complete
documentation of the valorisation methodology, the process followed, and the lessons
learned. Based on this, recommendations for uptake of game-based learning were
elaborated and promoted at workshops, events, and via the ENGAGE portal.
11. Sustainability activities and commitments that will allow project success after the
end of EC financial period have been direct by the partnership with inviting prominent
actors in the GBL field as members of the Advisory board. At the same time an
intensive focus was in getting the corresponding industry support. There is
commitment from the partnership to further sustain, use and disseminate project
results, and to continue to support the GBL community including informal and formal
networks that have been established.
12. The publication of printed Yearly Catalogue (of game-based learning & games for
learning) was executed in the middle of 2010 that allowed to distribute the catalogue
amongst the stakeholders.
13. A Green Paper on Game-Based Learning reflects the state of the art, needs and
trends related to game based learning and the influence in the society. It will serve
decision makers for setting strategic goals and defining related activities for their
institutions. Based on the green paper institutions will be able to get orientation and
proposed directions for further development and establishment of GBL within their
curriculum activities.
14. Intensification of online activities via the ENGAGE portal were directed at the
student community, as well as to other stakeholders, and included moderated forums
on various topics related to game-based learning and educational game design.
15. Ideas Market was established with the help of select industry experts. Using the
ENGAGE portal this concept will facilitate the dialogue amongst practitioners and
student designers, and game developers with the industry sector.
http://www.engagelearning.eu/industry/?page_id=11
16. Summer school on game design for games for learning, aimed at students, was held
in Tampere, Finland, from 30th of August till 3rd of September in 2010 at the
DEMOLA Centre of Innovation. http://www.engagelearning.eu/students/?page_id=17
17. First student contest in international dimensions for Golden Pineapple Awards™ for
GBL game concepts was realised in the second half of 2010 and finished on 20th of
December with an online awarding event. In total, 20 entries were selected for review
from over 70 submissions from 10 European countries.
http://www.engagelearning.eu/students/?page_id=19
18. At the Quality award ceremony on 3rd December 2010 at the Online EDUCA Berlin,
out of submissions from 11 countries, winning games in categories Best Practice,
Best Learning Game and Inclusion were awarded.
All the activities and lessons learned culminate and are summed up and analysed in
Valorisation & Dissemination Report, Evaluation & QA report, and reflected in the Final
Report.
All produced tools, information, materials and project results are continuously updated and
made available via the ENGAGE portal www.ENGAGElearning.eu.
4.
Partnerships
The partners bringing value to the ENGAGE project are as follows:
FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria
Main focus at the Department of Information Design at FH JOANNEUM is the planning and
implementation of interactions with information objects and equipment that is easy and
efficient. In particular, the solving of existing problems in the technical and aesthetic design
of the human-computer interface is the declared goal of the department. The research group
explores issues in eLearning and Game-Based Learning, engineering, cultural studies,
aesthetics, cognitive science and rhetoric, helping to build digital systems through which
users can more effectively communicate, interact, and learn. One strong research focus is on
innovative learning approaches, i.e. game-based learning amongst others. FH JOANNEUM
was scientific leader of the UniGame EC Minerva founded project (www.unigame.net,
finished 2004), and project co-ordinator of SIG-GLUE EC eLearning project (www.sigglue.net), and of the Austrian national project AdeLE (http://adele.fh-joanneum.at).
Within the ENGAGE project, FH JOANNEUM is responsible for the technical, scientific and
administrative co-ordination.
Florida Education Centre, Valencia, Spain
Florida is an education cooperative active at all levels of education, ranging from
kindergarten through secondary and university (affiliated to the University of Valencia and the
Polytechnic University of Valencia) all the way through to senior learning. They have wide
experience in the use of technology to enhance learning (working with ICT since 1996),
coupled with extensive pedagogical expertise and a tradition of innovation in education,
working in close collaboration with the regional Ministry of Education in different educational
contexts. At secondary level, Florida was a pioneer centre for the LOGSE education reform
and were recently given a Ministry of Education award in recognition of their lifetime
contributions to the quality of vocational training in the Valencian community. Recent work
has focused on informal learning and the use of games in different areas. The expertise
gained has allowed them to become a reference for teacher training in this field in the area.
Florida is also active in the field of quality in education, organising yearly conferences on this
since 1999 and implementing the EFQM and Excelencia Educativa models. They are
currently active in two projects focusing on the use of virtual worlds in education.
Within the ENGAGE project, Florida is responsible for Valorization and Dissemination.
SCIENTER, Bologna, Italy.
SCIENTER’s internal structure is articulated into four units: one of which is focused on
Formative Design and Evaluation Unit. This Unit carries out research activities and technical
assistance in the following areas: project, policy and impact evaluation, design,
implementation and evaluation of ICT supported learning and elearning systems; quality and
certification of learning sources used in distance learning and elearning systems;
transferability of learning materials used in distance learning and elearning systems taking on
principles of transculturality, Scienter 's expertise and know how in the evaluation and quality
issues has been acquired during its year of existence and through the coordination and the
participation in research actions and projects developed at local, national and international
level.
Within the ENGAGE project, SCIENTER is responsible for Evaluation and QA.
DEIS Department of Education Development, Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland.
DEIS have co-ordinated and participated on a wide range of national and EU-funded
research projects in the areas of eLearning and Game-Based Learning; an indicative list of
which is available @ http://deis.cit.ie/projects.html. The department have also been involved
in the design and development of e-learning solutions for a number of high-profile clients
including Citigroup, Vodafone and Ericsson. DEIS ENGAGEs in the design and
implementation of various innovative interventions in education and training; these are
conducted on a pilot basis and integrated into mainstream provision, based on evaluation by
the department in conjunction with the senior staff within the Institute. The range of
interventions the department has researched is extensive, but relates primarily to the
following areas of (1) ODL and e-learning, with a particular emphasis on web-based solution,
(2) advanced educational technology such as m-learning and serious games, and (3) RPL
(Recognition of Prior Learning) and the accreditation of work-based learning.
Within the ENGAGE project, DEIS is responsible for Tool development.
EFQUEL, Belgium
The European Foundation for Quality in eLearning (EFQUEL) is a Non-Profit Association,
which has its origins in three successful European eLearning projects, all in the field of
quality in eLearning in Europe. The Foundation is Europe’s largest network on quality in
eLearning and has members from over 18 members states and includes Europe’s largest
networks in the field of Learning (EDEN), Higher Education (EDEN, EUROPACE), Industry
(ELIG), Schools (European SchoolNet) as its members and close contacts. The Foundation
serves as sustainable and proactive network and will provide valuable services to the
European eLearning community. EFQUEL approaches quality in e-learning from
complementary perspectives and develops full-scale services for all educational fields,
regional contexts and target groups. The Foundation is providing support, transparency,
open participation and leadership for a broad range of topics.
Within the ENGAGE project, EFQUEL is co-responsible for the Sustainability.
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
Middle East Technical University (METU) is the leading public technical university in Turkey
with more than 20,000 students and more than 1000 academic staff. METU is a point of
reference for Turkey’s industry, engineering, production and new e-Business based activities.
The major aim of the Faculty of Education, that is part of METU, is to train teachers and
educators qualified to teach at every educational level. The theoretical as well as applied
courses that the faculty offers enable prospective teachers to become professionals who are
constantly in touch with recent scientific and technological developments. Within the Faculty
of Education there are two research groups, both of which will participate in this project. One
of them is "Simulations and Games in Education" (SIMGE) research group
(simge.metu.edu.tr). The main aim of this group is to conduct research on the use of
simulations and games in education. In addition to pedagogical and cognitive issues, the
SIMGE researchers also focus on the social and technical issues of simulations and games.
The other one is “Human Computer Interaction” research group (hci.metu.edu.tr).
Within the ENGAGE project, METU is co-responsible for the Sustainability.
ENGAGE valorisation and dissemination activities are defined in a way, to cover maximal EC
geographic area. Each of the partners will carry out two workshops i.e. a valorisation
workshop in their own country and one in the neighbouring country.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Austria and Slovenia
Spain and Romania
Ireland and United Kingdom
Belgium and Portugal
Turkey and Cyprus
Italy and Germany
This increases the range of coverage already to 12 EC countries with both series of
workshops. A selected organisation with appropriate network from the neighbouring country
will help at organisation of the workshop. The workshops will be co-ordinated to cover
various sectors as to test and prove that the approach of games for learning is applicable
within different sectors. To have an even broader coverage, from the remaining 15 countries,
partners will select and invite 1-2 stakeholders from closest countries where workshops are
not planned, to export the workshop methodology outside the core partnership and organise
and international workshop at Online Educa (2700 international participants in 2009), to
increase international aspect and international visibility of the ENGAGE project.
All of the Consortium partners are leaders in fields of game-based learning, valorisation, eLearning, and quality of learning resources. The Consortium is well balanced in terms of
interacting with all educational sectors as well as geographically positioned. Consortium
partners have the necessary competences required to successfully accomplish the set
objectives and each of the partners has relations with strong European networks that are
important for the success of ENGAGE project.
All partners have a long experience in participating and coordinating local, regional, national
and trans-national projects and initiatives. They have the capacity to organise high-level
events and to involve the key policy and stakeholders in education and training sectors,
which will bring ENGAGE clear and robust value and a great impact potential. The
exploitation and the valorisation of the results which is the core activity of the project, will be
maximised by the expertise, capability and the cooperative effort which will be made by each
partner, not only at local, regional and national level, but also in European initiatives and
events as well as through international networks in which partners are members.
With all of the consortium members being involved in ongoing projects, the benefits of the
partnership are external promotion and valuable contacts for the ENGAGE project. For
example:
From DEIS:
-
High-profile clients including Citigroup, Vodafone and Ericsson. Possible sponsorship
for sustainable activities.
From EFQUEL:
-
Sponsors of ENGAGE Quality Awards: U&I Learning, Caspian Learning,
Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts
-
NORIBIC and other GBL service providers in UK, France and Germany: Getting a
taste of the market of GBL and the demand of the customers
-
Teachers and representatives of schools (i.e. in Belgium and Germany): Contacts
with the primary target group of the ENGAGE project in order to sharpen the work
and outcome products for their needs.
-
Policy Makers: Synergies with other European projects (i.e. STEPS) and contacts for
dissemination and policy feedback loops.
From FH JOANNEUM:
-
-
-
-
Industry contacts within the Game Development Sector: Collaboration with Ideas
Incubator, Student mentoring, Award Jury, Summer school and Online course input.
•
3MRT
•
Caspian Learning
•
CranberryBlue R & D
•
Ideonic
•
Ed Tech Works
•
Garage Games
•
Metia Interactive
•
Games Factory Online
•
PIXELearning
•
Serious Games Interactive
•
Blitz Games Studios
•
Exergaming
•
Ubisoft
Summer school hosting:
•
TAMK - Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Tampere, Finland
•
DEMOLA - Centre of Innovation, Tampere, Finland
•
SCORE – Finish Game Development Club
Working contact with high profile organizations within Europe and Internationally.
•
Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE)
•
European Schoolnet
•
MIT's Education Arcade
•
EUROSIS
•
Institute for New Media Studies at University of Minnesota
Web Portal Hosting and Support maintenance provided pro bono.
•
Pivec Labs (www.piveclabs.com)
From Florida:
-
Active in the Education and Culture Expert Valorisation Committee
-
Member of the Valorisation Expert Group of the DG EAC - Unit C3 Dissemination and
Exploitation of Results of the European Commission
From METU:
-
METU is a point of reference for Turkey’s industry, engineering, production and new
e-Business based activities.
From SCIENTER:
-
Vocational and High Schools of Regions Emilia, Romagna, end Campania: collecting
feedback, comments and suggestion for methodological tools.
5.
Plans for the Future
After the end of the EC supported project time, following activities will be undertaken by
ENGAGE partners, as specified in the Sustainability plan.
Based on analysis of threats, successes, and possible courses of action, this plan reflects
the dynamics of the project and defines directions for the future. Actions and activities have
been divided into short-term, mid-term, and long-term activities, and with the establishment
of cooperation between the ENGAGE consortium, it’s stakeholders, and new and potential
partners, a sustainability model has been defined to direct on-going and activities in the
foreseeable future.
The consortium partners made a clear commitment to continue using the ENGAGE portal,
workshops and other products and to promote the project results after the end of the funded
project period. Partners will strive to apply for sponsorship and additional financial support at
the national or international level that will enable them to continue working in the field of GBL
and further developing the existing results.
Short-term activities are focused in the continuing of online community building by further
promoting the Portal and contents and inviting stakeholders to contribute and share their
work via the portal, which is central for the sustainability. Different online communities should
be continuously addressed and involved in activities of the ENGAGE Portal.
After the project end, project partners will be able to keep experimenting with GBL and all the
partners will have the expertise to organize another workshops as part of their activities in
their area of influence, share their experiences and knowledge at different forums where we
usually participate as educational centre and some others where we can now provide an
input. By including GBL and the ENGAGE project at the usual dissemination activities of our
centers we would be at the same time contributing to raising awareness on GBL and on the
portal and the tools offered there
Existing cooperation with academic and non-academic institutions within or outside the
partnership should be extended, expanded and intensified. One very effective way is making
Erasmus bilateral agreements that allow for teachers and staff exchange thus supporting
exchange of experience made within the project, GBL approaches in the teaching and
planning further summer schools.
It is ENGAGE’s primary objective to support and facilitate application of Game Based
Learning within different contexts, thereby creating the opportunities for interdisciplinary
learning, different learning outcomes and a variety of experiences.
Hence the defined long-term sustainability activities are as follows:
•
Translating the portal to local languages.
•
Continue the short term activities listed in sustainability plan with additional
involvement of the educational local/regional authorities as well as educational
representatives and educational associations; informing them about the innovative
methodologies applied, good use cases and promoting information on benefits that such
approaches carry.
•
Publishing results in academic journals.
•
Collecting the results of short and mid terms activities we need to design new
services and outcomes regarding to the new requirements and needs of stakeholders group:
new topic for the ENGAGE portal and new activities to train teachers and involve different
formal informal and non formal learning contexts in order to give ENGAGE project an lifelong
learning prospective.
•
Writing new grant proposals on GBL to bring teachers and game developers together
and create games in accordance with the needs of teachers.
6.
Contribution to EU policies
ENGAGE supports the innovative use of new methods for learning and teaching. In
particular, this project is promoting pedagogical models that are focused on the learner and
are taking in consideration the change of students (i.e. pupils) and their environment
(technological- and “fun-“oriented).
In addition, the ENGAGE project is stimulating further stakeholders like the industry (i.e.
games software developers) to serve the direction towards a “learning society” by offering
products for individual development within a high degree of motivation.
Thus, the ENGAGE project is undertaking a valuable step in order to change the attitude
about learning in schools and other formal learning environments by approaching the
preferences of the target group and providing suitable pedagogical models in immersive
environments.
There is a strong need to reach the European five benchmarks which are considered
important and necessary in order to meet the Lisbon objectives. In this respect, the adoption
and adaptation of games for learning of undoubted quality in educational contexts can
support the motivation and the pleasure of learning in pupils and students (so as to
contribute to the n. 1, and 3 benchmarks). This will also serve to promote the adoption of
diversified and personalised didactic strategies for adults in informal and non-formal learning
scenarios so to reinforce their attitude and willingness to learn throughout life (so as to
contribute to the benchmark 5). Although much excellent work has been done in previous
projects, it is necessary to valorise the outcomes in other contexts: to “ENGAGE” potential
users with the idea of GBL. The range of ENGAGE objectives is designed to achieve this
goal, using the central nexus of the portal as the point from which all this activity starts.
The ENGAGE project centres on and aims to actively support the ongoing and demanding
changes and challenges of education and training systems. In particular the Outcomes of
Proceedings of the Council of the European Union (2001) underlines many issues and
priorities, which are central to the ENGAGE project. These include: “Improving education
and training for teachers and trainers: Upgrading the initial and in-service training of teachers
and trainers so that their knowledge and skills respond both to changes and expectation in
society. The need to support teachers, educators, practitioners and LLL educators in
improving their skills and competences and in understanding the potential of learning games
in education and training, in selecting the games which best meet the learning objectives, the
learners’ needs and peculiarities and, in helping them to integrate the use of quality learning
games in the daily didactics, represent the key actions and strategy for delivery education
and training actions which meet the requirements of the Knowledge society and improve the
active participation of everyone in life and society“
The objectives of ENGAGE clearly fall within the “Transversal programme – Dissemination
and Exploitation of results”; the project aims at fostering and supporting the dissemination
and exploitation of the results achieved – mainly - within several previous EC LLP co-funded
projects (Uni-Game, SIG-GLUE and DISCOVER) in which ready-to-use products (web-site,
game platform, quality stamp framework, Guide to Quality criteria of Learning games, online
catalogue of certified games, training action model and already prepared training materials
for educators and trainers) have been developed.