RealLife is an innovative project in which serious gaming and virtual reality are used to improve skills needed in the 21st century and skills needed for employability for those at the edge of society. Training skills in a safe and virtual reality will help prisoners to function in real life and enhance their sense of initiative. The objective is to develop an innovative tool, the RealLife game with a certificate that validates informal learning. RealLife will design a strong tool for many disadvantaged groups in Europe by implementing seven pilots in six European countries that will include 80 prisoners, 14 mentors and 35 prison guards. Focus will be on different groups, youngsters between 17 and 23, woman and (older) men. The use of gamification is a user-friendly method that can be delivered on an individual basis to promote employability and reduce recidivism for in prisoners. To measure effectiveness of the serious game we will study the rate of recidivism in the first 48 hours to two months after prisoners leave detention. This way we are able to measure the impact of the game almost immediately and improve the game. The game will focus on new learning possibilities to be applied in prisons: digital tools, games that educate, train and inform, can provide an alternative sustainable learning tool for disadvantaged groups. Many among the end-users have learning disabilities and reject more traditional teaching approaches. At the moment many prisoners and others at the edge of society have big problems finding their way to the labor market. Many inmates have no diplomas and no or little access to digital media. Excluding this disadvantaged group from 21st century developments will only widen the gap between them and the labor market. The SEPE certificate (Supporting Employability and Personal Effectiveness) that we will work with is a flexible approach in which a portfolio is used as a tool to assess the outcomes of non-formal learning. This certificate for employability skills is recognized in the EQF. Europe can be on the frontier of discovering how to use technology to improve 21st century skills and increase employability with RealLife. Within the project, one will be a regular project website, the other website is www.reallifework.eu in which we will link our target group to the labor market. Sustainability will be achieved by: ➢ MediaWise: a digital platform for (non-formal) learning that is an integrated part of education in the justice system in The Netherlands. Project RealLife will be included in this platform. ➢ A Social Impact Bond will be set up in at least one country. A Social Impact Bond in short is a contract between the public sector (government), businesses and social organizations to stimulate innovative ideas that have a high potential to be successful. It is a way for governments to implement innovative ideas that result in public sector savings without having the risk to having invested in advance. ➢ Give ownership of project RealLife to mentors In all countries, mentors will act as a catalyst, they will guide disadvantaged groups through RealLife games and disseminate and transfer the idea to other local and regional institutions.
Project Real Life aimed at the social inclusion of prisoners by improving 21th century skills through serious gaming and virtual reality, gamification. Many people in prisons have no diplomas and no or little access to digital media. Excluding this disadvantaged group from 21st century developments will only widen the gap between them and the labour market. The goal of this partnership is to close this gap. The project partners therefore developed a very innovative blended learning environment for people in closed facilities. Skills needed for employability and life outside the prison were trained in a personalized environment through off- and online exercises. The specific target group of Real Life is people living in closed facilities, like prisoners. The project involved the target group closely by co-creating the learning platform with prisoners from five European countries. Involving the target group in the development of the blended learning environment contributed greatly to the quality of the developed materials, like the online tool, games and exercises. In total the project developed five games: three serious games, one virtual reality game and one practical tool. These games train specific skills like social media awareness, self-knowledge when it comes to personality traits, self-management, communication and cooperation. The practical tool is called Real Life Pathways in which players can create their own plan for reintegration. The project also facilitated a guide for mentors and educators working in prisons and a workbook for prisoner. Real Life shows that gamification is a user-friendly method that can surely be applied in prisons. The method contributes to employability and reduces possible recidivism of prisoners. Many among the end-users have learning disabilities and reject more traditional teaching approaches. This project shows that the development of new, innovative and informal learning possibilities can be rewarding for disadvantaged groups like these and can lead to validated learning outcomes in the form of an official certificate. The impact of the project can be considered rather successful. After getting to know the positive results of this project, the Turkish Ministry of Justice supports implementation of Real Life in all Turkish prisons. In the Netherlands it will be implemented in the biggets Dutch prison in the city Zaanstad. On top of that this project provided new insights for discussing the importance of education in prisons. This project definitely sets some important first steps in closing the gap between people living inside closed facilities and life outside the prison walls. Europe could be on the frontier of discovering how to use innovative technology to improve 21st century skills of disadvantaged groups in general. Specific information about the project can be found on www.reallifeproject.eu and to access the website please go www.my-real.life and log in: Erasmusplus and password: Erasmus+RL2018@.