Games in education or to improve skills has a long history but lately the educational potential of video games has gained some focus. After a wave a pedagogical games in the 1990s, the question is now on the potential usage of video games in the classroom. While many advocate for it, the how is still very nebulous for most teachers it remains complex to set up despite a clear potential 1. Teachers need guidance to use with video games to teach Video games can introduce a concept with which the player can interact and even think back on their own skills. This would be a perfect description for a school lesson, therefore institutions in Europe to advocate for their use in the classroom. Serious or educational game approach came with challenges: they are often less engaging to students. Teachers are still at loss as to how to use video games in the classroom because: -they lack practical guidance, -hierarchies and parents have prejudices about video games, -existing guidance can be theoretical or outdated, -existing guidance might only cover one aspect of using a specific game at school, eg. Assassin’s Creed in history class. But such games could be useful in other subjects or in a cross-curricular setting too, -a lot of serious games have the fun taken out and end up as being yet another lesson or test that the learner has to follow, -to support students’ understanding of how video games work and encourage those who are less tech-savvy to try something just a bit technical, it is valuable to create video games with them. Thus we believe there is a need to create guidance material to use video games in pedagogy. 2. Video games can be great vectors for cross-curricular and innovative pedagogies Although competence-based and cross-curricular education are identified as priorities in EU policies since 2006 (recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning),there is little guidance by EU ministries on how to implement these goals. Another Erasmus+ project, “Cross-curricular-teaching”, explored the state of competence-based and cross-curricular teaching in education across Europe, in policies and in practice. They noted that in absence of official guidance, cross-curricular activities were at best perceived as extra-curricular or optional activities, and that in the end, they depended on the motivation of the pedagogical teams. In August 2019, the partners of this project made 5 recommendations to support the development of such methods at school, to which we think that video games answer in the following ways: -cross-curricular teaching and learning must be integrated explicitly in national curricula: our project will highlight the links between school subjects and video games -curricula should stay flexible enough to keep the autonomy of teachers when they implement cross-curricular teaching: we will link video games and the main subjects -need for resources: we will provide actionable guidance supported by theory -cross-curricular teaching needs appropriate evaluation tools: we will include self-evaluation sheets for students to measure their acquired skills -development of cross-curricular methods should be supported across the community: 1) our outputs will contain factsheets for teachers to communicate with their peers and hierarchy to use video games, 2) one outputs will deal with game creation. Objectives: for all the reasons above, we will work on developing practical guidance for teachers to use video games in the classroom for cross-curricular teaching, as well as encouraging students to create their own games as learning by doing projects. NEEDS: -development of key competences in cross-curricular collaboration, creativity & innovative learning -innovative teaching and assessment, to promote competence-based teaching & learning -digital & open pedagogies, -promote access & use of ICT education by underrepresented groups, in particular learners with SLDs or girls TARGET GROUPS: -Secondary level teachers -European secondary learners in general -Learners with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) This project should be carried our transnationally because: -Cross-curricular and competence-based teaching are still perceived as difficult to implement in Europe despite official recommendations -Video games benefit from a rather positive image in Belgium and France for example, but it is not the case in all other countries: the methodology needs to be validated in different cultures -Learners with SLDs account for 10 to 15% of the EU population, it is essential to spread inclusive teaching practices. The following OER will be produced during this project: -a booklet on why video games belong in the classroom -a practical on how to use video games in the classroom -4 experience libraries of pedagogical modules: as spectators, as creators, as single players or in groups with 88 experiences and recommendations
Video games enable all the key competencies identified in the Council Recommendation on key competencies for lifelong learning to be exercised. Despite the pedagogical opportunities offered by video games, 2 main barriers seem to limit their use in education, which led us to address 2 other priorities. Firstly, we want to raise the profile of the teaching profession by providing innovative and stimulating educational sequences and tools for their students, which can improve the image of teachers among students. Secondly, we want to support the development of innovative practices in the digital age. While the use of video games in the classroom offers many opportunities for open pedagogies in education, like any other innovation, it comes with challenges. A lack of knowledge about games, their culture or the different genres can make it difficult for teachers to use them. Therefore, we have developed open educational resources for secondary school teachers of all subjects.
Video games can introduce a concept with which the player can interact and even reflect on their own skills. This is a perfect description for a school lesson, prompting institutions in Europe to advocate their use in the classroom. However, teachers face obstacles in using the video game because: - they lack practical advice, - they lack practical advice, - their superiors and parents have prejudices - existing guidance may be theoretical, limited or outdated, - Most serious games are not fun and end up being just another lesson or test that the learner has to take. Moreover, video games can be excellent vehicles for cross-curricular and innovative pedagogies. Indeed, competence-based education and cross-curricular education are considered as priorities in EU policies since 2006 (Recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competencies for lifelong learning), but teachers have little guidance on how to implement these objectives.