Adult education organizations in Europe are working hard to make a positive change for adult learners, helping them obtaining new education, offering non-formal lifelong learning and providing counselling upon entering labour market. However - based upon the experience of the consortium - if such organisations developed their core organizational activities, which are still mainy based on traditional learning methods, they would have the capacity for much higher impact. Adult education organizations are managed by highly competent staff with a desire and vision to make a difference. However, they lack human resources and organisational capabilities, not to mention financial possibilities, to provide innovative methods into their programs. In order to strengthen their work there is a need for methodological or organisational management processes to implement innovations into traditional curricula. In doing so, organisations will be able to reach a wider scope of beneficiaries, modernise the effectiveness of outdated learning processes and train their adult educators in gamification methodology and also provide learners with tailor-made curricula that will be more interesting, effective and useful then traditional, and will - empowering their soft skills - raise their employability too. Main objective of S4EG project is to increase the capacity of adult educators and staff of adult education organizations, proposing gamification methodology, curricula for serious games implementation in education courses, trainings and lifelong learning activities for adult learners. The purpose is to develop S4EG Curricula with 6 serious games and S4EG Collection of case studies, ready to be used by adult educators in their courses or trainings. Serious games will be based on 6 soft competences, seeked by the employers, to provide adult educators with innovative methods in the form of additional curricula in adult education, tailored specifically for modern job market. In summary, project objectives are: - new ability of adult educators to implement gamification as part of curricula for improving adult learners key competences - improved knowledge of innovative pedagogical tools and new technologies in adult education - improved soft skills for raising employment possibilities of adult learners - better understanding of expectations & needs in learning environments, focusing on serious games - exchange of good practice among partners - creation of guidelines for implementation of gamification Curricula for adult learners Participants - 4 transnational meetings - 12 staff involved - C1 training – 4 participants/partner (24 total, each will train 3 in national context) - 6 national workshops for adult educators (6 partners x 4 adult educators x 3 teachers =72 adult educators total) - 72 adult educators piloting S4EG Curricula with 10 participants each (72 x 10 = 720 adult learners) - 6 national multipliers - 210 participants - 25 new networks between partners and local community - 200 registered users on web platform - 300 downloads of digital materials Results - 1 S4EG Needs analysis for theoretical background and evidence based publication on usability and advantages of gamification - 6 new innovative Serious Games for learning purposes with guidelines and instructions for implementation - 1 S4EG Curricula will list the procedures and methodologies needed for gamification implementation on organizational, teacher and participant level - 1 S4EG Collection of Case Studies to equip organizations with interactive material on good practices of gamification use in EU - 1 S4EG Web Platform with open source access to S4EG outputs (emphasis on soft skills and 8 key competences) Impact - created Curricula will remain within the work culture of partner organizations and become a new way to implement strategic actions for building innovative Curricula in other adult courses or trainings - training methodologies will be available on the platform and can be used, replicated or adapted to new forms in unpredictable ways, reaching high number of people - improved practices adapted to target group - improvement of teachers skills in order to raise soft skills of adults through gamification - web platform will become a space where the organizations will be able to share best practices, tools, methodologies and challenges Sustainability - curricula will be used by partners and their networks even when the project is finished - partners will make effort to validate gamification as regular part of adult education curricula - serious games will be used by partners and their networks for implementation of innovative and creative learning methods - Collection case studies will be disseminated and use by the partners after the end of the project - all information will remain published in partners websites - project web platform will be maintained at least 5 years after project ends
1. Better learning experience Gamification provides students with an alternative means of learning to the traditional idea of learning and study. Gamification encourages learners by providing additional motivation and making learning a fun activity, adapted to the needs of individuals when they progress through the narrative, empowered with option to do so alone or as part of a team. 2. Instant feedback Gamification allows learners to get immediate feedback on their progress, making the process faster than traditional methods. 3. Better learning environment When learners are given a sense of control over the gamified learning, it fosters a sense of agency, reflection and meaning, critical for retention. 4. Behavioral change Gamification helps learners gain motivation towards studying; they become more stimulated to learn. 5. Can be applied for most learning needs Gamification means making education more fun and engaging, without undermining its credibility. Gamification techniques leverage people's natural desires for socializing, learning, mastery, competition, achievement, status and self-expression. 6. Impact on adult learners S4EG capitalized on serious games for raising soft skills of adult learners for future employment.
The purpose of a serious game is to train participants in one or more specific discipline or skill, including fields like education, socialisation, health care, advertising or even politics. These experiences include simulations, board games, virtual reality and mixed media to provide training opportunities through responsive narrative, gameplay or encounters. Gamification means using gaming technology to deliver unique benefits and innovative ways of engaging users – both teachers and learners. It is upgrading learning with gameplay elements, rewards (badges, points), enriching practices and offering innovative applications through technology, embracing new forms of interaction, not possible through conventional educational approaches. S4EG upgraded skills of adult educators with ability to implement innovative gamification methodology in any adult education course and raise their learners key competences, emphasising most important employment skills. When educators are gamifying education, they’re modernizing it to make it more effective, which helps solve the engagement crisis. Gamification in education also helps keep learners technologically literate, important in today’s tech-based economy.