“I had been to other Erasmus+ projects before, but it was a first time for be participating in a seminar. I was a bit nervous before arriving there, but it went away quite quickly, as I realized that there was nothing to be nervous about.
Firstly, I learned a lot from the people – about themselves, about their methods and practices, and about their games. Secondly, we ourselves played quite a lot of games there which allowed me to see how many different games exist, so many different concepts and ways to build a game! It definitely broadened my view.
On the first days we shared our experiences and also were designing a game of our own. On the last day, though, we had a VR workshop. Before that I would say that I was familiar with VR and its usages. Well, I was wrong. I got to know a lot about how virtual reality could be used to teach people and especially help people with their traumas and fears (I think that was one of the biggest “WOW” effects of the project for me). For example – people who have extreme social anxiety, with VR they have a possibility to put themselves into an environment with lots of people, a subway for example, and get used to the people around them that way. Simple, right? But I had never thought about it that way.
The project opened my eyes to so many other things, too. I am very grateful that I had a possibility to be part of it.”
Thomas Trumm
“Being part of the Erasmus+ seminar “COOLplay” was awesome! My team and I developed a game about immigrants trying to fit into a European country, and it was a cool experience. The program was intense, but we learned a lot.
What stood out to me was seeing other people’s creative ideas. Like using escape rooms to teach about fake news and VR to tackle bullying. It made me realize how fun and effective teaching can be with these methods. The course was a mix of hard work and fun. Besides our main project, I also learned some quick games and warm-ups to use in the future. Now, we’re excited to finish our game and try it out in February.
Overall, Coolplay opened my eyes to new ways of teaching and learning, and I’m looking forward to finishing our game and trying it out.“
Elena Heinsalu
