From 15th-19th November 2023, a team of Shokkin members and coordinators participated in the mobility activity “Games Matter” englobed in the long-term project “Mind the Game”.
The activity aimed to provide a selection of youth workers and educators with expertise in designing participative educational experiences using games and game-based learning techniques and prototype and test small learning experiments applying co-created game-based learning frameworks with their target groups. Here is a recap of their experience:
“This project was a wonderful experience for me. I had participated in youth exchanges before, but this was my first ever training course. I felt comfortable and ready to learn in the environment created. Being surrounded by intelligent, creative and hard-working people in a cosy house in the mountains felt almost like a scene out of a movie.
For me, it was genuinely a jump in the deep, considering that everyone else had years of experience ahead of me. However, I am happy to admit I did not feel excluded in any way. We were all working and discussing together, everyone’s opinion was heard, all questions were welcome and answered with care. I learned a lot about non-formal education and techniques that can be used to make the educational process interesting and engaging.
After the training course, I felt inspired and assured that non-formal education is a field I really enjoy and I would like to get more involved in the future.
At the moment I am working on my first independent project aimed at helping young people in highschool discover more future career opportunities by learning more about themselves as individuals in society. I am heavily relying on the new knowledge from the training course and the follow-up material we were provided with. I feel challenged and a bit scared, but most of all excited to see what the final result will be like and also what the other participants create.”
Darina Petrova
“The training took place in the middle of a magical Polish forest that left me feeling peaceful and open to learning. The group was very friendly and was packed with different perspectives and experiences.
The training gave me a concrete framework that covers everything I would need to plan a gamified learning experience. On top of that, different gamification elements were introduced that I now want to try myself.
I am already implementing my own curriculum which was planned during this training course. Overall, I now use more gamification elements and games to engage my students in the learning process. The outcome has been very positive. I see a lot of happy and excited faces in the classroom. “
Adele Teras
“My name is Janno and this November I participated in the training course “Games Matter”. The vibe in the project was very cool. People were nice and the place itself was very relaxing because of the nature around the area. It helped me relax and focus on the project.
My key learning is to realize how usable educational games are in school curriculums. I have found something that I would really like to do! I will use the elements of games in the curriculums that I will be doing in the near future.
Additionally, this project gave me a bigger respect for teachers, because I saw and understood during and after the project how much work actually goes into lesson planning. Overall I am thankful for the experience and I think the project was worth participating in!
Janno Kivi
Photo credits: Daniel Kiermut