Serious game to Train Experts in Advanced Multimodality

What we do

WHAT WE DO

Summary

To create a serious game that will be strongly targeting a complete European need, COVUNI will bring its expertise to capitalize on past projects working in the same subjects and will conduct surveys, helped by AFBB, SEDU and VUCSTOR. Thanks to this analysis, pedagogical and technical specifications will be released enabling co-creation of the contents, of the serious game and a complete accurate solution will be provided by Manzalab. This serious game will be tested on approximately 20 trainers or more from AFBB, SEDU and VUCSTOR. To ensure replication, a final analysis, based on the feedbacks and complementary study, will provide strategies for future adaptation of the serious game depending on the trainers profile.

Consortium

The project is coordinated by Manzalab, a French SME specialized in the development of serious games. This company works with researchers in the fields of computing science and neurosciences in order to develop very innovative and relevant games, adapted to specific audiences. Manzalab initiated the STEAM project in order to improve knowledge of trainers in the field of multimodality. To ensure proper development of the project, four other organizations joined the consortium: the Serious Game Institute from Coventry University (COVUNII – UK), the Academy for Vocational Education and Training (AFBB – Germany), Sedu Vocational and Adult Education Centre (SEDU - Finland), and VUC Storstrøm Adult Education Centre (VUCSTOR – Denmark). COVUNI has a great experience in researches on serious games and will be in charge of all end-users analysis to ensure relevance of the solution and enhance its opportunities of replication. The three other partners, AFBB, SEDU and VUCSTOR, are adult and/or VET centers and will help defining the trainers’ needs, regarding the specificity of each country in the digitalization of teaching. They will also test the serious game on their trainers and provide recommendations to improve it. Each partner has a key role to play in this project and will provide its expertise to develop a really relevant and innovative serious game.

Objective

The objective of the STEAM project (Serious game to Train Experts in Advanced Multimodality) is to create an immersive serious game for developing a ToT programme, i.e. training of trainers solution, in order to improve their competencies regarding multimodality in their educative methodology.

This project is transversal as it targets Adult Education, as well as VET, with also great opportunities for future transfer in other educational segments.

Thanks to the solution that will be delivered, the trainers will learn how to use efficiently the opportunities provided by multimodality through integration of digital tools and other modality in their courses, and how to adapt them to their learners. The game will immerse trainers in a virtual universe and will provide accurate contents about multimodality. Using a serious game to learn about serious games and digital tools is also an innovative “learning by example” method.

Expected Impact

The STEAM project will have strong impacts on the skills of adult trainers, especially:

The trainers will improve their knowledge and skills regarding multimodality in their educative methodologies. Therefore they will improve their courses, using digital tools in an efficient way for their learners.
The quality of adult and VET education will be globally improved. Their courses will be more interactive and adapted to their learners. The learners will also improve easily their skills.
The serious game released will be a tool to intensify the use of digital tools in education. It will show to a large audience how useful these tools can be, and therefore it will encourage all trainers and teachers to use it.
On the long term, great opportunities will be given to the whole educational system and segments to improve their use of multimodality.

PARTNERS

Partners

Validation board

VALIDATION BOARD

The consortium will receive external advise from the constituted Validation Board.

The Board members are as follows:

Philippe Murat (France)
Dr Panagiotis Petridis, from Aston University (UK)
Janne Schmidt Damgaards, from KVUC Workplace (Denmark)
Mrs. Dr. Katrin Pittius, from the FHD, University of Applied Sciences / Fachhochschule Dresden (Germany)
Prof. Fabian Giessler, from the FHD, University of Applied Sciences / Fachhochschule Dresden (Germany)
Ms. Riikka Muurimäki, from Seinäjoki, University of Applied Sciences (Finland)

Methodology

METHODOLOGY

Structure of the project

The Project is broken down in 6 Work Packages:

WP1 - Analysis of trainers and learners needs, pedagogical and IT specification. This WP mostly relies on investigations, within the litterature and toward end users involved in the project. The aim is to identify the needs and contraints to define the main aspects of the solution that will be created.

WP2 - Content developments. Based on the investigations conducted in WP1, the pedagogical contents will be created, including the pedagogical objectives and the tools and methodologies that will be addressed within the game. The displayed modalities will encompass digital and non digital tools.

WP3 - Development of the Serious Game solution. The game will be designed to optimise the aquisition of skills by the target ToTs. It will take into account the differences identified among the partners and anticipated to reflect the disparities that will be encountered at the European level.

WP4 - Demonstration at real cale and feedback analysis. The created solution will be deployed in the 3 end-user partners in Finland, Denmark and Germany with support of Manzalab and COVUNI. Feedbacks will be collected and analysed according to a specific evaluation protocole.

WP5 - Communication, dissemination and exploitation. The partners will communicate and disseminate the results of hte porject all along its duration and beyond. The parners will aslo prepare the exploitation plan of hte solution, designed to be easily enriched, implemented and scalable.

WP6 - Project Management. The project management will be ensured by the cooridnator, Manzalab with support of the partners. To ensure the quality of the deivered product and its adequation with the market, an External Validation Baord of selected experts will regularly comment on the project.