Game Time — Germany – European Youth Centre Břeclav

Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: Training course

Venue: Velbert (Essen), Germany

Dates: 17-24 November 2018

Participants: Jiří Kadlec, Daniela Šnejdarová, Lucie Sitarová

Please read the info-pack, daily programme and the project booklet.

Please also see the project video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYAzHs_KTxE&

Participants’ fee: €40

Hosting organisation: JuBuK Germany

Participating countries: Germany, Estonia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Greece, Poland, Malta, Spain and Italy.

Project report:

The first working day of training course called Game time started as in any other training courses, by getting to know each other activities. We used some ice breakers as well as name games to make sure that all of us remember our names and start feeling more comfortable in new group.

After that we had opportunity to talk about Erasmus+, non-formal education, educational games, the aim and objectives of the project and the schedule of following week by discussing these topics in small groups that were leaded by team of facilitators and trainers. The main objective of the TC was to learn how to create educational games and then create them in working groups. Whole week was accompanied with visual side of training. This means that beautiful Olalla who was a member of the training team transformed the ideas into visual content on the spot and designed the project’s results. Thanks to this we felt more comfortable in our training room.

We had the chance to start a discussion on different topics, such as migration, generational gap, poverty or drugs, which were later used as a base for developing our own educational games.

Next day we started with educational game “Ticket to the Holiday” prepared by trainers. In that game people were divided into different groups (different social classes) and had to perform tasks for virtual currency. The final goal was to buy a Holiday Ticket. The catch was that diverse groups received different salaries and working opportunities. People very quickly entered their roles and the less privileged group started a strike. After the game we put down some potential game improvements (deeper personal motives, more clear rules) and finally we analyzed the game elements. Also, we got theoretical basis of educational games.

We played tic tac chair game and because we didn´t reach good score we continued in practice in the evening and looked for new strategies and tactics. Not only we practiced this but also we played games such as Catan dice or Jungle speed, Magics etc.

Further day was time for creating edu-games by participants´ side so trainers could relax. We were summarizing what we already knew and didn’t know so we could begin the creating process. We were supposed to divide ourselves into groups according to our interests in various topics.

After this it was time to work. What would the topic be about? And worse what would be the learning outcomes, we wanted to achieve? We experienced progress in discussions and received some guidance from Pavel and Lukasz on our topics and objectives. We tried hard to create our games to be the best and playable. It took a lot of time, nights and even free time.

Next morning, we continued in process of creating brilliant games but for some it meant to change the logic and mechanics of the game completely.

This was telling us that it was time for shut down our brains because we were still focusing on one point that didn’t bear any fruits. YES, there was time for “discovering local realities” and different groups had different destinations. Some of us visited Velbert, Essen (Christmas markets), Dusseldorf and some of us just stayed at home and chilled. Thanks to Natalia and the hostel team we were allowed to have dinner more than one hour later than usually.

“Day five, ladies and gentlemen. It’s what you’ve all been waiting for… Game Time!” Four educational games were tested that day, starting with “The Cost of facts”. The game tried to increase media literacy of participants and teach media awareness. Next game was “Save the planet”, a game of three nations united to escape the dying home world. “Ladder for a better future” followed giving us an idea about migration. Last, but not least, “Battlemines” blew our minds (and bodies) in a game of cooperation and strategy, where every death counts. They say the greatest ideas are born out of chaos and judging by our cooperation – we’re going to change the world for good. Our time was up and all of us simply died. It was not a good example of cooperation in a big group and we were only one step to win… only one…

Day six, unfortunately the last day, we started with last game which was mainly focused on youth crime, especially vandalism and bullying. What do you want to achieve? Better status in society and to be cool through bullying or doing vandalism which is bad, or will you choose study and job to be smart and rich? It’s up to you because “Daily choices matter.” After the break all of us finished game outlines. In the meantime, we were networking for further possibilities of cooperation and staying in touch after the TC. Last part was dedicated to evaluation. And because almost all of us forgot what we had done, Pavel prepared a beautiful story summarizing the whole TC from beginning till the end. We can say it was a successful training for everybody. We are going to miss our time together! Many thanks to our sending and hosting organizations!

Daniela Šnejdarová

See our video by Olalla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYAzHs_KTxE&

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Learning Results