ENGAGE 143881-LLP-1-2008-1-AT-KA4-KA4MP

FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences , Graz, Austria

Main focus at the Department of Information Design at FH JOANNEUM is the planning and implementation of interactions with information objects and equipment that is easy and efficient. In particular, the solving of existing problems in the technical and aesthetic design of the human-computer interface is the declared goal of the department. The research group explores issues in eLearning and Game-Based Learning, engineering, cultural studies, aesthetics, cognitive science and rhetoric, helping to build digital systems through which users can more effectively communicate, interact, and learn. One strong research focus is on innovative learning approaches, i.e. game-based learning amongst others. FH JOANNEUM was scientific leader of the UniGame EC Minerva founded project (www.unigame.net, finished 2004), and project co-ordinator of SIG-GLUE EC eLearning project (www.sig- glue.net), and of the Austrian national project AdeLE .

Within the ENGAGE project, FH JOANNEUM is responsible for the technical, scientific and administrative co-ordination.

Florida Education Centre , Valencia, Spain

Florida is an education cooperative active at all levels of education, ranging from kindergarten through secondary and university (affiliated to the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia) all the way through to senior learning. They have wide experience in the use of technology to enhance learning (working with ICT since 1996), coupled with extensive pedagogical expertise and a tradition of innovation in education, working in close collaboration with the regional Ministry of Education in different educational contexts. At secondary level, Florida was a pioneer centre for the LOGSE education reform and were recently given a Ministry of Education award in recognition of their lifetime contributions to the quality of vocational training in the Valencian community. Recent work has focused on informal learning and the use of games in different areas. The expertise gained has allowed them to become a reference for teacher training in this field in the area. Florida is also active in the field of quality in education, organising yearly conferences on this since 1999 and implementing the EFQM and Excelencia Educativa models. They are currently active in two projects focusing on the use of virtual worlds in education.

Within the ENGAGE project, Florida is responsible for Valorization and Dissemination.

SCIENTER, Bologna, Italy.

SCIENTER’s internal structure is articulated into four units: one of which is focused on Formative Design and Evaluation Unit. This Unit carries out research activities and technical assistance in the following areas: project, policy and impact evaluation, design, implementation and evaluation of ICT supported learning and elearning systems; quality and certification of learning sources used in distance learning and elearning systems; transferability of learning materials used in distance learning and elearning systems taking on principles of transculturality, Scienter 's expertise and know how in the evaluation and quality issues has been acquired during its year of existence and through the coordination and the participation in research actions and projects developed at local, national and international level.

Within the ENGAGE project, SCIENTER is responsible for Evaluation and QA.

DEIS Department of Education Development , Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland.

DEIS have co-ordinated and participated on a wide range of national and EU-funded research projects in the areas of eLearning and Game-Based Learning; an indicative list is available . The department have also been involved in the design and development of e-learning solutions for a number of high-profile clients including Citigroup, Vodafone and Ericsson. DEIS ENGAGEs in the design and implementation of various innovative interventions in education and training; these are conducted on a pilot basis and integrated into mainstream provision, based on evaluation by the department in conjunction with the senior staff within the Institute. The range of interventions the department has researched is extensive, but relates primarily to the following areas of

(1) ODL and e-learning, with a particular emphasis on web-based solution,

(2) advanced educational technology such as m-learning and serious games, and

(3) RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) and the accreditation of work-based learning.

Within the ENGAGE project, DEIS is responsible for Tool development.

EFQUEL , Belgium

The European Foundation for Quality in eLearning (EFQUEL) is a Non-Profit Association, which has its origins in three successful European eLearning projects, all in the field of quality in eLearning in Europe. The Foundation is Europe’s largest network on quality in eLearning and has members from over 18 members states and includes Europe’s largest networks in the field of Learning (EDEN), Higher Education (EDEN, EUROPACE), Industry (ELIG), Schools (European SchoolNet) as its members and close contacts. The Foundation serves as sustainable and proactive network and will provide valuable services to the European eLearning community. EFQUEL approaches quality in e-learning from complementary perspectives and develops full-scale services for all educational fields, regional contexts and target groups. The Foundation is providing support, transparency, open participation and leadership for a broad range of topics.

Within the ENGAGE project, EFQUEL is co-responsible for the Sustainability.

Middle East Technical University , Ankara, Turkey

Middle East Technical University (METU) is the leading public technical university in Turkey with more than 20,000 students and more than 1000 academic staff. METU is a point of reference for Turkey’s industry, engineering, production and new e-Business based activities. The major aim of the Faculty of Education, that is part of METU, is to train teachers and educators qualified to teach at every educational level. The theoretical as well as applied courses that the faculty offers enable prospective teachers to become professionals who are constantly in touch with recent scientific and technological developments. Within the Faculty of Education there are two research groups, both of which will participate in this project. One of them is "Simulations and Games in Education" (SIMGE) research group . The main aim of this group is to conduct research on the use of simulations and games in education. In addition to pedagogical and cognitive issues, the SIMGE researchers also focus on the social and technical issues of simulations and games. The other one is “Human Computer Interaction” research group.

Within the ENGAGE project, METU is co-responsible for the Sustainability.

Sub-programme or KA:

Transversal Programme KA4 (Valorisation) Multilateral Project

The establishment of a European Game-Based Learning Portal provides the main dissemination area for the ENGAGE project, specifically for games for learning providing a central information resource for people interested in games for learning and using games for curricular contents. This target audience not only includes practitioners (teachers, trainers, tutors) and students of all levels, but also industry representatives involved in game development of recreational games that are used for learning and educational games designed specifically for the curriculum.

The project objectives included the creation of this web based dissemination portal, as well as the establishment of a user community to foster the use of GBL within the education sector. The portal also includes decision tools and game review catalogue to reduce the learning curve and assists the implementation of GBL with curriculum contexts.

The partners involved in the ENGAGE project have extensive experience in both the Pedagogical and Game-Based Learning domains. Having involvement in previous (Unigame, Sig-Glue, Discover) and other ongoing EC funded projects (Imagine) that utilise Games with Education, this consortium brings forward the knowledge and tools previously developed, adding to the sustainability of other GBL projects.

By adopting an iterative and incremental approach for the project methodology, the target audience will feed the development cycle for the tools, workshops, and the portal, ensuring that the project outputs are usable and correctly aimed at the end user.

With over 7,500 people visiting the ENGAGE portal in the first year and close to 1 million hits, the portal has already grown into a valuable resource for the GBL community. The portal has been actively promoted at major European conferences (ECGBL, GBL2009, Online Educa) and also over social network sites such as Facebook and Linkedin. Other sites receive RSS news feeds from the portal and partner links ensure a high level of visibility for this project.

Within the coming year, further workshops will be conducted in 12 EC countries, and summer school for educational game design and student game design awards will be hosted by the consortium. Further information and planned dates for the above activities can be found on the project website and ENGAGE portal.

The specific objectives of ENGAGE are:

1. The creation of a European Games-Based Learning (GBL) Portal: a central information resource for people interested in games for learning and using games for curricular contents. The promotion of the portal through social networking and professional groups on networks such as Facebook and Linkedin, will increase awareness of GBL and encourage practitioners, students, and the game development industry to become involved and utilise this resource. Using a combination of Web 2.0 technologies (forums, wikis, blogs, podcasts, webspaces) the portal will provide:
   • Documented methodologies for developing and implementing game-based learning for practitioners, developers, and other stakeholders of the learning community. These methodologies will be in the form of publications, case studies, and forum discussions, and be fully searchable via an indexed online database.
   • A basis for a Europe-wide dialogue on the role of games and game-based approaches in Education and training and their acceptance by and effects on society, focusing on localisation and cultural issues as well as safety and rating agendas. The portal forum and news blog will allow interested parties and community groups to comment and discuss relevant GBL topics on a daily basis, increasing awareness and encouraging the formation of a network.
   • Dissemination for past and ongoing eLearning and LLP projects and their outcomes, related to the application of games for learning and the valorisation of these. Through a link and document repository, the outcomes and output of these projects can be shared not only with practitioners, but also with students interested in GBL.
2. Development and implementation of targeted workshops in 12 EC countries thus:
   • Supporting practitioners/teachers/tutors in developing a predictive and proactive capacity to select games. Be it recreational games to teach with or educational games to utilise, these workshops will provide information and methodologies to teachers in selecting what works in the domain of GBL and why.
   • Assisting stakeholders in the adaptation and adoption of learning games in their teaching and learning processes, thus increasing the pleasure of learning. Through examples and case studies, the workshops will allow teachers and tutors to utilise GBL as a tool to accelerate the learning of their students by developing documented approaches to implementation.
   • Collaborating with game designers/producers in the development of new educational products. The views, needs, and wants of teachers and tutors will be discussed, analysed, and conveyed to the development community and on-going dialogs will be promoted between all stakeholders via the ENGAGE Portal.
3. Increasing the monitoring capacity of policy makers on the development of GBL in Europe and on the promotion of quality approaches to education and learning supporting the motivation to learn thus also the pleasure of learning. The ENGAGE Portal will collate outputs from other eLearning and LLP projects, as well as ongoing initiatives within GBL, to aid practitioners and policy makers in school-based, adult and vocational education in their strategies for the implementation of Game-Based Learning.

The target audience not only includes practitioners (teachers, trainers, tutors) and students of all levels, but also industry representatives involved in game development of recreational games that are used for learning and educational games designed specifically for the curriculum.

• Pedagogical

This Project created game reviews and case studies of how selected games may be used in a classroom environment and suggested implementation of these games. The experience of the reviewer is tabled and a walkthrough to reduce the learning curve is detailed within the document.

Games reviewed included (but not limited to):

• Robocode – Multiplayer platform
• Portal – First person shooter
• Dance Dance Revolution – Movement based arcade game
• Guitar Hero – Music arcade game
• Farmville – Social networking Strategy game
• World of Warcraft – Massive Multiplayer Onine
• Darfur is Dying – Flash based info game

These reviews and more are available from the portal and accessible using the search tool, where one can select either a combination of the proposed keywords or just use the quick search of the page. ENGAGE.

1. The ENGAGE Portal This European Game Based Learning Portal is main dissemination area for the project, specifically for games for learning and provides a central information resource for people interested in games for learning and using games for curricular contents. The portal also contains sections for partners of the project within this web site. With over 7,500 people visiting the portal in 2009 and close to 1 million hits, the portal has grown into a valuable resource for many users. The portal is also promoted over social network sites, e.g. the Facebook fan page has topped 200 members and the Linkedin group is well on it’s way to 100 members.The portal uses a combination of Web 2.0 technologies (forums, wikis, blogs, podcasts, webspaces) supporting Europe-wide community activities of educational stakeholders on the topics related to the role of games and game-based approaches in Education and training and their acceptance by and effects on the society. The portal also offers a set of so-called decision-making tools for practitioners that provide guidance on “If”, “How” and “What” are the steps related to introduction of game-based learning within different learning contexts.
   • See http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/teachers and http://www.ENGAGElearning.eu/community
2. Online Catalogue of Games for Learning: This resource contains game reviews and case studies of how selected games may be used in a classroom environment and suggested implementation of these games. The experience of the reviewer is tabled and a walkthrough to reduce the learning curve is detailed within the document. These reviews are available from the portal and accessible using the search tool, where one can select either a combination of the proposed keywords or just use the quick search of the page.
3. International Workshops for Teachers, Promoters: ENGAGE hosted a successful workshop at Online Educa 2009 in Berlin. The target audience of this workshop were practitioners e.g. university teachers, school teachers and trainers in continuous education, educational game developers, digital learning resource developers, training organisations, and others who want to make learning engaging and fun! See presentation slides and workshop details

The ENGAGE Project Public Progress Report

The Project is on-going.