Press Release #1 05/07/2021

VET: kick-off of the Sparks project, innovative tools to help teachers and trainers overcome the challenges of the pandemic

Supporting the stakeholders of the Vocational Education and Training systems in overcoming the challenges imposed by the pandemic, developing new tools for teachers and trainers to create innovative online training experiences based on gamification, capable of increasing the motivation and engagement of their students in learning: this is the goal of the Sparks project, a strategic partnership for Digital Education Readiness, launched in six European countries. In the frame of the project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union, six organizations, companies and NGOs from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Romania and Poland, will develop a new conceptual framework and an e-learning platform to create and deliver online learning programs based on game components, dynamics and mechanics. After the kick-off meeting of the project, hosted in Caserta, Italy, in the first days of July, the partners started the work of the transnational research "Game-Based Learning: good practices and requirements for digital environments", through the identification, collection and analysis of national best practices in the field of game-based learning. The research activities will continue with the administration of a survey to a sample of about 250 VET providers and the implementation of focus groups with teachers, trainers and learners in the six countries involved.