IO-s
IO1 - collection of methods on building creativity skills in adult education
Whithin the Intellectual Output 1 members of the teams of the Game- ED project partners created a collection of methods for building creativity skills in adult education. The collection is one of the final outcomes of the research conducted by the project partners, which included the earlier stages of identifying and defining the project’s main reference concepts (e.g. adult learning, competence, skill, creativity, etc.), a questionnaire-based survey and needs analysis related to 21st century skills conducted among adult educators and adult learners, and a literature review focused on identifying the state of the art of research on methods for building creativity in adult education at the national level in each project partner country.
Both the needs assessment and the literature review revealed the need to develop creative skills in learners of all ages, which are essential for personal and professional self-innovation, flexibility, adaptability, progress and development in the current and future labour market. It has also shown that adult educators are in need of up-todate, innovative, interesting and attractive training and teaching materials that can support them. The needs analysis showed that adult learners require flexible, adaptable training, available both in person and online, based on new, innovative and attractive teaching materials that motivate and stimulate them to continuously engage in lifelong learning, which is the basic requirement for personal and professional development. Based on the research carried out in the initial phase of the project and the results of the literature review and needs analysis, the project partners have selected a number of methods that will be used to promote creativity in adult education.
IO2 - best practices in game-based learning methods in adult education
In the second part, the project partners selected a set of best practices involving play-based learning methods that can be used to develop competences for the 21st century. In reviewing best practices from each of the countries involved in the project, the partners found that there are a variety of interactive teaching methods, so the main challenge for them was to identify, select and present methods that focus on activating the thought processes associated with creativity: analytical and critical thinking; imagination; information extraction, reorganisation and restructuring; creating new ideas and products; transforming outdated products into new, innovative ones; giving new shape and form to old but useful resources.
This collection of methods for fostering creativity in adult education, which has been developed as a result of the work on IO2, is intended for adult educators and adult learners, as well as for all current and future educators/athletes at all levels of education working with learners of all ages in a variety of settings and activities. This is possible because the methods presented in this document have one distinguishing characteristic – flexibility. Although the focus of selected methods in this collection is on adult education, the methods are adaptable to any educational setting and can easily be adapted to the needs of learners of all ages.
IO3 - methodology for the selection of game mechanics suitable for creativity development
While there is no exact method for developing a game, we can divide the process into several phases that are common to all games. The first phase usually starts with the selection of learning objectives, target audience, game mechanics and story. Learning games also need to be interesting and fun, otherwise the full benefits of game-based learning cannot be achieved. We need to be able to integrate the activities that lead to the achievement of the learning objectives into the mechanics of the game we are developing, so that when players and learners achieve the objectives of the game, they no longer even notice the learning objectives. Over the last two decades, several methods and procedures have been developed to link selected learning objectives and game mechanics. In the following report, we present the most important work in this field that has had a major impact on the development of methods for game design, as well as examples of how the methods developed have been applied in practise. Based on these methods and the examples presented, we have analysed several examples of good practise that we presented in the first two IO’s of the project. In this way we laid the foundation for the development of the learning game that is being designed and developed as part of the project GAME-ED.