Templates of Gamified E-Learning Programs

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related containment measures have severely hit the labour market. Nevertheless, it has been a catalyst for processes already in place: the digital revolution, the greening of the economy, and the search for new development models. Our interconnected and hypercomplex society has set the stage for renovating its economic system. This renovation process is driven by three factors: geopolitics, sustainability, and digital innovation. Nevertheless, all our cultural and thinking models cannot process and respond to the accelerated increase in social, economic, environmental and technological complexity. In this new scenario, the world of education has a great challenge: providing the tools and knowledge to let this epochal shift become an opportunity. However, overcoming the barriers to change requires the right motivation, and games can be powerful enablers for this purpose. Games represent for us a natural language that helps us represent complex and interrelated concepts, build relationships and actions capable of arousing emotions and triggering our ability to construct new meanings. They create a sense of community and reward intensity and effort over time and the quality of the activities we are engaged in. Games and education have never been so complementary.

Building on the results of international research on gamification and game-based learning and an innovative Conceptual Framework for Gamified E-Learning Programs, through this publication, the consortium of the Sparks project, Strategic Partnership for Digital Education Readiness co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, aims to share new guiding tools to enrich the toolbox of teachers and trainers to support them in creating their gamified programs. Particularly, the publication collects a set of Templates of Gamified e-Learning Programs, designed together with over 100 education and training experts in six countries, using Sparks' Conceptual Framework.

About the project

The project Sparks brings togheter six partner institutions from six countries: Lascò, project Coordinator (Italy); Bexley-C Level IT (Romania); Center for Innovative Education (Poland); ECOS-Cooperativa de Educação, Cooperação e Desenvolvimento, CRL (Portugal); Femxa Formación S.L.U. (Spain); Kyttaro Enallaktikon Anazitiseon Neaon - KEAN (Greece). The main objectives of the project are developing innovative practices and tools for VET providers to use digital technologies for learning in a creative and collaborative way and increasing the ability of VET learners, teachers and trainers to adapt to online learning. In a 24-month journey, from May 2021, the consortium will produce the following results:

• International Research on "Gamification and Game-Based Learning: Best Practices and Requirements for Digital Environments", carried out in the six countries involved. The six national and comparative research reports, including the findings and conclusions of transnational research of best practices and focus groups with VET teachers, trainers and learners, are available at www.projectsparks.eu. 
• A Conceptual Framework for Gamified E-Learning Programs (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6374318), to support teachers and trainers in designing their own gamified courses, combining game elements in different online learning stages.
• These Templates of Gamified E-Learning Programs, applying the Conceptual Framework and designed with mixed groups of VET teachers and trainers, through Co-design Labs, to be customizable, flexible and work with any curriculum.
• An E-Learning Platform, which will provide a builder to create gamified learning programs by choosing and filling out the desired Template, manage the program and monitor learners' progress, behaviour and engagement. The platform will be tested in pilot with VET providers and learners and refined accordingly. The platform will also host a long-term virtual transnational community of education and training providers interested in innovating their practices through digital game-based learning and sharing knowledge and experiences.
• Support Material for the platform users, including video tutorials, e-learning modules and use cases for teachers and trainers, and an interactive user manual for learners.