Course overview

Today's learners are very different from those of 20 years ago; besides being digital natives, they have new profiles and preferences. Modern education often fails to recognize those characteristics and take them into account in the learning process, often resulting in a lack of students’ motivation and engagement. Gamification in education and Game Based Learning can be particularly effective to engage learners and promote active participation and motivation in the classroom and outside.
Participating in this course, teachers and education staff will discover how to master game thinking to turn the learning process into a game  and to use game-based apps and tools in the classroom.  Through a hands-on approach, we will reflect on how to adapt learning design to students’ needs, preferences and attitudes.


​Learning outcomes

This structured course aims to introduce the participants to the world of Game Based Learning and Gamification and guide the participants through the principles, possibilities, apps and tools that can allow them addressing today’s education challenges and adapt the learning process to students’ needs and profiles.
The general aim of this course is to foster excellence in education by empowering teachers, school staff and managers with the needed knowledge and skills to use game thinking, approaches and elements in education and effectively apply gamification principles and mechanisms in school settings.
Thanks to this course the participants will:
  •  Get acquainted with the key elements and growing trends related to Game Based Learning and Gamification
  • Understand the difference between Game Based Learning and Gamification
  • Get to know the best Game Based Learning and Gamification apps and tools
  • Learn the main steps to integrate game-based elements and mechanism in education and gamify the classroom
  • Learn how to design and create digital escape rooms and scavenger hunts to increase learners’ engagement and motivation
  •  Exchange best practices and share experiences about Game Based Learning and Gamification with fellow colleagues and the course trainer
  • Network with individuals and organizations working in the education field in Europe through everyday cooperation and networking activities

Courses planned

2024
21/04/2024 - 27/04/2024 (Palermo)
21/04/2024 - 27/04/2024 (Tenerife)
04/08/2024 - 10/08/2024 (Bologna)
15/09/2024 - 21/09/2024 (Tenerife)
24/11/2024 - 30/11/2024 (Bologna)
24/11/2024 - 30/11/2024 (Palermo)

2025
26/01/2025 - 01/02/2025 (Bologna)
16/02/2025 - 22/02/2025 (Palermo)
13/07/2025 - 19/07/2025 (Bologna)
13/07/2025 - 19/07/2025 (Tenerife)
13/07/2025 - 19/07/2025 (Porto)
21/09/2025 - 27/09/2025 (Tenerife)
16/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 (Bologna)
16/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 (Palermo)
16/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 (Tenerife)

​If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is addressed to teachers, trainers, educational counsellors, career counsellors, school psychologists, headmasters, school management and administrative staff working in primary schools, secondary schools, vocational schools, training centres, adult education schools, higher education, kindergarten and NGOs.
Please mind that the course may include teachers from different school levels.

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to [email protected] to get more information about it.

Past participants say...

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"This course really exceeded all expectations. You learn how to easily gamify your classroom with minimal effort. Nevertheless, if you're interested in game- base learning and want to put time in that, you get tools for that too. I now know how to make an escape room, scavenger hunt, and much more. The amazing teacher responds to the needs of each participant, and gives you the opportunity to voice your expectations. 10 out of 10, I would strongly recommend!" ​

- Stien, Belgium

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Company

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"Attending Erasmus+ course will equip you with new skillsthat will enrich your students educational experience and develop your knowledge in areas that you may not have previously considered. The gamification course was fun, informative lead by well-informed instructors." ​

- Stephen Breslin, Croatia ​

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Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles.
Our standard program comprises 7 days of course, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangement. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we can organize longer or shorter versions of this course.
Sunday
- Participants arrival
- Orientation and information about the venue and the city 
- Networking activities
- Walking tour in the venue’s city
Monday
- Course introduction
- Teambuilding exercises
- Needs and expectations evaluation
- New learners, new challenges: how Game Based Learning and Gamification can help 21st century education
- Understanding the difference between Game Based Learning and Gamification
- Testing and practicing basic Game Based Learning activities
-  Discussion and reflections on the most common challenges with digital native learners
Tuesday
-  Discovering and analyzing the elements of learners’ motivation in a Gamification framework
-  Testing and practicing some of the most common Gamification and Game Based Learning apps
-  How to stimulate critical and creative thinking through Gamification and Game-based learning
-  Cultural activities in the venue’s city
Wednesday
-  The 4 main steps to gamify your classroom and learning activities
-  Experiencing and creating digital escape room style experiences to engage learners
-  Applying backward design principles and ICT tools to plan your own digital escape room
 - Optional cultural visit outside the venue’s city 
Thursday
-  Benefits and opportunities of adventure and outdoor education
- Practicing Outdoor Game Based Learning through urban challenges
- Designing scavenger hunts to engage and motivate students to learn outdoors
Friday
-  The top-picked game elements to engage students in the learning process
-  How to design, create and award a Digital Badge to track goals and skills achieved
-  Upgrading a unit or lesson adding game elements and mechanisms
-  Cultural activities in the venue’s city
-  Farewell dinner
Saturday
- Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow up activities
- Course roundup and final evaluation
- Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony
- Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)
- Participants departure
    Pre-registration
    Read here our privacy policy

Other relevant facts

  • Methodology
  • Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
  • Certification and Validation of learning outcomes
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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning in an interactive and international environment knowledge applicable to the real contexts and/or in the classroom. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange. They include visits with local schools and institutions allowing the participants to better understand the local education system as well as exchange ideas and contacts.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know Italy as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.
Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure the best comfort and quality at a price that is within the Erasmus+ grant.
We are proud to tailor our training courses to both participants' learning and practical needs and to ease your participation at our training courses, we will gladly take care of all the practical arrangements. If you prefer, you can take care of some of the practical arrangements by yourself (e.g. meals, local transport...), though we will manage the organization of your accommodation in order to ensure optimal logistic organization, safety and time-efficiency. We always provide board and lodging in the same hotel in which we organize the course  thus ensuring optimal comfort and potential of networking with the fellow participants. Read more about  how we take care of your subsistence and practical arrangements. 
The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations in 2025 costs 1405 EUR in Bologna, 1330 EUR in Tenerife and Thessaloniki and 1225 EUR in Palermo, Porto and Rimini and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, 2 coffee breaks per day, walking tour in the venue’s city, a sum-up dissemination video. The standard option in Bologna, Tenerife and Thessaloniki includes all meals from Sunday lunch to Saturday lunch, while in Palermo, Porto and Rimini includes all breakfasts and three networking meals in local restaurants. Few of our courses include extra services and activities hence having a different pricing option, which will be communicated upon receiving the pre-registration. ​
For schools sending 2 or more participants we can offer accommodation in double rooms and we can provide as well accommodation for people or relatives accompanying the participants.
When attending our courses, we recommend you to request 9 days of individual support for your subsistence costs, 7 days for the course plus 2 additional days for the travel. In this way you can have more flexibility in planning your stay and you can enjoy all the cultural activities planned from the first to the last day of course. You can read here more about the Erasmus+ funding. Shall you have need any help with filling the budget during the application stage or have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to support you.
At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance, together - if requested - with the Europass Mobility Certificate. The certificate are in line with the Erasmus Quality Standards and include a short description of the course and its learning outcomes, dates, venues, the name of the course provider and the course instructor(s).
We support the participants in every step of certification and validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

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