CodER: Teaching coding and microcontrollers to young people through virtual Escape Rooms

<< Background >>The CodER project became a focal point for Digijeunes, Kalimera, C.I.P., RITE, Challedu, and AKMI due to their shared acknowledgment of pressing educational gaps. Digijeunes, focusing on youth tech education, identified a programming knowledge deficit, prompting exploration into this technical domain. Kalimera, committed to pioneering digital education, embraced CodER to introduce gamified escape rooms, aligning with their innovative teaching ethos and sparking interest in programming. C.I.P., with a cross-sectoral approach, aimed to equip youth with coding skills, emphasizing problem-solving and critical thinking. Their focus on training unemployed youth found fulfillment in CodER's gamified escape rooms, engaging educators across diverse fields. RITE's alignment with CodER was rooted in their vision for innovation and technology transfer, addressing programming challenges and promoting socially valuable coding education. At AKMI and Challedu, a commitment to dynamic vocational education led them to recognize CodER's potential. Both sought to bridge the theory-practice gap, preparing students for the evolving job market by offering hands-on training in real-world programming applications.<< Objectives >>The consortium, driven by a collective vision, embarked on a mission with diverse goals in targets, content, and quality. Digijeunes aimed to equip youth workers with theoretical and practical tools in programming, extending the focus to inspire girls, unemployed youth, and NEETs. The goal was to motivate them to acquire new technical and soft skills through engaging learning experiences. C.I.P. focused on transferring essential programming knowledge through non-formal education, using escape rooms for gamified impact. Integration of online tools enhanced learning effectiveness. RITE empowered youth workers with fundamental programming knowledge, addressing youth unemployment through innovative methods like educational escape rooms, gamified processes, and VR elements.AKMI aimed to inspire and empower youth through the CodER project's Escape Room platform, targeting youth unemployment with tailored training. Challedu sought new tools and skills in emerging technologies, integrating them into internal activities. Through gamification, Challedu aimed to elevate the learning process for young people, aligning with the consortium's mission to foster skills for the modern labor market.<< Implementation >>In terms of the project results, the consortium created and developed main deliverables.All partners actively engaged in the entirety of project activities, attending transnational in-person meetings and monthly online meetings. At these sessions, one or more project managers represented each organization. There were 1 or 2 representatives from each organization in each in person meeting. These took place in Athens in October 2022 and June 2023. The consortium run 18 online meeting in total. These took place every month via Zoom calls, they lasted on average 1 hour and gathered on average 6 representatives from across the consortium.As part of the project we implemented a number of pilot tests, aiming to experiment the educational ressources developed by the consortium. Pilot tests took place in Cyprus, France, Greece and Croatia, across May 2022 and November 2023 with a dense pilot test agenda in each session. As a total, 164 people participated in the pilot tests, this said the number of participants in each session varied significantly across different countries and organizations. Each pilot test was systematically followed by an evaluation questionnaire aiming to gather qualitative feedback concerning the ressources from the beneficiaires directly involved in the experiences.A comprehensive round table discussion was orchestrated, bringing together a diverse group encompassing youth workers, professionals, and experts in programming, design, and technology. The primary objective of this activity was to engage with individuals entrenched in the tech sector, seeking valuable insights and feedback regarding the pertinence of the resources envisaged by the consortium for development. This insightful event transpired in June 2022 across various countries through Zoom, attracting a total of 32 participants.Moreover, as part of PR3, a scenario competition was initiated. Each organization invited young individuals to fully develop an Escape Room scenario centered around programming and microcontrollers. In each organization, one or more teams were assembled to compete for the top three scenarios. Guided by the local organization, each team crafted a storyline encompassing riddles and activities designed to facilitate learning about coding and microcontrollers. Digijeunes created templates for the young participants, providing a structured framework for inputting the relevant information for their envisioned escape room scenarios. Additionally, C.I.P, Challedu, Kalimera and Digijeunes organized and hosted individual multiplier events for the project. Throughout project implementation, each organization played a proactive role in ensuring the success of the collaborative efforts, dissemination and improvement of the content materials.<< Results >>The tangible outputs of the project encompassed several components, including the CodER Module, the CodER methodological and pedagogical guide, the CodER Escape Room Scenarios Handbook and resources, the CodER inspirational scenarios, the CodER youth participants' winning scenarios, and the Digital Escape Room Generator.C.I.P. spearheaded the development of the CodER Module, overseeing its separation into two parts. Their responsibilities included work distribution, module material development, ensuring overall homogeneity, and providing assistance as needed. The first part focused on a coding module, emphasizing programming basics and the Python language. The second part aimed to impart basic knowledge of microcontrollers and embedded systems to youth organizations. Consortium-wide desk research aligned learning objectives with market-required skills. The CodER Module was translated into partner languages, promoting transferability across European youth organizations.Challedu, leading the second result, crafted the framework for CodER's methodological and pedagogical guide. The guide targeted youth workers and educators in STEM fields, covering educational escape rooms, learning programming through escape rooms, and teaching coding methodology. Each partner organized round table discussions, with Challedu overseeing the guide's structure and main creation. Chapters were assigned to RITE and AKMI for drafting, with feedback provided by all partners. The guide was subsequently translated into partner languages.Digijeunes led the third result, developing six ready-to-use Escape rooms on coding and microcontrollers from scratch. This encompassed physical and digital scenarios, each with guides for youth workers and participants, clues, and complementary materials. Inspiration scenarios and contexts were published on the website, accompanied by two introductory videos. A scenarios contest allowed participants to design their escape rooms, with winners receiving a 200 euros voucher. All scenarios were translated into partner languages.RITE developed the Escape Room Generator platform, integrating mini-games based on programming languages and microcontrollers. The platform enables users to create unique digital escape rooms with customizable characters, backgrounds, themes, items, and music. Users can publish their scenarios, and examples are provided for inspiration. The platform supports user accounts for saving work and is available in all partner languages, fostering inclusivity and accessibility. In relation to learning outcomes, the participants in the project developed a comprehensive range of technical and soft skills. The youth involved in the initiative cultivated proficiency in programming, including the capacity to comprehend computer code, differentiate among various programming languages, and grasp computational logic—such as constructing fundamental elements like variables and conditionals. Additionally, they honed their aptitude for applying their knowledge of computer code to fine-tune programs, as well as gained competence in programming electronic sensors and actuators. Simultaneously, they acquired essential soft skills such as problem-solving, teamwork, patience, perseverance.For youth workers, the project fostered the development of a number of skills, including the proficiency to conduct hands-on workshops on computer coding. They gained the capability to discern and select coding learning resources tailored to their target audience. Moreover, they acquired an understanding of technical jargon in both computer coding and physical computing, as well as a grasp of the fundamental building blocks of computational logic. Additionally, they cultivated the ability to align practical educational activities with various roles in the tech sector, such as computer programming and engineering, and successfully incorporated gamification methodologies into their educational practices.