MOVE YOUR MIND

"<< Background >>This project is the final piece of a triptych as a logical continuation of 2 other projects ESF MOVE and ERASMUS+ MOVE BEYOND. In those previous projects we focused on the content and the role of trainers/teachers through alternative workshops/training's using Art-educational and sportive methods to uncover (hidden) talents of young adults and increase their motivation and self-confidence. However, we came to the conclusion that to complete the circle we also needed to look at the role of the learner. In particular, the learning behavior and the learning experience. And this is where Ludodidactics comes in. It is about designing teaching and learning behavior based on game principles.Project MOVE YOUR MIND focus on showing how Ludodidactics helps direct the target group of teachers/ trainers teachers how to reach the learner/the end user?The framework from which we designed the project are how you as a teacher/trainer can use and practice Ludodidactics based on learning behavior and learning experience to motivation, social inclusion and active participation. First we not of (vulnerable) young adults based on on art educational theories and didactic experience about the learning proces and the learning behavior.<< Objectives >>The goal was how to focus on the learning behavior and learning experience of learners because this is a still underexplored and what this means for the role of the teacher/trainer particular. Fact is that we create conditions to the quality and importance of the content and process of a training/lesson and to the role of the teacher/trainer. We do not always consistently focus on the learning behavior and learning experience of the learner. How do we really reach them? To achieve this, we have focused on Ludodidactics. The consortium in our project consists of different disciplines and fields from Education, Culture, Training to Reintegration and uses its own methodologies. Therefore, it was important to share those different theories and methodologies through presentations to gain insight into each other's learning processes and discuss them in order to determine not only to what extent Ludo didactics could be integrated but also applicable within different disciplines and target groups. For this it was necessary to introduce teachers/trainers to and experience what Ludodidactics can add to student-centered education and training. Our projectpartner HKU aimed to support the development of Ludodidactics due to their expertise.<< Implementation >>General activities mainly consisted of:•Organising 5 TPM’s, •Various online meetings partly regarding project management and monitoring partly content-related work consultations.•LTTA organised by the HKU in Utrecht on Ludodidactics•Organising Multiplier Events•Elaborating the 5 project results. Each project result was coordinated by one of the project partners ( HKU/PR1, Weener XL/PR2, JAMK/PR3, FLORESHUYS/PR4 and VUC/PR 5)•Use of Social media ( Facebook, Linkedin, partner’s website, website of MOVE YOUR MINDWe wanted to strengthen and bring knowledge and skills within the participating organization to develop learning experiences and enrich and strengthen their services. This by gaining knowledge from our partner HKU, who also organised a specific training and by pending 1/2 day of our TPM's to discuss further the different project outputs during our TPM's in Ludodidactics and sharing the knowledge and experiences of our other partners. Partners were also in touch with each other online where necessary to help each other along and also had the opportunity to regularly contact HKU for further explanation or to spar when they got stuck. The partners aimed, in two phases, to rewrite an existing training course from a Ludodidactics point of view or to create a new training course based on Ludodidactics. An important part was also the role of the teacher/trainer in this. Some partners also held sessions or a workshop with their colleagues and work relationships ( freelancers, colleagues, schools,etc.) to demonstrate the added value of Ludodidactics.Activities done by the different partners:Partner VUC: oDevelopment of a learning learning week in Danish as second language with specific learning outcome related to the curriculum in AVU (General Adult Education. EQF level 1-3)oTest of the learning element with two classes in Danish as second languageoDevelopment of learning elements for Mathematic in FVU (General Preparatory Education EQF level 1) Partner JAMK: oExperiments with teachers in different contexts and contents, research on the profile of the trainer, exploring and writing about ludo in informative articles, how to apply Ludo didactics in vet, WPsoAn application to teachers how to apply ludo in special education and to make special educational needs more effective and imposing.oResearch on the profile of the trainer, Partner FLORESHUYS: oOrganizing a learning session on ludodidactics for freelancers who fit the profile of a traineroDesigning and conduct workshop for secondary school teachers on ludodidactics in relation to designing an escape roomoDesign 3 escape experiences (sexual exploitation, labor exploitation and criminal exploitation) for the Reshape FoundationPartner MOOSS: oapplying ludodidactics mainly in the own team, involving also young people from other sub teams. oredesigning some of our workshops and later created new workshops/training's for some different target groups.oGiven the organization's significant reach in Flanders ( Belgium), this approach will benefit both participants and those involved in training courses for teachers and supervisors of children in leisure and school settings.Partner AIEM: othe exploration of the ludodidactics approach and its practical experimentation (with two training courses completed and a third launched at the project's conclusion), consistently accompanied by feedback from the various partners.oconducted research on the implementation of the ludodidactics approach in cultural heritage education, with a particular focus on the role of the teacher/trainer/researcher.Partner WEENER XL: oall her work as our developer now incorporates the knowledge of Ludodidactics. oLudodidactics has become a key tool for addressing challenges, creating training's, and developing solutions. oColleagues are regularly informed about Ludodidactics, and sometimes the tools are used collaboratively. oCombine the strategies, resources, and tools from both Ludodidactics and heritage education to create comprehensive and enriched educational experiencesPartner HKU: oTheir role was to share their specific expertise about Ludodidactics through presentations and the use of a handbook ogive workshops and training about Ludodidactics oassisting and advising the other partners in designing or redesigning their training's or lessonsPartner FONDAZIONE GUIDO D’AREZZO oTheir focus was on children: from treasure hunts at the gold museum to the opportunity to perform on a major stage given to schoolchildrenoBringing classical music musicians under 35 into the schools and with them change the type of teaching, engaging students on something unfamiliarPartner TIRANTESoacted in different roles: critical friend, co-designer, support the project leader, based on my long term experience in education giving feedback as much as possible, supporting in monitoring and evaluation!<< Results >>Project result 1: THEORY 1.Workshop by the partners by reading the Ludodidactics handbookPartners have been studying foundational pedagogical theories and consulting the provided MDA canvas, while some participated in a summer course to deepen their understanding. These efforts aim to prepare partners for PR2, where they will apply Ludodidactic principles in designing lessons and workshops, integrating them with their organization's dominant methodologies.2.Introduction on arts education, constructivist learning theories and instructional design and learning experience design and practice of the design process and the tools used to apply games- and play principles in the design of Arts education and learningThe consortium, comprising various disciplines like education, culture, and reintegration, shared their methodologies and theories, revealing that most partners use (social) constructivism-based approaches, including those by Hein, Kolb, and Ajzen. Constructivism emphasizes active learning where learners build knowledge through experiences. Ludodidactics also values the learner's active role but focuses on creating motivating and effective learning experiences. By prioritizing the learning experience, Ludodidactics complements and enhances existing theories like constructivism.3.Establishing a communal language and insight in the design process through discussions on the comparison with other theories, practices and discourses that are used by the different partners.In presentations on dominant theories, the consortium aimed to establish a common language by connecting key educational theories with Ludodidactics. They explored how Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, Munari's Design Principles, and Ajzen and Fishbein's Theory of Planned Behavior align with Ludodidactic principles. Kolb's theory informs an iterative design process, while Gardner's suggests using varied media to enhance learning without causing cognitive overload. Munari’s design principles promote simplicity and engagement, and Ajzen and Fishbein's theory helps tailor educational games to players' beliefs and intentions, making them more effectiveProject Result 2: (RE)DESIGN part 11.Relevance of Ludodidactic for ( art) education and re-integration, aiming to establish mutual understanding, and learn from each other’s strong points or differences in context, vision and outcomes.After establishing a common language between educational theories and Ludodidactics, the consortium discussed how to merge these approaches in (art) education and reintegration. They developed practical principles for enhancing educational game design: fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between experts, using reflective practices aligned with Kolb's learning cycle, adopting Munari's user-centered design principles, tailoring games to different learning styles using Gardner’s theory, and applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to influence learner engagement and behavior. These strategies aim to create more effective and engaging educational experiences.2.E-motion: define aesthetic experience versus aesthetic of the experience by exchanging the point of view from Art educational methods and how they can reinforce each other. How can this lead to more.In ongoing discussions, the consortium recognized the importance of aesthetic experiences in influencing learning and behavior. Aesthetic experience, involving sensory and emotional engagement, is essential in educational and reintegration processes. When redesigning workshops in (art) education and reintegration, attention must be given to aesthetics, including the design and presentation of learning environments. A well-designed aesthetic enhances student engagement, comfort, and inspiration, making learning more effective. This approach aims to create environments that support learning goals and lead to deeper, more meaningful educational experiences.it is important to mention that, due to advanced insights, we noticed that some components within the various project results overlapped or belonged more to another project result. This in itself is not a problem because all parts have been covered. In particular, we are talking about PR 1 and PR 2. What we also had to conclude was that properly understanding and applying Ludodidactics took more time and energy than anticipated. The partners' need was to spend more time to properly understand and especially apply the methodology in practice which prompted adjustments to the other activities within this project result. As a result, we did not have time to create an online training in addition to face-to-face training at this stage. Moreover, there was no time to first ensure feedback from giving a ‘old style’ workshops/lessons and then soliciting feedback on the same but redesigned workshop/lesson (via zero measurement). All the more so because some partners came up with totally new concepts instead of adapting existing trainings/workshops.Therefore we limited the other activities in this second project result to practical exercices elaborated by the partners in accordance to their own choice and depending on the services of their organisation. Project partners (re)designed a course, session or workshop (or any other part of their curriculum/offerings) with the newly acquired knowledge. The project partners, guided by experts from the HKU team during the LTTA in Utrecht, were divided in learning teams. Each with a mentor with expertise on Ludodidactics. The creation and elaboration of the trainings/workshops also took place continuously throughout the duration of the project both during TPMs and in online meetings. We also saw differences in the ability of partners to design new training courses. Partners like AIEM or Floreshuys were empowered to come up with totally new concepts. Partners such as VUC or Weener XL had to take into account the policies and processes within their school and municipal organisations and thus concentrated more on modifying existing trainings.Project 3:Profile of the trainerIn this project result we examined what the use of Ludodidactics means for the role of the teacher/trainer. Modern learning theories emphasize the autonomy of teachers, allowing them to choose methods and approaches to meet curriculum goals. However, the Erasmus+ ""Move Your Mind"" project focuses on learner-centered Ludodidactics, which integrates game design principles into education. This approach supports teacher autonomy by blending pedagogical thinking with playful, game-like experiences. The project builds on the earlier ""Erasmus+ Move Beyond"" initiative, which identified three key trainer roles: coach, facilitator, and evaluator.""Move Your Mind"" explores how various learning theories, including socio-constructivism, experiential learning, authentic arts education, and the theory of reasoned action, define the teacher’s role. In these theories, teachers act as facilitators, designers of experiences, mentors, or guides, shaping engaging and meaningful learning environments. Ludodidactics adds another layer, positioning the teacher as a learning designer who creates enjoyable and impactful experiences, much like a game designer. The focus is on the student’s experience and the meaning they derive from it.This project result discusses the implementation of Ludodidactic principles in education and the role of teachers in this process, based on a survey conducted among participants in the ""Move Your Mind"" project. The goal was to gather insights into how Ludodidactics is applied in teaching, the challenges faced, and the competences required. Key findings include the importance of collaboration, the need for a common language, and the challenges posed by differing backgrounds among educators.Teachers aim to enhance student engagement, motivation, self-confidence, and independence through playful, game-like learning experiences. A major goal was to shift both learners' and trainers' mindsets, making learning more enjoyable and flexible. While enthusiasm and preparation are essential for success, time constraints and the complexity of designing Ludodidactic learning processes can hinder progress. Teachers' confidence and sharing ideas with colleagues were highlighted as important factors in successfully implementing Ludodidactics.We outlined the essential competences required for teachers applying ludodidactics, which integrates game design principles into educational practices. Teachers must not only possess expertise in content and pedagogy but also adopt new skills related to game-like learning, such as open-mindedness, creativity, and thinking ""out of the box."" Ludodidactic design requires teachers to focus on the learner's experience, using iterative, collaborative processes similar to game design.This implies that teachers take on multiple roles in this approach:•Pedagogue: Understanding both traditional and ludodidactic theories and applying them to create engaging learning experiences.•Designer: Designing, testing, and refining learning activities to enhance student engagement.•Facilitator: Guiding students through the process, fostering a safe and positive learning environment, and managing group dynamics.•Bricoleur: Using diverse, creative methods to make learning more inclusive and dynamic.•Collaborator: Working with other professionals and stakeholders to co-create educational experiences.Ultimately, the teacher's role is to design enjoyable and aesthetic learning experiences that empower students to take initiative in their learning.Project Result 4:Starting from the vision, target group and context of each partner, we looked at the implications of project outcome PR2- (Re) Design and how this ultimately resulted in newly designed courses in Project outcome 4 according to the principles of: - Vision of the organisation - Ludodidactics - Theory of the epistemic framework - Profile of the mentor. Two preliminary observations are important here :oAs mentioned earlier, properly absorbing the content and understanding the Ludodidactic methodology, the timeline was underestimated in terms of study time and full application of the Ludodidactic approach. This took more time than estimated beforehand. However, this was accommodated by the extensive resources and concerted efforts of our partners, ultimately achieving the objectives.oProject Result 2 and 4 overlap. Partly due to lack of time to fully implement both project results as described in the application but also because each partner chose to either do a re-design or create a completely new course depending on the vision and possibilities/constraints within their own organisation. For example, we saw that non-profit organisations such as AIEM or FLORESHUYS had the freedom to create new training courses, while other project partners such as VUC, JAMK or Weener XL were much more limited by their organisation's policy and thus had to focus more on redesigning existing training courses. In our earlier ESF project, we pointed out that creating or innovating training depends not only on designers and trainers but also on the possibilities and freedoms to take the initiative within process- and system-oriented organisations.The process of redesign within project result 2 flowed seamlessly into project result 4 and resulted in finishing the training concepts that :Partner MOOSS:They conducted a trial and analysis of the workshop with their target group during Petrol, an annual event for young youth workers held every November. On November 11, 2023, we introduced ludodidactics through a visual arts workshop. The target audience once again consisted of young people aged 16-30. The workshop was developed according to the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) framework providing a clear vision of the aesthetics they wanted to achieve. and followed a series of steps:An other activity was with a group of young entrepreneurs working in arts education.The participants included young professionals from the arts education field in Flanders who are interested in furthering their expertise.Additionally, they adapted a second workshop for a larger group: The Museum Game.Thyeir target group: approximately 100 university students who participated in a fun and educational evening activity around the Alechinsky Museum. They successfully tested this workshop.Partner AIEMA key output of the project was the development of a new educational framework aimed at enhancing the skills and competencies of museum educators. By integrating the Ludodidactics approach, they re-envisioned their training programs from a new perspective. The pilot training's allowed them to explore our professional roles more deeply, providing tools for self-reflection and growth both for individual professionals and for the Association itself. This achievement exceeded their initial expectations, contributing to the professional development of their members and strengthening the association itself.Finally, a concrete result of the project was the practical implementation of the Ludodidactics approach in their professional work. This led to improvements in both their evaluation and self-evaluation processes, particularly in their work within museums and cultural heritage sites. The use of Ludodidactics has empowered them to better engage with diverse audiences, offering a more refined and impactful approach to education in cultural heritage contexts.Partner VUCThe design of a learning sessions/courses has been made in Danish as Second Language, Social studies and Mathematics. The focus has not been art education, as they do not provide this in General Adult Education. The pedagogical theories are more related to social constructivism and cognitivism and not theories specialized in Art related approaches. The new developed design were tested with students. Feedback and qualitative evaluation of the first test were The redesign of the learning session/course were taken into account when redesigning the learning sessions. The redesign were implemented/tested with new classes and feedback from those have been collected for the next classes.An other training involved a group of students supposed to imagine themselves as a newspaper editorial team, where each member had to fulfill specific roles. They decided themselves who would take on the predefined roles provided by the teacher. A chief editor at both locations (working/being taught simultaneously). Journalists at both locations as well as layout designers at both places. The group had to figure out how to distribute the tasks themselves. The end product was supposed to be a newspaper front page with a minimum of 1 news article, 1 background article, and 1 reader's letter.Partner WEENER XLIn the past, our supervisors would dictate what was best for employees, such as recommending training, changing work locations, adjusting schedules, or advising how to communicate with colleagues. These recommendations, although well-intentioned, were directive and didn’t empower employees to take charge of their own development. Our colleague being a developer designer and trainer wanted to shift this approach, allowing employees to guide their own growth. With my coaching background, She developed a card game based on NLP strategy coaching questions./She conducted a play-test with the supervisors, using the game to answer coaching questions through pictures instead of text. They were enthusiastic about the tool, particularly appreciating the visual approach. However, concerns arose about how to implement the game with 300 employees spread across four work floors, each with two supervisors. Due to their demanding workload and the complexity of employees' backgrounds, supervisors felt they couldn’t play the game one-on-one with everyone.Despite these challenges she continued developing the game, inspired by a book she was reading that aligned well with my project. There was significant trial and error, as seen in her prototypes. Along the way, she conducted small playtests with family and friends, whose feedback was invaluable in improving the game. Through this process, the game evolved significantly and became more effective.Partner JAMKTheir goal was to familiarize their teachers in VET, teacher students and students in Higher education.with the principles of Ludodidactics and what this had to offer for better learning and for pedagogical thinking by creating an application to teachers how to apply ludo in special education and to make special educational needs more effective and imposing. This guide/application means an iteration of guidelines for teachers on integrating Ludodidactics into special education in order to enhance the effectiveness and engagement of students with special educational needs. We see that this guide of guidelines can be developed into a Training module for Special Education Teachers. It can also be developed into a Research proposal that means a study on the effectiveness of using Ludo in special education settings to enhance student engagement and learning. Three more possibilities are an Educational workshop for educators within Special education, an Instructional Guide on how to incorporate Ludo into their special education curriculum or Curriculum enhancement of the Special education curriculum to make learning more interactive and enjoyable for students with special needs.Partner FLORESHUYSNext to designing a Christmas Game for the Core Team of Floreshuys, an introduction game for the workshop during the TPM in Leuven, a ‘game scope scan’ and ‘card deck’ for the TPM in Finland, an online interactive Jenaplan game for primary education and a ‘pedagogy scan’ and ‘card deck’ for a training for our freelancersThe most important were the escape experiences (sexual exploitation, labor exploitation and criminal exploitation) for the Reshape Foundation in collaboration with the police and a design of a movie maker game for secondary educationPartner FONDAZIONE GUIDO D’AREZZOThey designed a ludodidactic activity carried out in the Golden Museum of Arezzo. It is all about a treasure hunt, not yet multimedia and interactive, used to discover the small treasures within the museum. A work of game, designing, testing and re-designing.Partner HKUHKU did not build re-designed courses themselves because of their supporting and guiding role in the project as experts on Ludodidactics. They cfeated the workbook Ludodidactics.Project Result 5: TOOLKITWe realised too late that the description and activities belonging to the toolkit were incorrect. This description belongs to the previously successful adf closed project MOVE BEYOND and inadvertently ended up in MOVE YOUR MIND. The activities also do not match our project.The toolkit that we initially intended to carry out physically is now digital and part of the MOVE YOUR MIND website due to a reduction by the agency in our exceptional costs.Within this toolkit we gathered several tools utilized by the partners, including those provided by HKU. These tools are: •MDA Canvas: Used during the ""Train the Trainer"" workshop in Utrecht.•Ludodidactics Workbook: Also used at the ""Train the Trainer"" workshop in Utrecht.•Partner Interview Canvas: Utilized in Arezzo.•Link to the book on Ludodidactics•Didactics Scan Canvas: Created by our team.•Card Deck for Didactics Scan.•Game Scope Canvas (Final Version) for dominant theory and game scan [Finland PTM].•Card Deck for Game Scope Dominant Theory.•Cards used during workshops and training for professionals on topics like ""active listening,"" ""open questions,"" and more. •Although SVEB is not an official partner, they are developing a tool called Migniffisand. they’ve created a card deck and an app. •Card Deck for creating escape rooms.•App for working with Ludodidactics.•Profile of the trainer"