Developing Key Competences in VET for the Footwear Industry through Serious Games

"<< Background >>The ShoeGAME project addressed two of the main challenges faced by the footwear industry right now: on one hand, its aging workforce, mainly due to the lack of the attractiveness of the sector, and, on the other, the inadequacy of the training offered to the current challenges. By bringing the sector closer to the real, by including relevant topics such as circularity and green economy, sustainability and providing digital and technological skills, also very important in order to keep up with the modernisation of the sector, the manufacturing sectors will become more attractive to younger generations. In parallel, the results produced by the project directly targeted this need, by informing students about most of the typical professions and occupations in the industry and presenting them with all the possibilities it offers. The project had three main target groups: i) students who are at the age to take the decision to enter VET studies, who the project intends to inform and motivate to proceed with their studies in the field, ii) students who have already taken this decision and are currently in the first year vocational training, and iii) teachers and tutors in VET system. << Objectives >>- To attract younger generations to the sector, informing them about the profession, the job market, and the challenges it faces;- To equip future footwear employees with relevant knowledge and skills related to footwear manufacturing from design till finishing, but also with competencies related to circularity, green economy, and sustainability in eco-design;- To promote students’ soft and transversal skills, increasingly important in the modern workplace, such as online teamwork, communication, positive attitude, analysis capacity and problem-solving, etc.;- To develop an innovative training approach and learning tools to be applied in VET contexts, related to the footwear industry or not;- To bridge the existing gap between the training offer and the industry needs;- To promote synergies and cooperation among businesses, universities, research centres and other relevant stakeholders operating in the footwear sector, contributing to the attractiveness and competitiveness of the sector;- To prevent school drop-out and maintain students’ interest and motivation;- To contribute, on a larger scale, to the renovation and modernisation of the footwear sector, maintaining its value and competitiveness.<< Implementation >>The project's objectives were fully achieved with the launch and validation of ALL project results to the target groups. To answer the mentioned needs and meet the proposed objectives, the ShoeGAME project provides future and current VET students in the footwear industry with professional and career-related skills and competencies. It motivates them to work in the sector. To do so, the following activities were implemented:-To begin with, all partners in their respective countries conducted a comprehensive status quo analysis. This meticulous assessment, which left no stone unturned, aimed to identify the knowledge gaps and training needs in the future generation of workers in the footwear industry. These analyses were then compiled into a comprehensive report. A second analysis was carried out, this time focusing on the relevant training resources to the national/regional curricula of the partners and their estimated benefits. This detailed process was instrumental in defining the awareness content structure and the core training curriculum, establishing the project's methodology and training content for five modules (Project Result 1). -The needs analyses served as a basis for establishing the contents and the tools to be used in developing the scenarios to be incorporated into the serious game (Project Result 2). The scenarios were tested and validated by the partners’ staff (alpha testing stage) and, in a later stage, with target users (Beta testing stage) before the final version of the game was concluded. An external piloting phase was implemented. -The activities which are part of the project’s result 2, the project's main deliverable, include the curriculum design, strategy and methodology, and the design and development of the game. All the training materials and guidelines were meticulously validated and adjusted according to the comments and suggestions received, ensuring the highest quality of the project's outputs.-The project’s consortium also developed support tools for teachers and tutors (Project Result 3).-Partners worked on three parallel horizontal workstreams: Project Management (A1); Quality Assurance (A2); and Dissemination and Exploitation (A3).<< Results >>The Project Results comply with the Open Access credentials, and they are available for free use on the project website at: https://shoegame.eu/results/ . ShoeGAME project has compiled the following outcomes:•An ANALYSIS, based on an extended survey to determine the training and education needs of pre-VET and VET students to select the knowledge and skills related to the footwear sector that should be the object of training through the serious game;•A compilation of the BEST PRACTICES in other sectors that allowed the partnership to identify the limits, characteristics and expected benefits of its application in the training of footwear workers;•The SPECIFICATION of the METHODOLOGY that was applied and the development of the training contents that was included in the game platform;•The TRAINING CONTENT included in the game, according to the agreed methodology. Five original training modules have been developed in seven languages (EN, RO, ES, IT, FR, GR, PT) and published under the Open Source credentials on the project website in e-book formats: Product Design, Manufacturing Processes, New Technologies in Footwear, Sustainability and Circularity, Marketing and Merchandising. The e-books can be viewed and downloadable from https://shoegame.eu/results/ •The first SERIOUS GAME for the FOOTWEAR industry-related VET training and education represents a ""step-in"" to the technological area of game development for educational purposes and the application of these tools in the classroom., cumulating the following benefits: is a learning tool to be used in the classroom; it allows the development of digital skills; it has a positive impact, demonstrated by the success of the Multiplier Events in retaining students who are already in the VET system and motivate potential future students. The Serious Game is freely available at https://shoegame.eu/game/•An extended RESEARCH on how to best use the Serious Game and Gamification as supportive tools for the VET curriculum •A package of TRAINING PLANS for every training module developed under PR1, including guidelines, methodology and materials to support the tutors/teachers in implementing video games and/or gamification in their teaching strategies. This manual for tutors/trainers explains how to use innovative learning tools not only as gamification strategies (e.g. serious games) to teach and reinforce sector-specific knowledge but also to provide important soft skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and communication. •PILOTING activities in RO, ES, PT and GR demonstrated the consistency of ALL three Project Results, being adopted the following training channels: Free Piloting by playing the game online – targeting a large audience, Piloting in Class with enrolled VET students and Piloting by training webinars addressing to tutors/teachers/trainers. 697 students/pupils and 39 teachers/trainers were involved in piloting face-to-face in-class activities; 88 teachers/trainers/ tutors attended piloting training webinars; 750 users participated in free piloting. •Multiplier Events in RO, ES, PT and GR, gathering a total of 243 students/pupils and 107 adults (VET, high and secondary schools teachers/trainers, policymakers and representatives of local/ regional authorities, professionals from the footwear industry and from the training and education;•International Multiplier Online Event - Webinar organised by BE gathering 25 teachers from 9 countries.ALL achieved RESULTS are available under Open Source credentials, and they are published on the public project site at: •https://shoegame.eu/results/ (EN), •https://shoegame.eu/es/resultados_es/ (ES), •https://shoegame.eu/it/risultati/ (IT), •https://shoegame.eu/ro/rezultate/ (RO), •https://shoegame.eu/pt/resultados_pt/ (PT),•https://shoegame.eu/fr/resultats/ (FR),•https://shoegame.eu/el/ (GR)"