TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Hermine Papikyan
The training course aims at giving space for youth workers and trainers to improve their game-based learning and teaching in their youth work experience and assist young people in the enhancement of their soft skills and civic competences through thematic games.
Objectives of the TC:
-Comprehending the concept of game-based learning in the educational process and how games have their influence in the learning pathway of young people for developing their soft skills and civic competences
Sharing best personal and professional approaches of games, gamification and game-based learning in the youth work process
-Playing and testing Intercultural and civic education games on an international level
-Creating thematic game elements to be used after the project, in the further experience of the participants
Replenishing non-formal education toolbox with new sets of tools and thematic games, used within the project
-Coming up with follow-up activities in the principle of multiplication fostering quality improvements in youth work enhancing key competences and skills of young people for participation and social inclusion
Motivated youth workers and trainers, peer-to-peer educators, active members of youth organizations from the following countries-Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Portugal: 3 participants from each country.
The training course had the following activities:1.Introduction:to ease communication among participants, as well as create space for their and the trainers and future possible cooperation and agenda presentation including expectation sharing and contribution. to make the training course participative from the very beginning. The participants had the space to reflect upon their expectations from the project and then compare at the end to what extent their expectations were met. 3. As a team-building and trust making exercise was use the Actionbound application that ensured adaptation of the participants to the local activities and life, to know the local situation of youth work and how the games are used in local context, as well to build-up and improve teamwork skills of participants, trust in the group and towards one another in order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of participation ; 4.Energizers: to warm up the group for the activities or regain energy to go on with the sessions.5. Game-based learning- Theoretical and practical input by the trainers to give overall picture of this concept,6.Playing and testing games on Intercultural communication and civic education: to share experience of game creation, see how the mentioned games work and can be used in youth work to promote intercultural awareness and communication, promote active citizenship by forming responsible and aware attitude.7.KASA Foundation shared its experience of game creation cycle: to show how games are created in general, which processes they go through before actually becoming usable, 8.Playing the games that were the favorite ones of the participants, and sharing their learning experience 9. Expert meeting with local games in media literacy that explained how it worked among youth and what effectiveness it had. 10. Study Visit to a local enterprise who were famous for reviving national games which were about to be forgotten by modern trends, to see and discuss importance of values, positiveness of game based learning by showcasing real civic engagement examples.11.Game creation by the project participants as a result of which there are 3 new games to te used by the participants in their daily work. 12. Reflection meetings to maximize quality results of training while allowing participants to reflect on their learning process in the format of small group meetings, individual meetings, morning cycles and using Open Badge for personal reflection on the personal achievements from the project. 13.YouthPass-to enable participants to understand YouthPass as a self-assessment mechanism and enable them to self-assess their learning outcomes.14. Introduction of Erasmus+ program in youth field to enhance the understanding of the participants about the program and its opportunities for participation, cooperation aiming to promote networking and future collaboration between participants and their organizations.15. Intercultural evening:to promote intercultural mind-set and give the chance to discover new cultures and new lifestyles.
Participants played both educational and entertainment games to distinguish learning outcomes in both cases and prepare grounds for the creation of their own games and tools. Thus, participants 1.were equipped with the knowledge and skills of facilitation of concrete games(Percipio and Symbolus- created by KASA Foundation for developing intercultural dialogue competences), as well as brought the games back with them to utilize with their target youth groups; civic education games(created by KASA, as well as brought by participants);2. created/adapted their own games and tools based on certain needs of their youth groups. The laters have been uploaded in https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toolbox/ and http://educationaltoolsportal.eu/platform/en/tools_front for the usage of wider audience. New cooperation and partnerships were built on individual and organizational levels to apply for future international youth projects.
A video depicting the process of the project was created and shared via partners’ channels and social media- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibzuRPFZY74
I was a co-trainer.