When games can be fruitful
As part of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Project called CDG4E, that is currently being run by MITA, a week of game-based learning activities was organised during the past week, allowing both educators and students to experience at first hand the positive impacts of digital games in the learning process.
Games are powerful learning tools that can facilitate student learning. When playing both digital or non-digital games, students are put at the centre of the learning experience, thus getting them to learn ‘by doing’ things themselves. This hands-on approach to learning makes learning more engaging and fun. At the same time, games allow students to look at failure in a positive perspective which allows them to revise their actions and try again until they learn the outcome.
The Create Digital Games for Education (CDG4E) project was officially launched during the Game Based Learning week. The launch was aimed at educators, as they are key in fostering knowledge development in students. The CDG4E project is a strategic partnership in the area of cooperation and innovation. The consortium consists of organisations hailing from four countries: Malta, Austria, Germany and Luxembourg.
During this week, MITA organised a series of workshops and activities at Esplora the Interactive Science Centre. The aim of these workshops was to introduce basic programming to students from year 5 to Form 1.
On Wednesday, 17th January the focus was on educators. MITA delivered a half-day seminar during which several teachers gave their testimonials about gamebased learning. The experts in Game Based learning, Dr Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin and Mr Alexander Pfeiffer also gave keynote presentations and discussed the integration of digital games in education.
Those present during these workshops had the opportunity to share their experiences and give their feedback about teaching using digital games. In fact, educators were coming from different teaching areas. They also had the chance to use digital and non-digital games to teach students.
As for the weekend sessions, these were delivered in collaboration with the Science Centre within the Ministry for Education and Employment. Kids attending Year 5 to Form 1 were invited to participate in a one-hour workshop, where Mr Stephen Bezzina guided them on how to use games to learn principles of numeracy and programming. In the meantime, parents were also given the opportunity to observe the effectiveness of including games in the learning process while kids enjoy themselves through playing. At the end of each session, parents had the possibility to observe the results achieved by their children and therefore the benefits of game-based learning.