2014-1-HU01-KA202-002365 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Table of Contents
PLENTIS - Play & Learn Enterpreneurial Skills in the Agricultural Sector started!................................................03 Project Background .....................................................................04 Experiences.................................................................................05 Meetings and coming activities ...................................................06
Acronym: PLENTIS Title: Play & Learn Entrepreneurial Skills in the Agricultural Sector Duration: 1st Septemb er 2014 – 30th Aug ust 2016 Action type: KA2 – Strategic Partnerships Programme: Erasmus+ Participating countries: Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Spain Website: www.plentis.eu 2
PLENTIS - Play & Learn Enterpreneurial Skills in the Agricultural Sector started!
Welcome to PLENTIS project! Play & Learn Entrepreneurial Skills in the Agricultural Sector is a European project, financed by the European Comission in the framework of the ERASMUS + programme. The project is leaded by TREBAG (Hungary) and counts on the collaboratio of a set of 7 partners from 4 different countries: VM KASZK Vocational School and PROMPT-H in Hungary; Soros Educational Center in Romania; the Czech University of Life Sciences in Czech Republic; and Inveslan and HAZI in Spain. For a period of 24 months (starting on September 2014) PLENTIS partners will work to help students and trainers improve the entrepreneurial skills education with the development of a specific online educational games. Entrepreneurial skills are considered as one of the basic key competences by the Lisbon Strategy, and essential to be included in the formal and non-formal learning itineraries. As entrepreneurship cannot be identified as one competence, but as a set of competences, the PLENTIS project aims to develop an online educational platform, which is basically a gamified competence development land (literally), with actual content (knowledge base) and individual games to help teachers and students develop those skills and competences essential for entrepreneurship. Accompayng us in this amazing adventure to know more about PLENTIS project and the benefits of game-based education!
This issue were published by: TREBAG, Hungary Copyright Š PLENTIS 3
Project Background L
earning by playing is actually a form of learning by doing. There are numerous studies suggesting that indeed there are topics, subjects etc. that can be better acquired by practicing, and not just reading over and over. This method is not a magic. We just have to remember when we were little children we barely sat down to learn but were playing all day long. Why not to continue learning by playing as an adult? Of course not the same way, but with the use of well structured educational games. With the use of such games (online or offline) participants can experience risk without real danger. These kind of games can make the player curious about a given topic, and as the learning process happens unconsciously, the player is not focusing or stressing on learning, but enjoying the game. Educational games are especially useful in the field of competence development. Experts suggest that games based learning approaches can provide a number of benefits, such as: Motivating learners to succeed and to continually improve Fostering self-esteem, self-determination and enhacing self-image Faciltiating collaborative learning Implicitly developing learners ability to observe, question, hypothesise Facilitating metacognitive reflection Developing complex problem-solving skills
(source: www.educationescotland.gov.uk/ussingglowandict/gamebasedlearning/about/understanding.asp) There are counter-opinions that say games are just not the tool for learning, for knowledge transfer. Of course, when using or even designing education games one must be well aware of the topic and the target groups needs and posibilites.
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PLENTIS project target groups include: DIRECT TARGETS Students of agricultural technical colleges Teachers working in agricultural technical
OTHER DIRECT USERS Other technical colleges
INDIRECT USERS Institutions, decision makers, ministries (as the maintainers of schools) and development companies involved in agricultural vocational training.
Final results of the project will be made tangible in the intellectual outputs: AGROPOLY – Online serious game platform; and AGROPOLY – Trainer Handbook.
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Experiences PLENTIS first steps were focused on research activities. Needs analysis were carried out in Czech, Hungarian, Romanian and Spanish secondary schools, providing the partners with very interesting inputs and feedback from the main target groups: students and teachers. A questionnaire and an interview respectively answered by each profile from 15th November 2014 to 15th January 2015. A total of 335 students and 35 teachers participated in the research.
Some of the main findings can be summarized in: Using computers is part of the everyday life of the vast majority of the students. Students are aware of the learning opportunities of the ICT tools, 85% of them have already used a computer for learning purposes. Students express great interest on the use of online educational games . Students and teachers share opinion on the most necessary skills to become entrepreneur: communication, teamwork, creativity, innovativeness and learning/improvement. In terms of knowledge and attitudes necessary for entrepreneurial activities, there is a similar synergy between the opinion of the teachers and students. Over a half of the students see entrepreneurship as a possible carrier prospect, and over a quarter of them is undecided in this respect.
Contact us to receive the full report on The Use of Technological Tools and Online Games for better Entrepreneurial Education.
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Meetings and coming activities
PLENTIS held the Kick-off meeting on 14-15th November 2014, in the city of Budapest. The event was a perfect moment to present partners, working teams, exchange ideas and experiences on game-based learning and entrepreneurship in agricultural sector. A clear roadmap of the project activities was agreed, including those leading to the two main Intellectual Outputs: AGROPOLY ONLINE SERIOUS GAME PLATFORM and AGROPOLY Trainer Handbook. The second translational meeting was held in Prague, 9-10th February 2015. PLENTIS partners shared and discussed on the research results and the potentials for the development of the AGROPOLY structure, contents and functionalities. Coming events include the trilateral meeting to be held also in April in Prague, where TREBAG, CLUS and INVESLAN will work on the AGROPOLY platform and games development.
Stay tuned for updated information!
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PARTNERS
PLENTIS CONSORTIUM COORDINATOR
PROMPT-H Ltd. Web: www.prompt.hu
KASZK Web: www.kaszk.hu
SOROS Foundation Web: www.sec.ro
INVESLAN Web: www.inveslan.com
HAZI Web: www.hazi.es
TREBAG Ltd. Web: www.trebag.hu
CUSL Web: www.czu.cz/cs/