"<< Objectives >>The project ""Message in a Bottle - You are next!"" aims directly at supporting professional and voluntary staff in youth work - in art-oriented environments - to enable them to provide young people with engaging and innovative activities. Together we want to develop two hybrid forms of cooperation, collaboration and exchange:A shared storytelling method named ""message in a bottle"" and a hybrid gameplay called ""secret world"" that combines physical, analogue elements with virtual objects.<< Implementation >>The central activities of our project will be two ""future labs"", where independent groups of young people from Spain and Germany working together on two game-based learning/training formats. Creativity and exchange are the central elements of these activities.Besides necessary coordination and project management, we also plan to implement a joint staff training on the foundation of game-based learning and open-source augmented reality (AR).<< Results >>Our project will develop innovative learning/training environments for ""digital natives"" in the age group of 13-21 years. Two game-based creative activities will provide opportunities as well as needs for transnational cooperation. Our participants will learn to work creatively in a team and compete virtually with members of the same age group from a different country.Youth workers will acquire the skills necessary for guiding these creative activities."

"<< Background >>We applied for this project because we are convinced that our partnership will contribute to the goal of improving digital literacy within the EU. We want to develop a new and innovative approach to the teaching and training of basic digital skills for a target group that for different reasons is reluctant in entering the digital world. The continuous use of familiar game-based elements, combined with an interactive blended learning approach is innovative and promising.Elder adults are particularly negatively affected by the rapidly developing digital world. The digital gap is growing and digital exclusion is a very real danger for a sizeable part of the population in Europe. Digital competencies are becoming more and more a necessity for everyday activities. The European Commission has therefore acknowledged digital competencies as a ""transversal skill for life"" (Council recommendation on key competencies for lifelong learning, 2006 & 2018).Traditional approaches have not reached this group fast and broad enough. As of 2020, ""42 per cent of European adults do not have basic digital skills"" (EU-Commission: Digital Europe, p. 15). The availability of tailored learning opportunities is even more important for this group than for the rest of the population. The willingness to learn in this target group is significantly lower than in the younger population, while at the same time the need for the acquisition of digital skills and the achievement of digital literacy is steadily increasing.There are multiple reasons why elder adults have not taken up the existing offerings for training digital competencies. First, there is a traditional reluctance because of the misconception that elder adults cannot learn as good as younger people. Second, the fast-paced digital world is regarded as the realm of future generations. Because younger people (""digital natives"") are growing up with smartphones, apps and the internet, many elder adults tend to see everything digital as alien. Third, many adults struggle with the general concept of fast-changing knowledge. It devalues their own skills and competencies and their educational progress. 30 years ago a printed encyclopedia made perfect sense and was a valuable tool. Nowadays it has become an anachronism. But many elder adults have a mindset that is still stuck in this era. Therefore, an innovative approach is necessary that orients on the needs and abilities of elder adults and concentrates on the motivational side of learning. Gamified learning has proven to be a highly motivational method even in adult education. By bringing together traditional game forms like board and card games and digital content, we create an environment that is engaging and effective. Adult education in the field of digital competencies has to change its fundamental paradigm: less training of specific applications and platforms and more fundamental skills like problem-solving and evaluating information found on the internet. We will design our training material with this concept in mind.Elder adults with a sure attitude toward the digital realm regain their agency as active citizens and members of our societies. Thus, our project is contributing to the overall goal of active ageing, which does not only depend on the health and physical activities. In our modern world, it is imperative to be able to move independently in the digital world and make full use of the possibilities of technology in every aspect of our life.<< Objectives >>Our project aims to overcome the obstructing attitudes of many elder adults towards digital skills and develop a proven way for swift and effective training of basic digital competencies within this age group. The Erasmus Plus project ""GIRDA"" (www.girda.eu) has already shown that gamified training is highly motivating and effective among our target group. We will take this approach much further and take advantage of the long-term motivating and training mechanisms of gamified learning.OBJECTIVESWe want to achieve:1. a detailed and objective knowledge of existing digital skills of elder adults2. a working model for the assessment of digital skills3. a working model for the use of game-based blended training of digital skills3. guidelines for the development and implementation of game-based assessment and training4. a better digital inclusion of elder adults in the labour market and society5. a better acceptance of games as an educational method in the educational community and among adult learnersWe aim to develop methods and tools that are readily usable for teachers and trainers in adult education. At the same time, our project will show how serious games can bridge the gap between the needs and the attitudes of our target group.<< Implementation >>According to our project plan, we will carry out the following activities:A1. GAME-BASED ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING DIGITAL SKILLS (PR1)OBJECTIVE:- a detailed and objective knowledge of existing digital skills of elder adults- a working model for the game-based assessment of existing digital skillsACTIVITIES:A1.1. Review of game-based assessment A1.2. Design of a set of rules and guidelines A1.3. Selection of relevant digital skills in competence areas 1, 4 and 5 of DigComp (https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp/digital-competence-framework)A1.4. Development of tasks and examples C1. staff training on building a board gameA1.5. refinement of the game draft A1.6. use of the game for assessment of existing skills (within target group)A1.7.collection and review of the results of the assessmentA1.8.publication of a report on the resultsOUTPUT:- report on the design, implementation and results of the game-based assessment- sample of game-based assessment of existing digital skills in three competence areas (1, 4 and 5 of DigComp)A2. GAMIFIED BLENDED TRAINING OF DIGITAL SKILLSOBJECTIVE:- a working model for the use of game-based blended training of digital skillsACTIVITIES:A2.1. design of a training path for each competence area A2.2. choosing an existing open-source training platform A2.3. design of the game plan for each training path/competence areaA2.4. implementation of the game plan within the chosen platform A2.5. test of the three learning modules (staff) A2.6. improvement of the modules A2.7. translation into local languages A2.8. test with target groups A2.9. analysis of training resultsA2.10. creation and publishing of a reportOUTPUT:- report on the design, test use and results of gamified blended training- a working model of gamified blended training of digital skillsA3. GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESSMENT AND TRAININGOBJECTIVE:- usable guidelines for teachers/trainers in adult educationA3.1. collection and analysis of the final reports in PR 1 and PR 2 A3.2. draft of the guidelines A3.3. coordination of the draft with the other partners A3.4.creation of the final version (in English) A3.5. translation into the local languages OUTPUT:- guidelines for development and implementation of game-based assessment and training of digital skills- a collection of most useful digital skills for elder adults- working models of an assessment and 3 training modules (competence areas 1, 4 and 5 of DigComp)A4. PROJECT MANAGEMENTOBJECTIVE- control the development process and the outcomes of the project- facilitate cooperation amongst partners- corrections as necessaryACTIVITIESA4.1 detailed planningA4.2 control and management of the progress of activities, timing, costs and technical performances, quality assuranceA4.3 facilitation and support in the cooperation within the partnershipOUTPUT- sheet of main activities constituted by detailed tasks, the expected quality of intermediate and final outputs, indicators of results, connected impacts, responsibility matrix, schedule- quality plan- quarterly reports of project progress (internal reports by partners)- intermediate and final project reports to send to NAA5. SHARING AND PROMOTIONOBJECTIVE- disseminate the results (intermediate and final) to beneficiaries and stakeholders (on a local, national and European level)ACTIVITIESA5.1 preparation of a strategy for the sharing and promotion and the design of the communication processA5.2 implementation of communication and dissemination activitiesA5.3 evaluation of the adopted strategy of dissemination and internal communication processOUTPUT- plan for sharing and promotion- tools and products of dissemination- report on dissemination assessment<< Results >>Our project expects tangible and intangible results. Concerning tangible ones, as detailed below, we expect to develop 3 project results:PR1 A game-based assessment of existing digital skillsPR2 A gamified blended training of digital skillsPR3 Guidelines for the development and implementation of assessment and trainingThese are tangible project results that we will describe in detail in the next parts of this application. To achieve these results, some intermediate results will be completed as well. For the final version of PR 1, we will accomplish these intermediate outcomes:- review of game-based assessment- set of rules and guidelines for the gamification of the assessment- collection of relevant digital skills in competence areas 1, 4 and 5 of DigComp- collection of tasks and examples - report on the results of the assessment (methods & findings)For the final version of PR2, these intermediate results will be accomplished:- training path for each competence area- game plan for each training path/competence area- translation into local languages- analysis of training results - report on the creation and testing of the training modulesThe final PR 3 will be the result of these intermediate steps:- collection and analysis of the final reports in PR 1 and PR 2 - draft of the guidelines- creation of the final version (in English)- translation into the local languagesWe will disseminate these tangible project results through the main sharing and promoting tools (including multiplier events). In addition to that, the project will produce further results exclusively for internal use within the partnership; they are essential to the project's progress. First of all, the whole set of management, communication and control tools and procedures that will be shared already during the transnational meeting n.1:- grant agreement (official partnership agreement)- a detailed plan of timing, budget and implementation- monitoring and evaluation plan- communication and dissemination plan- dedicated project website and official pages about the project on social media.These documents and rules will be compiled into a project handbook that will be the basis of our cooperation and a permanent reference."