Methodology

The Play-Create-Learn Summer Academy 2018 is designed as a highly engaging and interactive professional development experience. Working in small groups, participating educators will be able to collaborate with peers from other countries, exchange experiences, generate and discuss ideas, and design their own teaching practices in the context of collaborative group work encompassing all the features of a successful multidisciplinary hands-on study of the fields of play, gaming, creativity, and their intersections, in education. 

The course lasts 5 full days (6 calendar days, from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon). It includes 30 hours of workshop-based training in total, consisting of 12 hours of conceptual presentations and discussions, and 18 hours of practical hands-on sessions. Lectures, presentations and demonstrations are held in an auditorium equipped with a laptop and data projector, whereas the hands-on sessions take place in a multimedia laboratory with each participant having direct access to an internet-connected PC to carry out practrical course activities.

Throughout the duration of the course teachers participate in exploratory, practical, and reflective activities from two different points of view:

1. as learners performing playful and creative learning tasks based on materials and tools from the case studies of the training course,
2. as teachers designing their own educational scenarios, utilising, adapting and further developing concepts, materials, and tools from the case studies.

An important aspect of the training activities is sharing in the community and peer feedback. Discussions and exchange among participants are core elements both of the face-to-face sessions, as well as of the preparatory and follow-up activities before and after the course through online educational platforms.