This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication 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.

OVERVIEW

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and put unprecedented pressure on education and training systems worldwide and across the Union. It has brought major changes to how we learn, teach, communicate and collaborate within and between our education and training communities. This has had an impact on learners, their families, teachers, trainers, institution leaders, as well as on the broader society. ”

This introduction to the Council conclusions on countering the COVID-19 crisis in education and training was the starting point for the consortium to plan an initiative that combined contemporary digital advances in learning technologies that can be implemented in a remote context, designed to provide trainees with a supportive and responsive learning environment that takes into account the “new” challenges that a rudimentary transfer of traditional classroom-based resources to the home or other context was not as effective as it could have been.

In this context, STAY+ is a project to gamify positive behaviours of young people during the pandemic and beyond. It seeks to provide an innovative solution for VET professionals that have found it challenging to engage young people (aged 15-21 years old) through the transition to online/distance learning. It specifically looks to promote positive behaviours that protect learner wellbeing and have an overall improvement on retention rates.

STAY+ will be unique in its approach as it seeks to:

1. gamify health and wellbeing best practice into an educational/training digital platform

2. use leading digital marketing and engagement techniques in an educational/training setting

3. use location-based data to tailor the mobile-experience to where you are in the world

The project will be based on the ‘Stay’ mobile interactive site that has piloted a rewards scheme for young people adhering to the COVID-19 UK government guidelines (and those also seen across Europe) to #StayAtHome, driving positive action and behaviours. The current platform allows users to earn unique digital merchandise (badges) based on their activity and utilises GPS technology to reward them for staying at home. The STAY+ project will build upon this innovative model to embed rewards into VET digital learning environments with a sustainable, flexible and long term view beyond the current pandemic. It will develop the initial concept further through transnational cooperation and a range of reports, resources and tools targeting the specific needs of VET organisations.

Outputs are based on best practice, research and development, and sustainability including:

1. 10 Best Practices that highlight the positive role VET providers can play in helping to protect learner wellbeing

2. Research on VET learner engagement and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic

3. the STAY+ Platform

4. practical guide on using the STAY+ platform

5. A short self assessment checklist on the readiness of VET organisations to start the co-creation process of badges, and subsequently to promote transnational co-creation at the same time

6. Co-creation guidelines for digital agencies working with VET organisations and learners to create their own badges

7. Guidelines on monitoring student engagement and promoting wellbeing in digital learning - how the two are interlinked

8. Ethical guidelines for digital inclusion - how to avoid widening the gap for disadvantaged learners

The STAY+ Platform will be developed with the overarching objective of empowering young people to become advocates of digital vocational training; with increased awareness of a

subject area, health and wellbeing, and how to maintain their own motivation, manage their time and complete tasks. The desired impact of this objective is to improve engagement

and retention levels of learners on vocational training courses

Coordinator: ASPIRE-IGEN GROUP LIMITED, the UK

Partners:

• Essenia UETP, Italy

• CHY Consultancy Ltd, the UK

• Euroface Consulting s.r.o., Czechia

• İstanbul Avrupa Araştırmaları Derneği (IAAD), Turkey

Erasmus+ results platform

Website

Facebook (soon to be released)

Linkedin (soon to be released)

Under development