Benjamin Franklin famously said “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn” and it’s this idea - that people learn more when they’re fully engaged - which drives much of the development of serious games / interactive educational software and underwrites the reasons for this project. The recent FELTAG (Further Education Learning Technology Action Group) report recommendations highlighted the need for the VET sector to keep abreast of change; to access investment to respond to the rapid changes in digital technology, to bring the workforce up to speed to fully understand the potential of learning technology; to develop a closer relationship between the VET community and employers; to empower learners to fully exploit their own understanding of, and familiarity with, digital technology for their own learning. A variety of these games already exist – they adapt learning to the ways that many people, especially young ones, now experience life and interact with their friends and colleagues. The aim of this project is to work with partners across Europe (from Estonia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Romania and the UK) to devise a game-based learning environment which will stimulate interest in students to learn the technical features of programming. Programming has been recognised as a national priority by the UK and European States in the age range of 14 – 18 - the age of the students who will be involved in the development of this product in the context of this project. * A functional game will be developed to be used across the European partnership * Research will be undertook to support the game being offered as a standalone qualification, recognisable by national awarding bodies as all or part of a national qualification * The game will be extendable to incorporate add-on modules for various levels of qualification outcomes * This product will be adaptable to other users across different age ranges, genders, economic activity. * There will be on-going development through the medium of ERASMUS+ KA1 mobility to support placements in partner organisations. * A portfolio will be produced through the collaborative on-line learning between partners. The participants in this project come from four groups: * VET students – a cohort of six per VET partner with flexibility to add in other learners as required by the development of the product * VET trainers – a minimum of two per partner organisation, one project co-ordinator, one curriculum co-ordinator * Employers – each partner will work with a minimum of five organisations in their region to ensure that market demand for student skills and products is being met. * Awarding Bodies – BTEC will be involved in order to ensure that the learning methodology meets the requirements of a National Diploma Level 2/3 qualification. The project phases have been defined as Work Packages and allocated across the partnership: * Project Management and Quality Control: UK * Product Development : Estonia (both partners) * Piloting: Romania * Commercialisation and Sustainability: Greece * Evaluation: Italy * Dissemination and Exploitation: Malta The main result that is going to be sustained and mainstreamed after the end of the project is the V-Game tool which will support the learning of technical features of programming. This will be supported by an e-Learning platform which will be set up during the project and which will include training materials on how to use the VET Game. To sum up: “You can learn more about a man in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato. Many conversations will take place in order to produce this product but its dissemination and possible accreditation and commercialisation will enable students to learn whilst playing - a vital step in VET into the 21st century.