More information
Description
The project aims to raise awareness and increase the capacity of participants for safe online interactions, with a special focus on cyber-bullying, unwanted online social contact, excessive screen-time, inappropriate or offensive content, online personal-data breaching. The awareness raising and capacity-building is expected to take place through two different cycles of activities: (a) 3 workshops for parents and educators under the topic ‘Children’s interactions on the Internet and Video Games’, (b) 12 group-sessions for children of diverse cultural background (including asylum seekers/refugees) on basic rules of programming and acquaintance with the video game as a cultural medium. The sessions also aim to link the video game with content from other media such as books and comics, while the video game will be posted on an online platform so that participants can share the content and play the game after the completion of the project. As part of these activities, core equality issues are expected to be discussed and promoted, namely gender, ethnicity and race equality, as well as critical thinking against stereotypes that are represented online and in video games. Through the development of basic programming skills and the exposure to quality audiovisual material of the Project Promoter (Children’s Library), participants are expected to receive new stimulus and become more empowered. The interaction of participants with different cultural backgrounds residing in the same neighborhood towards a common goal, solidarity, empathy and cultural acceptance are expected to increase, combatting xenophobia.
Summary of project results
The specific project was targeted towards children aged 9-12 who came from socially and culturally deprived environments. While the program, at a primary level, focused on learning and familiarizing with a specific subject (digital programming language), at a secondary level, it emphasized processes related to collaboration, reinforcement, and the renegotiation of social identity, adaptation, and integration of children into the school and community environment. Through the processes of becoming familiar with the subject of digital programming and the produced materials (the video game as a personal-artistic work), there was an opportunity for the repositioning of the child in their existing environment, such as the school setting. This was triggered by a process and a result that introduced something for which the child could feel proud.
Children and teenagers were encouraged to intervene in simple video game modes through the coordinators'' instructions to shape the characters and the environment of a game in their own way. They acquainted themselves with basic programming rules and collaborated in the creation of complex audiovisual work. Initially, participants were introduced to the basic principles of a game to familiarize themselves with the structure of the video game and the basic principles of programming. At the same time, they could choose from suggested books and comics the environment and heroes they would try to incorporate into the game (through photography, web searching, scanning, etc.).
With the support of the coordinators, they intervened in the creative environment of a video game, including character format options and game modes. Each computer was used by a small group of participants, and at the end of each session, a "test" of the game was performed by a different group to co-create narratives and exchange know-how. The video game was posted on an online platform so participants could play or showcase it outside. The activity aimed at introducing children from different socio-cultural groups to the basic rules of programming and acquainting them with the video game as a cultural medium. It also aimed to link the video game with content from other media such as a book or comics.
The project, through organizing an educational activity for 7 children and teenagers, promoted their involvement in an informal educational process aimed at exploring the fundamental aspects of creating digital games. The outcomes of the experience, including learning the basic rules of a digital programming language, becoming familiar with operating a personal computer as a digital tool, artistic creation, the development of collaborative bonds and a shared space for communication, and overall reinforcement of the relationship with new technologies, repositioned the child in their existing environment, such as the school setting. It expanded the scope of engagement with digital games, adding potential professional avenues.
Conducting seminars on internet usage as advocacy actions contributed to informing more than 40 educators, parents, and professionals working in refugee structures about positive ways to use the internet, electronic computers, and digital media in general. This positively supplemented the daily encounter with internet use by children and teenagers.