Barbados’ first e-learning game for primary schools launches

The STARR ADVENTURES  Civics and Citizenship e-Learning Game was launched by the Ministry of Education, Technological & Vocational Training & National Transformation Initiative ((NTI) on Wednesday.

NTI Director Dr stated: “This is a tangible beginning for the national transformation of our educational system. It is just Phase One for Class One in our efforts to include all aspects of Civics and Citizenship into STARR Adventures for all classes of primary school students.”

A special thanks was also extended to Prime Minister Mia Mottley “for throwing us this challenge to adapt the NTI Citizenship Course to appeal to Barbados’ Primary School students. Equal thanks to Hon Kay McConney for leading the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training to forge this fruitful partnership and blend the new Civics curriculum with elements of the Citizenship Course that align with that curriculum as the first phase of this major exercise.”

In her opening address Dr Leacock noted that “two individuals were stellar in their commitment and joined me weekly for two hours every Tuesday between February and September to meet the impossible deadline of the start of the school term: Shanelle Waithe, then Education Officer responsible for the Curriculum, METVT, who is an exemplar of an outstanding public servant and Neil Sorhaindo who was painstaking in ensuring he understood the assignment at every inch of its development.”

She went on to highlight the group of Barbadian creatives who made this possible – the entire team of programmers and designers of the game from THE EMPIRE, as well as Dr Nicholas Brancker who created every second of the soundtrack to capture the myriad moods and the magic of our indigenous music.

Thanks were also given to those who willingly agreed to participate in our focus groups for BETA testing of the game: eager eight-11-year-olds, teachers, parents, representatives from Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union and Barbados Union of Teachers.

Shanelle Waithe, (now promoted to Deputy Principal, Lodge School),  in her presentation noted that “when the project was presented to the Ministry (METVT) in February we were all excited about the prospects and possibilities that would come with this (eLearning) game (STARR Adventures), …possibilities for our teachers, possibilities for our children, possibilities for Domini Gaskin, and those possibilities are what kept the team going.”

When the e-learning game was tested in the focus groups, Waithe was confident that there would be nothing but favourable remarks. She went on to compare it to the games her children would play, calling it “exceptional and world-class … you can put this against any educational games that there are now, I can see my children being excited to play this” she acknowledged.

Neil Sorhaindo of The EMPIRE, who outlined the myriad stages involved in the concept, creation, and execution of an e-learning game, asserted “We want this product to have a full positive impact on the students as well as the teachers. This game with the support of the parties involved has the capacity to reach its full potential into streamlining the evolution of education in Barbados.”

Operation Enjoy Learning

Kay McConney, MP, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training in her keynote address started by saying, “Today we are launching what we can call operation Enjoy Learning, where we want the learning journey through the basic education system, from pre-primary to primary to secondary to truly be a journey that our learners can enjoy and not just endure.” She further noted that “the gamified version of this Civics and Citizenship curriculum for Class 1, really is part of what we want to do when we talk about education transformation. It is not simply tweaking the system, to transform what the system will do, but it is being transformative in the lives of the students and of the teachers alike.”

In explaining the gamification of the topic, she added that, “many of us will talk about the fact that our children are always on their phones or on their tablets and they are playing games, and in fact many of those games are educational games, and we can fight against the trend, or we can choose to embrace that trend and use it to help our children to learn”.

100% Bajan game

She referenced the Smithsonian Science Centre data which shows that “game-based learning could improve children’s knowledge retention by up to 90 per cent, compared to traditional ways of learning. This 100 per cent Bajan game, including the music, images and symbols, was vetted by teachers and students to ensure that it is not only suitable for education, but that it aligns with our values as Barbadians … when we send our children into that game, it is safe for them as well as good for their education.”

Domini Gaskin, a student of the Good Shepherd Primary School and one of the BETA testers of the STARR Adventures Civics and Citizenship e-Learning game, was full of praise for the initiative. In his own words, he revealed that, “I think the game is very interactive like it gets you thinking, it gets you on your toes, it gets you focused. It helps you to remember, because …you’re having competitions with your friends to see who can do it the fastest, you’re actually having fun while learning, and I love it.”

He noted that “since we have six hours at school, we need to make sure that the children are learning in those six hours and this game comes with a similar approach of not just teaching kids stuff, but also having them have fun! Highlights of the game were teamwork and strategy, persistence and not get upset when you get it wrong; and even when you don’t have the momentum pick up mentally, lift your head and keep going” articulated Domini to thunderous applause from the audience. Domini also gave full marks to the graphic designer and he was appreciative of the fact that the sounds and sights were all of Barbados.

Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw- Chief Education Officer, METVT in her vote of thanks endorsed the view that collaboration and cooperation are the future of a transformed education system and a successful Barbados. She noted that each child and teacher who plays the game will be provided with an opportunity to understand what it really means to be a Bajan and the fact that the game was created by Bajans for Bajans.

The game is available in primary schools across the island this coming week.

(PR)