One of the most important parts of a project is the piloting, an event in which the results of the project are tested with the target group to see its feasibility and acceptance. Ideally, this is done in a face-to-face setting, with cooperative and interactive activities. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it had to be carried out online in Spain.
The piloting of the different resources and results developed during the AppHOP project was carried out in Spain through videoconferences and online tools, both individually and in groups. Covid’s situation and the busy start of the academic year in our country made it difficult to start a piloting in face-to-face sessions. For this reason, an online method was chosen to explain the project and its resources to the participating teachers and students.
In total, there was one group pilot session with 8 participants, and 11 individual pilot sessions. In these sessions, the objectives of the project, its origin and the resources that had been developed were presented. Afterwards, each participant had the opportunity to try out the main result: the Digital Breakouts, and get their own badges.
The feedback collected shows that the people who participated in the pilots found the project useful and interesting. The methodology of challenges and rewards was evaluated as motivating for the students and novel for the teachers. They would definitely like to use it in their respective teaching practices and classes.
On the other hand, the teachers who had the opportunity to test the platform that hosts the project’s results and resources belonged to different educational sectors. Some of these sectors were Primary Education, Secondary Education and Vocational Education and Training. This may provide the project consortium with a broader view of the users’ conception of the resources, as it is not only limited to the field of Vocational Education and Training.
Most of the teachers agreed on the great usefulness of the project. They emphasised that it is, above all, thanks to the characteristics of the methodology used, i.e. gamification through digital breakouts. They also highlighted the large number of skills related to entrepreneurship that were addressed.
Finally, the students who had the opportunity to try out the resources and give their opinion on them also belonged to different educational sectors. While it is true that there was a large majority of Vocational Training students, there were also some university students who were asked for their opinion in order to have access to a wider variety of information.
All in all, the pilot phase of the AppHop project in Spain had very positive results. Although it could not be done in person, the participants enjoyed the process and the results of the project very much, and provided the Spanish partner, Jaitek, with feedback that will enrich the viability and usability of the project.
