Early STEAM education can promote ongoing academic success, and children who learn STEAM concepts throughout their education are better prepared to meet increasingly technology-focused professional requirements. Though there is little disagreement about the importance of STEAM education, schools face challenges related to providing adequate STEM training for Early childhood educators. Research has shown that providing meaningful hands-on STEAM experiences for early childhood children positively impacts their perceptions and dispositions towards STEAM. When children are introduced to STEAM at an earlier age, there tends to be less gender-based stereotypes and fewer obstacles regarding STEAM. Adequate training of preschool educators in teaching STEM concepts is critical. When faced with this new emphasis on STEAM teachers are often intimidated, and reveal negative dispositions as a result of their lack of training. The SEGA project addresses the lack of sufficient STEAM teacher training programs and STEAM resources for ECE educators through the implementation of gamification. Using Gamification in the Early learning classroom can help educators implement STEAM activities and turn play into learning, engage and motivate students to love science. aims to support Early Childhood Educators (ECE) in the implementation of STEAM (Science Technology , Engineering, Art, Mathematics) activities in the classroom through a gamified approach. The definition of early childhood education (ECE) used in this proposal describes education for children from pre- Kindergarten through the first grade of primary education.

The project will achieve this through a three fold approach:
i) the development of a digital toolkit with resources and support material designed for the Early Education classroom.
ii) the development of a Gamified story book, guiding educators and students through playful teaching and learning path
iii) development of online STEAM training cources addressed to ECE.

The Toolkit will:
- include digital material that will offer the ECE Educators the necessary theoretical background in order to implement STEAM activities in the ECE and kindergarten classrooms, including also frameworks appropriate for this age group and
- offer STEAM lesson plan examples that will focus on transversal skills.
The Gamified story book will guide teachers and help students cultivate STEAM related skills.

Students will work collaboratively to solve missions related to real life problems focusing also on inclusion and sustainability. Students will undertake the main characters’ roles of the story and make different choices that will lead them to different outcomes. They will virtually travel to a part of Europe and will be given missions to make the place a sustainable habitat. The Gamified story book will be in a digital format however activities will physically extend into the classroom actively engaging students to solve problems and create with simple materials. The ECE STEAM training courses will address the lack of sufficient training of educators for early childhood educators. They will be self paced open access and culture a supportive learning environment, including video lectures, quizzes and self-reflection activities


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