"CONTEXT AND BACKGROUNDThe ""Explore Europe"" project aims to develop a ""Europe Zone"" aimed at young people thanks to the combined use of:a) new generation interactive tools,b) educational and training activities conducted by youth workers.The so-called ""Europe Zone"" will indeed be a place to be discovered and where young people will be able to experience a ""competitive adventure"" characterized by:- respect for human rights,- promoting coexistence and inclusion,- support for integration and solidarity,- citizenship rights,- promotion of European values.The ""Europe Zone"" will be:a) a kind of virtual educational museum of all that the European Union represents and has represented in history since its birth;b) a multifunctional, informal and interactive space where to develop debates and comparisons, where to play and learn at the same time;c) an ""educational path"" between the actions and activities characterizing the supranational community;d) a ""meeting place and exchange of views on Europe"";e) a training and awareness event where young people (especially those in the 11-18 age group) will be able to learn and express themselves by playing;f) a tool available to all stakeholders operating in the European sector to teach Europe in a new way and with greater effectiveness and secure involvement.OBJECTIVE, DIRECT AND INDIRECT BENEFICIARIESThe objective of the project is to promote the positive action of Europe, as it was born in the first years of development and birth, and then perceived by all European peoples as the driving force of a ""12-star"" future, favoring greater participation active in the social and political context and returning to excite people on the dream of a united people, allowing greater participation of citizens in the institutions and reviving in them the confidence in the action of the future ""state of the states"".The direct beneficiaries are, on the one hand, young people (especially between 13 and 18 years) and, on the other hand, youth workers.The involvement of 900 direct beneficiaries and 20,000 indirect beneficiaries (stakeholders, trainers, teachers, etc.) is foreseen.DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGIESThe ""Explore Europe"" project involves the development of a tool kit composed of 3 intellectual outputs: which allow the creation of an innovative modern, comprehensive, simple, effective, productive and pro-active training program for non-formal education on European citizenship, aimed at young people and youth workers.The Kit will consist of an interactive animation on the European Union, a team game and a virtual simulation of the European Parliament.The whole kit (in 4 languages, including English) will be based on operational methods that will encourage learning through play.IMPACT AND LONG-TERM BENEFITSThe expected impact is definitely very important and lasting at all levels (local, regional, national and European).Many dissemination products will be made (4 newsletters, brochures, Facebook page, web portal, posters, an App, etc.).Furthermore, 3 multiplier events are planned (one in each of the project partner countries).In the long term the project will allow us to change the way to teach Europe, enhancing social cohesion and inclusion, integration, civic participation, intergenerational dialogue, transnational citizenship."

The objective of the MenTalk project is to develop and offer a language learning curriculum, training material, didactic guidelines and platform directed to men in rural areas who are active in - or want to offer - alternative tourism services. The rationale behind the project is on one hand the need for promoting language learning within the EU, as a means for professional development and enhancement of employability skills, while on the other creating the conditions for job creation, growth and economic sustainability in rural areas. The project is based upon a previously successfully implemented project, Love Language, which aimed at involving men in language learning, considering their low participation and high drop-out rates. The approach to achieve this was based on men's interest as trigger for the used language learning material. The partners of the MenTalk project will apply the same learning approach but take the Love Language one step further by transferring the successful experience into vocational education and training with special focus on the application in alternative tourism in Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Norway and Austria. It is therefore believed that the needs this project will address go well beyond a series of project outputs which target a specific group of people or enhance a specific set of skills. It is the first step towards the development of outputs that tackle important EU issues on a multi-level way. The expected outcomes from the project implementation include, among others:- Enhancement of soft skills of the male population in rural areas;- The promotion of the importance of language learning to increase competitiveness;- The improvement of the quality of alternative tourism services;- The potential for more extrovert micro, small and medium enterprises active in alternative tourism;- The potential for development and economic sustainability in particularly the rural areas of the participating countries. The MenTalk set of outputs includes:- A situation analysis, which will identify the areas of interest of the final beneficiaries (men in rural areas active in alternative tourism) 'What motivates young male learners?';- A curriculum for language learning targeted to the profile of the final beneficiaries with Training material based on the curriculum;- Didactic guidelines for language teachers and- The MenTalk platform offering OERs. In parallel, the partners will carry out a set of dissemination activities, which will aim at informing the target group, final beneficiaries and project stakeholders about the outputs developed. They will also put much emphasis on the project sustainability after the funding period, but more importantly on the transferability potential to other countries and sectors. The already established networks of the partners will be addressed since the beginning of the project, to make sure that awareness is raised and sustainability is achieved.The partners are convinced that the MenTalk project will make a difference in the way language learning is provided, especially since they aim at involving both target group and final beneficiary members as early as the first output of the project. They are well aware of the necessity of feedback collected, being one of the advantages of the MenTalk Methodology.

m-Game is a MOOC portal for Mobile Game Development. Their structured curriculum and well defined target behaviors, tutor support create confidence and reliability when compared to similar but informal online learning mediums. m-Game platform has 15 MOOCs to strengthen different skills and competences about mobile game development. m-Game project aims to create a critical mass to mobilize VET learners who have basics of IT understanding but lack of structured knowledge to produce any mobile game or to be a member of game development team. To achieve this goal, massive open online courses (MOOCs) produced in m-Game are hosted by Bilgeis.net.https://bilgeis.net/moodle/course/index.php?categoryid=41 m-Game has 15 MOOCs to nurture “mobile game development” behaviors as habits among trainees and bring those competences into everyday life. Developed MOOCs deliver new learning outcomes for trainees through continuing non-formal and informal education which are applicable in job settings. MOOCs promote workplace learning, providing efficient and integrated guidance services in addition to flexible and permeable learning pathways. Additionally, m-Game project introduces systematic approaches to, and opportunities for, the initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based settings, with a focus on developing effective digital, open and innovative education and pedagogies. The list of courses for Mobile Game Development Programme is given below as output of m-Game: 1- Object Oriented Programming 2- Unity Scripting (C#) 3- Developing Interactive Applications with Unity 4- Visual Components for Programming5- Database for Mobile Games6- SQL Querying 7- Database Design 8- Database Management 9- Monetization Strategy 10- Publishing on Application Markets 11- Marketing, Advertising for Mobile Applications 12- Mobile Game Dynamics 13- Game Design Documents14- Game Usability Testing 15- Measurement of Audience The MOOCS are available with different languages which are, English, Turkish, Greek, Italian and Spanish. The consortium leader is METU, a research university in Turkey DamaSistem, operating at the Middle East Technical University TECHNOPOLIS, is a research and development company focusing on design and development of educational software. MoNE is the Ministry of National Education in Turkey which manages one of the largest educational systems in Europe. AIJU is the Asociacion de Investigacion de la Industria del Juguete (AIJU) is a private not-for-profit organization in Spain. The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED) is a Greek NGO committed to the promotion of innovation and the enhancing of the entrepreneurial spirit. And EURO-NET is a not for profit association that is member or associated member of 58 international networks.

<< Objectives >>. Create 3 educational resources (board game, multimedia game, training plan) to tackle the topic of environmental sustainability; . Train 40 teachers on the appliance of game-based learning to teach serious topics in an entertaining manner.. Foster the development of green skills of 200 pupils through game-based learnin. Raise awareness among education professionals and young pupils regarding the danger in which our planet is, if we don't take proper action to protect it;<< Implementation >>. Daily management. Monthly online meetings. Quality control. Sharing and promotion activities (content creation for partners websites and social media; newsletters, article). 6 Multiplier Events (2 in Spain, 1 in Malta, 2 in Turkey and 1 in Greece). 3 Transnational Meetings in Spain, Turkey and Greece. Board game design. Multimedia game design. Training design. Training of teachers. Piloting of the games. Data analysis (feedback and impact)<< Results >>TANGIBLE . Board game. Multimedia game. Guide (containing a training and piloting plan, feedback and evaluation questionnaire, impact and feedback report). Promotional materials (newsletters, infographic, articles etc.)INTANGIBLE 40 teachers who develop their skills and knowledge on applying game-based learning and gamification to teach serious topics;200 pupils who develop their Green skills;Teachers and pupils are more aware of the danger caused by used plastic to the environment.

The demand for the quality increase in higher education institutions is a current issue. The need for innovative teaching methods is declared as the Ministerial Goals by the European University Association (EUA). In the Ministerial Conference 2020, it is also planned for the presentation of these principles and best practice examples. Similarly, the need for enhancement in learning and teaching by revealing poor teaching performance of academic staff had been underlined in Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities report published by EUA. Existing literature showed that the main indicator of students’ learning is effective classroom management skills of teachers (Emmer & Sabornie, 2015; Kunter et al. 2013; Seidel&Shavelson, 2007; Wang, Hartel, & Wahlberg, 1993). Controlling a classroom can be overwhelming also for academicians (Sherer, 1991). Especially, academicians that don’t have necessary teaching experience before starting teaching in the university, suffer from lack of experience in the first years of their careers. However, most of the studies focused on classroom management issues are at the pre-collegiate level (Luo, Bellows, & Grady, 2000). There is a knowledge gap in classroom management strategies for higher education classrooms. Therefore, Teaching in Higher education Effectively via Eye-tracking -THEE- project aims to explore in-class interactions in university classrooms to present classroom management strategies by using eye-tracking technology with a holistic perspective. It is expected that THEE project will answer the necessity of new teaching strategies announced by EUA. THEE project will also contribute to technology integration attempts to university classrooms. It is obvious that academicians are stakeholders of successful technology integration and understanding how they use technology in classrooms is necessary to create innovative teaching strategies. Interactions between academicians and technology will be also analyzed and a set of strategies to enhance technology integration into higher education classrooms will be presented within this project. The project has four intellectual outputs and five multiplier events. During the first three intellectual outputs, eye movement data about classroom interactions from three different Europe (Turkey, Italia, Lithuania) countries will be collected and analyzed in collaboration with P1 and P2. The last output O4 contains the preparation of e-learning contents and pilot test of the project with P5. In the pilot study, the e-learning contents will be used for the education of academicians. The pilot study of output O4 which are the results of A18 will be used for the education of academicians from P5- Atatürk University- Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement. After being educated; the academicians’ eye movements, and behaviors (jests and mimics) before the activity will be compared with their eye movements after the activity. This will also be the evaluation of the overall project outputs. The last output O4 of the project will be disseminated by multiplier events in every participating country. Further dissemination will be realized from the project web site on the Internet. The development of the digital learning contents, project web site and hosting of those materials are in the Applicant’s responsibility. The outputs of the project; on-line course contents will be hosted on Bilgeis MOOC platform. Bilgeis.net is co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey. To reach a wider audience in Turkey, We conduct an association with The Council of Higher Education (YÖK). YÖK will have a role to the dissemination of the intellectual outputs of the project although it will not be formally partner of this project. Our Partner P6 UNICA is an institutional network of European universities and it has 51 university members from 31 different capitals of Europe combining over 160,000 university staff and 1.900,000 students. UNICA as a partner of this project will share outputs of this project with its members. At the end of the project, it is expected that the results of the project will be easily published in high impact journals and presented in high-quality conferences and on the Erasmus+ dissemination platform. Since the project is innovative in terms of several ways. First, the analysis of in-class interactions with eye-tracking technology is a novel practice in educational researches and practices (Yamamoto & Imai-Matsumura; 2013) and there is very limited research on this area. Second, the project differs from existing eye-tracking studies used to examine classroom- dynamics in terms of the varieties of interaction types that will be explored within the project. Third, exploring classrooms from different countries is another innovative way of this project. As a result, the project is innovative in overall it offers practical solutions to existing problems.(PS: References are given as a separate file)