CyberAdventure – Promoting online safety through gaming Erasmus Project

Project Title

CyberAdventure – Promoting online safety through gaming

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

One out of three internet users is a child. They go online at an ever-younger age and they tend to spend an increasingly amount of time on the Internet(European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children, 2018).

It is believed that in Europe today, children start using the internet on average when they are 7 years old (Eurobarometer 2018). They spend more time on the internet and social media, play more online games and use mobile apps, frequently without supervision by adults (The Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU, 2017).

While the internet offers many opportunities for learning, communication, creativity and entertainment, it also opens up certain risks to vulnerable users such as children(A European Strategy to deliver a Better Internet for our Children, 2019).

This is where Online Safety Education can make a difference, by empowering and protecting children against Internet risks.

The Online Safety Education has been a priority for the EC for the past decades. In 1999, the EC established the Safer Internet Programme, followed by other programmes, namely the current European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children COM(2012).

According to this strategy, Online Safety Education should begin early on, when children start having regular contact with the Internet.

The response to the need of addressing Online Safety early on in school and equip teachers with the resources to do it, is to provide teachers with an easy-to-use learning tool that can help overcoming their lack of competences regarding online safety topics and engage children in the learning process.

Thus, the CyberAdventure project’s aim is to create a learning computer game for the Online Safety Education of children (7 – 12 years old) – the CyberAdventure Game.

Additionally, project CyberAdventure will deliver a:

• Toolkit, with guidelines for the use of the learning game to assist teachers and other educators
• Pilot Training, involving training of teachers/trainers and testing with students to empower teachers in the field of Online Safety Education and in the use of the proposed methodology.
• Website and a Facebook about the project and generically about Online Safety Education
• Project presentations for target groups to disseminate the project
• Project Video to promote the Game
• Contest/Challenge aiming to engage children and educators in the project and to raise awareness towards the Online Safety Education topic
• Sustainability Strategy that will present the guidelines for the future exploitation of results and to ensure the future impact of the project

This initiative is led by Aston University and includes companies, a charity and schools from 4 countries:

• Aston University (UK)
• Satro (UK)
• Advancis (Portugal)
• Boon (Portugal)
• UAB Karalienes Mortos mokykla (Lithuania)
• CEIP San Fernando School (Spain)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 281650 Eur

Project Coordinator

ASTON UNIVERSITY & Country: UK

Project Partners

• ADVANCIS-BUSINESS SERVICES, LDA
• Boon Unipessoal, Lda.
• COLEGIO PUBLICO DE EDUCACION INFANTIL Y PRIMARIA SAN FERNANDO
• UAB Karalienes Mortos mokykla
• Surrey SATRO
• COLEGIO PUBLICO DE INFANTIL PRIMARIA Y SECUNDARIA MAESTRO RODRIGO