Gaming for Youth Engagement and Teacher Training

Abstract: The DREAM Project’s Deportes Para la Vida (DPV), or Sports for Life, originally derived from Grassroot Soccer, is a peer-led program that leverages sports to equip marginalized youth and adolescents, ages 12-24, in the Dominican Republic with life skills, such as sexual and reproductive health (SRH), critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and leadership. The majority of DPV participants come from particularly vulnerable populations, such as out-of-school learners, and girls. DPV is a standalone program, but it is also integrated into DREAM’s tandem projects, including our young adult job-training and entrepreneurship program (A Ganar), as well as our youth summer camps. DPV trains young leaders to replicate programs in their own communities, thus leveraging local talent and empowering youth. It currently operates in more than 30 communities. Since December 2010, DPV has trained more than 500 young leaders who are considered Certified DPV Trainers and more than 2,000 adolescent and youth participants graduate from the program each year.

Presenters: Catherine Delaura, Executive Director and Sophia D’Angelo, Educational Consultant

Organization: The Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring (DREAM) Project

Abstract: ProFuturo is an education programme launched in 2016 by Telefónica Foundation and “La Caixa” Foundation, whose mission is to narrow the education gap in the world by providing quality digital education for children in vulnerable environments in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. In line with Goal 4 of the United Nations’ 2030 sustainable development agenda on access to equitable and inclusive quality education for all, ProFuturo aspires to become a world reference for transformation and innovation in education, improving the education of millions of children through technology. 

Through a digital and integral educational solution that combines both teaching and learning methods, modular and adapted to each environment and context, ProFuturo focuses its efforts on ensuring that teachers have good training and the best tools to provide quality education to children in vulnerable areas and thus close the education gap worldwide.

Presenters: Elizabeth Galdo Marin, Managing Director at Fundación Telefónica Perú and Mila Gonçalves, Global Head of Product and Innovation

Organization: ProFuturo

Abstract: As mobile technology becomes more globally accessible, the applications of game-based learning in the form of direct-to-consumer (DTC) applications are rapidly expanding in potential. Game of Choice, Not Chance (GOC) is a project targeted to adolescent girls in India who are often faced with barriers to knowledge, access, and decision-making in regard to health and personal agency. We are developing a mobile, choice-based game in which girls play as a relatable character who is faced with challenges regarding career opportunities, parental support, and relationships with boys. Progressing through the game, players make decisions as they negotiate with parents for greater autonomy and learn about reproductive health including menstrual hygiene. The game provides a safe space to explore options and receive credible information on topics that are widely considered taboo. GOC is an educational, interactive, and fun tool for putting information and resources directly in the hands of adolescent girls and with the aim of demonstrating to them that their decisions matter.

Presenter: Susan Howard, Academic Entrepreneur

Organization: George Mason University & Howard Delafield International

Abstract:

Presenters: Robert Hawkins, Senior Education Specialist and Barbara Freeman, Education Innovation and Impact Evaluation Consultant

Organization: World Bank