GAME-BASED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM

Name: Game-Based Learning Strategies in the Classroom
Price: 400 EUR

Why this is Erasmus+ eligible

Structured, multi-day programme (5 days) with a pre-defined schedule and learning outcomes — not a passive lecture format.

Built around interaction: participants engage directly with the trainer and with peers from other countries throughout the course.

Transnational by design — open to participants travelling from outside the host country, a core requirement of Erasmus+ mobility funding.

Aligned with the Erasmus+ horizontal priority: Digital Transformation.

The Erasmus+ Programme Guide names digital transformation as a horizontal priority, stating that "the Erasmus+ programme plays a key role in supporting citizens of all ages in acquiring the digital skills and competences they need to live, learn, work, exercise their rights, be informed, access online services, communicate, critically consume, create and disseminate digital education content" (Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Part A – Priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme, p. 8).

Source: Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Key Action 1 — School Education Mobility.

Overview

A worksheet with points and a leaderboard bolted on isn’t game-based learning — it’s gamification, and the two get treated as interchangeable in most staff-room conversations about using games in class. That confusion isn’t harmless: it’s the reason so many “gamified” lessons end up feeling like homework wearing a costume.

James Paul Gee mapped the actual difference in 2003, cataloguing 36 learning principles he found built into well-designed video games — among them sustained attention, tight feedback loops, risk-taking without real-world consequences, and mastery built through repetition. None of those 36 principles require a screen to work. That’s the test this week runs: which of Gee’s principles can move into a classroom that has no game engine at all?

Participants spend the week working through that distinction in practice — studying genuine examples of game-based activities and the tools behind them — then design and build their own game-based activity or app for their own classroom, shaped by curriculum content and student creativity rather than points, badges, or a leaderboard bolted onto an old worksheet.

Every participant tests one real game-based activity on real students before the week is over — proof, not a promise, that the difference between game-based learning and gamification actually holds up in a classroom.

Methodology

Hands-On, Experience-Based Practice

Short theoretical framing only — each day builds directly on hands-on classroom application, tool analysis and peer exchange of real challenges.

Collaborative Design Work

Participants test gamification examples in their own subject area and build their own game-based activities.

Direct Classroom Transfer

You leave the course with your own ready-to-use game-based learning activity or app.

What you'll take home

Understand the fundamentals of game-based learning and gamification, and the difference between the two.

Apply gamification tools and techniques to increase participation, motivation and healthy competition in your classroom.

Integrate game-based learning into your own curriculum, building interpersonal, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

Design and build your own game-based learning activity or app, ready to use with your students.

Daily programme

Meet and warm up by playing: the group runs one short game together, then names what it actually made them do — pay attention, take a risk, try again after failing — and that list is what Gee's principles are checked against later in the day
Presentations of participants' schools
James Paul Gee's 2003 catalogue of 36 learning principles built into well-designed games — and the key elements of game-based learning vs gamification

Warm-up in new pairs: each participant describes a game their own students already play outside school, and the pair decides whether it teaches anything — regrouping the room before the day separates game-based learning from gamification
Understanding the differences between game-based learning and gamification
Using games and game strategies to enhance learning
Hands-on gamification example application for your own classroom

Game-based learning for students' creativity and aesthetic development
Analysing real gamification examples and tools
Exchange of ideas on application examples and common challenges

Gamification techniques to support skill and quality development
Digital game-based learning approaches and examples
Methods for integrating game-based learning into your curriculum
Build your own game-based learning app or activity

Course evaluation: discussion and reflection on acquired competencies, feedback and course content
Sharing course documents and records
Issuance of the Course Participation Certificate

Please note: sessions run from 09:30 to 15:00, Monday to Friday, with a break for lunch. Timings can shift a little to suit the venue and the group. If you'd like a specific topic covered, let us know when you apply — the confirmed day-by-day schedule is sent to registered participants ahead of the course.

Certificate: we issue the Certificate of Attendance to everyone who's present for at least 80% of the course — tracked with the daily sign-in sheet (see Certificate & assessment).

Equipment: a few of our courses ask participants to bring a laptop — check the day-by-day programme above, or ask us if you're not sure.

Need a formal invoice or proforma for your school's records? Ask us — we issue official invoices with the participant's name and course details.

Certificate & assessment

This is a Certificate of Attendance, not an exam-based qualification — recognition comes from completing the structured programme, not from passing a test. The real, lasting value is in the competencies listed above under What you'll take home.

Erasmus Mobility Academy

Certificate of Attendance

Game-Based Learning Strategies in the Classroom · 5 days · 25 hrs

+ Europass Mobility document

Type your name above — clearly marked "SAMPLE" in the PDF, not an official document.

The real certificate is signed by your trainer and EMA's authorised signatory. Your own signature isn't on this document — it's captured separately, on the Europass Mobility document.

Need to verify a real certificate? Check it online using the serial number and participant's full name, or contact us directly — [email protected], OID E10304561.

Attendance

Tracked using a sign-in sheet with one signature per participant per day (paper or digital). This record is used to issue your Certificate of Attendance and Europass Mobility document. View sign-in sheet (PDF)

Output

Every participant leaves with a completed Dissemination & School Impact Plan — a step-by-step template for applying the course back at your school (see below).

Feedback

An end-of-course evaluation form is sent to every participant after the course ends — a chance to reflect on what you've learned and how you'll apply it, and it helps us keep improving the course for future participants.

Your paperwork

Keep your travel tickets, boarding passes and (if you used green travel) any related receipts — your school or National Agency may ask for these for their own Erasmus+ reporting.

Practical information

Registration & documents

Not sure how registering works or what paperwork is involved? See our full Registration & Documents guide — from applying to your Certificate of Attendance, in one place.

Invitation letter

Need a formal invitation letter for your school or embassy? Request one — we send it within 2 business days. See a sample (PDF).

Learning Agreement

Prepared by our staff and sent to you and your school once your registration form is submitted — see what it looks like. See a sample (PDF).

Billing & invoicing

We issue official invoices/proformas with the participant's name and course details — ask us. Payment is due in full by bank transfer before the course start date. See a sample (PDF).

Airport transfer

Guidance on getting from the nearest airport to the venue is included in your welcome information.

Accommodation

We can recommend partner hotels close to the venue in the host city — ask us when you apply.

For your school / proposal

School impact

After completing this Teacher Training & Classroom Management course, the participating staff member can transfer outcomes directly to their school: a short briefing for colleagues sharing the key takeaways, applying relevant tools or strategies from the programme in their own role, and inclusion of the course materials in the school's professional development resources — turning one person's mobility into a wider institutional gain that supports the school's European Development Plan. Use the Dissemination & School Impact Plan below to fill in your own — it saves as you go and can generate a one-page summary for your coordinator too.

Prefer a blank, course-independent version of this template? Get it here →

After the course

Participants will receive their certificates (Certificate of Attendance + Europass).

Participants will complete a general course evaluation and event survey.

Participants will receive course materials, videos, photos, and PDF documents in both digital and print formats.

Follow-up support: an email group is created for idea exchange, self-evaluation materials are provided, and participants receive a follow-up check-in after 3 months to discuss progress on using game-based learning and gamification with their students.

Frequently asked

This course is an eligible training activity under Erasmus+ Key Action 1 (School Education Mobility) — the course fee, travel and subsistence fall within the eligible cost categories. Whether it is covered depends on your own project's approved grant agreement and your National Agency's rules; we provide all the invoices, attendance records and certificates your National Agency requires for reporting.

B1 is enough — you do not need to be fluent. Trainers speak slowly and plainly, every session is built around doing something rather than sitting and listening, and groups are mixed by nationality so people help each other out. A rough test: if you could follow a staff meeting held in English and ask a question in it, you will be fine here.

Absolutely — group bookings of 3+ from one school receive priority placement, and we can schedule a dedicated session for groups of 12 or more.

Our courses run on request at our centres in Antalya, İstanbul, İzmir, Mersin, Budapest, Bremen and Rome. Tell us your preferred city and dates and we will arrange a session.

Tuition, all course materials, both certificates (attendance + Europass Mobility) and a half-day guided tour of the host city with a local guide. Flights, accommodation and travel insurance are booked separately — we send a vetted hotel list.

You can move to any later session free of charge. Cancellations made 30+ days before the start date receive a full refund; a reduced refund applies closer to the date — see our full Cancellation & Refund Policy for the exact schedule.

The Erasmus+ Programme Guide names digital transformation as a horizontal priority, stating that "the Erasmus+ programme plays a key role in supporting citizens of all ages in acquiring the digital skills and competences they need to live, learn, work, exercise their rights, be informed, access online services, communicate, critically consume, create and disseminate digital education content" (Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Part A – Priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme, p. 8). Frame it in your own project's terms — your National Agency's current call will confirm exactly how it applies.