U of C students develop innovative education tools
Inadequate social, cognitive or academic skills can make it challenging for unemployed individuals to transition back into working life, but students from the University of Calgary are working to change that.
700 first-year Engineering students from the University of Calgary's Shulich School of Engineering partnered with The Mustard Seed to design new education and employment learning tools for the homeless. Their goal was to develop interactive ways to help homeless Calgarians with academic upgrading, job searches and interview preparation.
Since many of The Mustard Seed's guests face learning disabilities, the students worked on developing innovative but practical approaches to learning. Jeremy Siemens, Career Development Facilitator explains, "Although our guests may struggle with attentiveness while reading a book for more than ten minutes at a time, they can spend hours playing video games. We wanted to explore non-traditional methods of learning that would make education more engaging."
The project has been over a year and a half in the making. The students spent time at The Mustard Seed, talking with guests and learning about the barriers they face. Many of the students utilized a videogame format for its versatility and fun factor.
Many of the games feature elements that allow users to easily relate skills learned to their own lives. One game has users navigating through a map of Calgary and includes real locations that users are already familiar with, such as The Mustard Seed and the Calgary Tower. "One of the main features of our game is that we wanted to relate it to real life," explains team member Lauren. The game coaches participants through searching for a job, building a resume, and making a good impression on a potential employer.
Another game, called "Be Social", uses a humorous interactive video to help users understand what employers are looking for during an interview process. A brief theory section teaches basic skills which the user must apply to advance through the game. "It's basically a virtual tutor," says group member Adam.
"Our hope is that, through experiencing small steps toward success with these learning tools, guests will be encouraged to pursue more formal learning," says Janelle, Education Facilitator at The Mustard Seed.
After the evaluation process, the best projects will be implemented in The Mustard Seed's Education lab for guests to access. Michael Dressler, Education and Employment Manager hopes that the games will do more than simply guide guests to jobs. "We hope that developing these educational games will help our guests understand the value of lifelong learning.
