MEGA Generation: The Game with Impact: We offer people to play for impact.
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Founding Story
Team
Alexandr
Iscenco
Moldovan Environmental Governance Academy (MEGA)
, Chisinau
Foundations, Businesses, Customers, Other.
November 2013 -> Dell Innovation Challenge -> Promising Project Award and 1000 USD prize.
February 2014 -> Regional Environment Center, SECTOR Program -> Support for the testing and prototyping of the off-line part of the Game with Impact.
April 2014 -> Ministry of Youth and Sport of Moldova -> Support for the gamified summer school and presentation of the Beta version of the Game with Impact within it.
July 2014 -> Creative Business Cup Moldova 2014 -> Top 5 National Finalist.
August 2014 -> Verizon Powerful Answers Award 2014 -> Semi-finalist.
September 2014 -> GIST Tech-i 2014 -> Semi-finalist.
13 - 17, 18 - 35.
Administrator, Social Worker, Teacher.
I am applying on behalf of a particular program or initiative.
Public (tuition-free), Other.
Extracurricular, Professional Development, Online Learning.
Putting Children in Charge: Giving children a voice and cultivating agency via experiential learning, project-based learning, and civic engagement.
Consultancy in "serious game" design & development; contribution with missions, trainings, courses for our Game with Impact
Knowledge and experience in gamification and environmental education
+ Knowledge and skills to initiate own social / environmental project or startup;
+ Record of measurable positive social / environmental impact for each player and players' team;
+ Learning experience customized for each player by him-/herself according to his/her interests, passion and goals;
+ Intercultural learning through volunteering in different social / environmental organizations worldwide registered in the Game with Impact;
+ Network of peers benefitting from community learning;
+ Personalized coaching and mentoring in social / green project management and business development.
a) Main activities are planning of game strategy, taking on quests, involving in challenges & missions that require active participation, accessing e-learning materials, collaborating with other players, and submitting achievement reports. All of them are modeled by means of gamification.
b) There are both online (e-learning, research) and offline (active participation in real world) activities.
c) Players are encouraged to visit the Game on a daily basis.
d) There are missions/quests requiring different amount of time (1-12h). On average players devote 12-24h per month for the Game.
e) Each mission is supported by e-learning materials & video training delivered by MEGA and our partners.
f) Players do theoretic learning and planning online, while practical learning through quest accomplishment is performed offline. There are diverse quests, so players choose the ones they like most.
Readiness to Re-imagine Learning is proven by the statistics on Environmental & Entrepreneurial Education. They become more prominent, as shown by the number of Google searches with 100% growth from 2007 to 112,000,000 hits in 2014. Our research also displays a shift to the need for new learning forms: from traditional transmissive learning to collaborative & problem-based one.
It causes such concepts as gamification in learning and play-based education to gain more attention and application. They offer great potential in re-imagining learning to meet the needs and trends of the modern world.
Learning through Play is a natural state of a young being to receive the most important information about the surrounding world by using all its senses, practice different models of behavior within it, choose the most appropriate ones, and thus efficiently adapt to the environment. Playful learning is present in the behavior of all animals with a more or less developed brain. The nature has chosen this type of basic learning, because it engages all information receivers: somatic, auditive, visual, and intellectual (S.A.V.I. model). This justifies the crucial importance of play in learning.
2014
Costs: 11229$
5732$ (51%) IT development; 1200$ (11%) marketing; 4297$ (38%) administration
Funds: 11423$
4645$ (41%) awards/grants; 6778$ (59%) research
2015
Costs: 46082$
80% IT development; 17% marketing; 3% administration
Funds: 46750$
58% revenue; 22% awards/grants; 20% research
MEGA is a hybrid organization consisting of:
1) Non-profit entity in Moldova that is responsible for engaging and building up MEGA community, performing research on environmental education, and organizing other projects based on using MEGA Generation.
2) For-profit entity to be fully established in the UK with the focus on managing the MEGA Generation web platform and app, as well as administering revenue streams and financial sustainability.
The top priority now is to finalize development & testing of the MEGA Generation platform and app and then launch them on 05.06.2015 (World Environment Day). Therefore 80% of the funding will go to programming and design. The rest will be used for engaging youth and NGOs in testing our innovation.
In delivering practical environmental learning through MEGA Generation we have joined forces with Moldovan branches of such global youth organizations as AIESEC and JCI. They assist us in forming the MEGA community, enriching its members with knowledge, and mentoring young green changemakers. And the company Bright Games develops the web platform and mobile app for all that.
More details are available here: www.megageneration.com/partners.
Due to my experience as Trusted Reviewer, I managed to interact with several other entrants and Pacesetters. Before the Challenge we had already agreed on partnership with EduJoc in creating missions for MEGA Generation. Nowadays we discuss cooperation with Puppets for Future and RedRover Learning.
Year 2029. MEGA Generation is the #1 gamified learning system on environmental protection and management worldwide. We are now celebrating the growth to 7 mln registered users (around 0.1% of global population), who benefit from accessible, practical, fun, and impact-generating learning experience through our innovation. Due to that experience there are 15 000 green startups established that improve the quality of environment on a global scale.
1) Coverage of delivering learning value:
Number of registered users, growth rate of users pool, retention rate of existing users.
2) Engagement into learning activities:
Number of missions successfully completed by users, number of users per each on-line training.
3) Social / environmental impact:
Quality of mission reports by users, improvements of environmental quality compared to status quo (here we hope to see great results over time).
0 to 500
Yes
By National Youth Council of Moldova
Fewer than 10
10-100
Physical Play, Creating a Supportive Socio-Emotional Environment, Educational Structuring (developing playful projects within educational contexts), Adults Participating (Ensuring adults are able to play alongside children), Challenging Play (play that disrupts - where rules are disregarded and levels of imagination are high).
Combination of Virtual + Physical Play
No, we are not affiliated with the LEGO Group.
Comments
Hello, APs (Amazing People)!
What do you think about transforming environmental education into a real-time game with real impact?
I love your assessment of the marketplace. We face the same issues in Jordan. I think what you're doing is wonderful and I hope you succeed! What I'm wondering is how you actually get students to do the game. Through schools? Youth centers? Who would be your institutional partners?
Thank you, Shaylyn, for your feedback!
Regarding the engagement, currently we attract them through youth organizations we are partners with. These are, for instance, AIESEC, JCI and Let's Do It!
When we build up the base of the community around the game, then we will involve universities as well.
Hi Alexandr,
I'm in my early 60's and the state of the environment for what's left of my lifetime scares the willies out of me. I can't imagine being young today and not laser-focused on our environment. Making experience fun tends to prolong engagement, so making environmental ed MEGA fun is a great idea.
Good luck in the challenge... It's a Karma Economy, so we kind of get out what we put into it. :-)
--Jim--
Hi, Jim!
And thank you for these words!
All of us in the MEGA Team appreciate them very much!
And we will surely make it truly MEGA TOGETHER! ;-)
Wish you a MEGA awesome and sustainable day!
Respectfully Yours,
Alexander, Ruxanda, Maria, Natalia and Elena
The game design is really very inspiring and original. It can be replicated and effectively integrate into ecological educational programs in a larger regions.We really wish you good luck in your very important business!