Team Herald
PANJIM: In a first of its kind, a Goa based gaming company through the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) provided training to government school teachers to use printed card game amongst students, in order to teach cooperation, collaboration and the joys of being nice to each other.
Goa based startup Earthlings Infotech has developed a card game Acting Kindly @School. It is played with decks of cards and Earthlings Infotech and their crowd funding supporters are gifting each of the 77 schools an Acting Kindly @School “Classroom Pack” which includes 15 decks (for up to 30 players), a 60 page inspirational booklet to integrate the game into core curriculum and take it out into the community for positive impact.
The company had approached Director of Education and SCERT with their idea, which the government found interesting and decided to introduce on pilot basis for a period of six months in government schools.
Earthlings Infotech is creating an educational virtual world called Zarbuland, a series of Acting Kindly games both printed and for mobile. The Acting Kindly @School edition provides social impact game experiences and helps both students and teachers improve student grades, tackle exams and tame behavioral problems, especially bullying.
Speaking to Herald at the sidelines of the event, SCERT Director Nagaraj Honnekeri said that a time when students are getting so much focused towards online gaming; we wanted to divert their mind through a gaming activity within school. “The activity will help in changing behavior pattern of the students. These are the card gaming activity, where students can get engaged in absence of teachers in the school,” he said.
“Each government school, who participated in the training, will be provided with the printed card game box, so that they can go back to their students and make them learn”, he said adding that the project is on pilot basis for six months.
“We are hopeful that it will create a good positive social impact amongst students as well as teachers,” Honnekeri stated.
The teachers were trained on the modalities of playing the game and how to effectively implement it in an education, empowerment and fun way from maximum impact for students and schools.
“Learning to cooperate and collaborate are truly keys to success in the modern world. I’m really pleased to introduce a fun and empowering way for young people to learn these life-changing skills,” said Greg Acuna, CEO of Earthlings Infotech.
