DESIGN IT — iBO

Enhancing the quality and relevance of student’s knowledge and skills: DesignIT targets entrepreneurial skills of higher education students and proposes innovative technology-enhanced learning approaches that expose students to emerging design thinking concepts. The project exploits technology, and particularly gaming elements in learning, to help bring into focus the creativity and innovation that every student has encouraging them to think out of the box for introducing solutions to real-world problems. Entrepreneurial capacity is important as it is among the key transversal competencies that can help an individual excel independently of subject area. Entrepreneurship is linked to creativity and innovation. It is particularly relevant today as it can contribute to sustainable growth by helping bring ideas into life. DesignIT addresses entrepreneurial capacity in all study disciplines in higher education. It aims at linking higher education to the world of work and to society by building the practical skills that students need in order to implement ideas and bring them to market for the benefit of all. Supporting the social engagement of higher education institutions and promoting inter cultural and civic competences: DesignIT addresses wide aspects of entrepreneurship. The project aims to build student capacity to ideate and implement ideas for business and for social innovation. The second objective is key in DesignIT and aims at putting the knowledge and creativity of students to work for addressing wide societal issues and for introducing viable solutions even when none appears to exist. This part of the project is linked to the social engagement of higher education students and institutions and the development of awareness and competences among students for becoming active citizens. In addition to building student skills, DesignIT also builds the capacity of educators to introduce into classrooms offerings related to entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship, enriching the learning experiences of students, enhancing their skills, and helping link skills developed in higher education to societal needs. Open and innovative practices in a digital era: DesignIT exploits emerging technology, and specifically gamification and learning games, for promoting the engagement and collaboration of students in entrepreneurship education contexts. The project introduces technology-enhanced learning solutions that can act as complementary learning tools in wider classroom practices. The proposed educational tools will be publicly available to all interested parties. Their evaluation in real-life contexts engaging students and instructors will contribute to the development of good practices on how technology can enhance already existing educational activities by enhancing interaction, motivating participation, promoting a healthy competition in educational contexts, and shaping innovative minds sets.