Serious Games and non-Formal Learning in the Classroom: The Experience of Sicuri si diventa

This paper presents the results of a two-year participatory research conducted in 7 Italian schools with the goal of developing a new educational ICT tool about occupational safety that could provide a support for work-based learning programs that are currently mandatory in Italian high schools. Feedback from distinct groups of high-school students and teachers was collected and analyzed before, during and after the development of the tool, to co-create a product that could promote learning through experience and 'skills- based' learning, while drawing from the resources and interests that are part of young people's everyday life. The main output of the research was a serious game titled Sicuri si diventa (Becoming Safe), a role-playing game that can be used in and out of the classroom to help students become acquainted with health and safety regulations and to promote awareness about safety at work. We argue that the prominent levels of satisfaction shown by the students who tested the game prove that this kind of non-formal learning experiences provide a valid support to formal training and a useful addition to structured school programs.