The Adventure Methodology

"The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms." - Muriel Rukeyser

The problem our project solves

Bringing classrooms online is an incredibly challenging task at the best of times. These exceptional times have provided us with a related challenge; that of parents who work from home and try to keep their children occupied so that they may do so. But the combination of online classes that experience difficulty to engage the kids combined with the reality of self-isolating parents working from home are a surefire cocktail for stress and conflict. While we may see a sharp decline in remote working and remote teaching as COVID-19 gets, at some point, suitably conquered, a few things are abundantly clear:

No one has a clear idea of when that “return to some semblance of normal” is.
Even when that happens, the amount of remote work and remote teaching will be higher.
At the moment, neither parents nor children are properly equipped for this state of affairs.

With the Adventure Methodology, we aim to hit several birds with one stone.

Phase one: The School of Incredible Adventures (validation)

We will provide children with a new way of learning, that sparks the desire for self-learning.
We will give parents some breathing space, as their kids are meaningfully occupied.
We will seek to inspire formal learning institutions and function as a beacon project.

Phase two: Training, consulting and developing (expansion)

If institutions of formal learning are inspired by our methodology we will help them develop curriculum-based adventures and train interactive storytellers. The same adventure can be used nation-wide or Europe-wide. As we train more people the impact grows exponentially.
The same methodology applies to adult learning and can be applied for educational events, conferences, and corporate training. The adventure methodology can be applied here as well. We can help develop adventure learning-based content and train interactive storytellers
Offer engaging and exciting education to everyone with access to a computer/tablet once we translate the lessons in digital experiences that don't require facilitators

The solution we bring to the table

Phase one: The School of Incredible Adventures (validation)

Imagine an interactive storytelling session taking place over Zoom. A master storyteller takes a small group of participants through an epic adventure, with the five each controlling one of the main characters in the story. It’s like an interactive audiobook, where the readers/listeners get to decide part of what happens. But there is a twist - each adventure is carefully crafted to teach real-world lessons through a fictional frame. So you could be learning about math while being on a pirate adventure.

Sessions are conducted in three-hour blocks, giving parents some much-needed time off from their children (which all of us parents do need at times, though not everyone will admit it!). And while the learning included in every session is relevant, the real strength of the format is in its ability to inspire and fuel the fire of self-learning. We do not believe that we can teach everything there is to know about medieval history, physics or geography in one three-hour session, but we are confident that many kids will emerge from these adventures with a zest for learning more about the subject at hand.

And that is powerful indeed. On a practical level, what we will do is the following:

By putting together world-class experts with world-class game writers, we will create interactive learning scenarios, so that skilled storytellers can use them to teach the next generation. Using our massive experience in community-building (both offline and online) we will create a strong international community of children, who all share a passion for learning and adventure. And perhaps most importantly, we will recruit and train a cadre of master storytellers, who in turn will make sure that as many European kids as possible understand the power of story and fellowship.

Phase two: Training, consulting and developing (expansion of impact)

Disclaimer: Our prototype just covers phase one of the project. This acts as a lighthouse project that others can look to and be pulled towards.

Once formal educational institutions are inspired and wish to apply the adventure methodology we will be able to help them develop curriculum-based adventures and train educators into master storytellers. The same methodology can be applied to adult learning for events or company training. A global educator community can be formed under this umbrella.

Also, with the knowledge gained from extensive playthroughs in the first phase, we will be able to create price-sensitive (or even free) digital choose-your-own-adventure modules that can be consumed digitally without a facilitator. Everyone with a tablet, smartphone or computer can have access to this type of educational experience.

Team

We have a strong multi-disciplinary team, with world-class experts in our fields. David has built online communities for millions with Ubisoft. Claus and Rollespilsakademiet have used story-based learning as a tool for children and adults since the early 00’s, and Paul is the CEO and co-founder of one of the world’s leading experience design companies, The College of Extraordinary Experiences (www.extraordinary.college). Robert delivers beautiful artwork and concept sketches, while Joey and his students from FH Salzburg make sure that our academic foundation is sound. Finally, Phil (our COO) makes sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.

What we have done during the weekend

We started the weekend with the ambition to create a new way of learning in a playful way - knowing that we wanted to work outside the lines of formal education, so we could have complete control and have others be inspired by our methods rather than get bogged down in bureaucracy. After going through a classic round of idea-pivot-idea-pivot-idea, we ended up with the concept of interactive storytelling adventures, and after feedback from our mentors, we settled on the concept as it is.

As the hackathon slowly winds down, we have the following to show for it:

The website adventures.school, which is live and ready to receive the first batch of children.
Two minutes of illustrated pitch video that explains the concept and why it is needed.
One prototype adventure developed by our Italian allies, that teaches kids about entrepreneurship.
A business plan that is ready for potential investors to look at.
Several high-level partners, who have expressed interest in supporting our endeavor.
We have started spreading the word, and have reached the first curious adventurers.
Grant money for part of our development costs, through an, agreed-upon Danish partnership.

Our solution’s impact on the crisis

An identified problem of the recent crisis is working from home combined with homeschooling. Parents are stretched to care for their childrens’ needs and education, while also maintaining full-time work. Materials provided by thoughtful teachers are of course keeping students on track, but they are only able to spend so much time with each student individually. We are seeing an increase in the follow-up and attention required from parents, taking away from their time to work. Our offer engages students for three-hour sessions, and helps reinforce learning happening in class. It’s another, powerful tool to make sure our youth and parents are supported in learning and in working.

Experience tells us these learning adventures work exceptionally well in a physical environment. And in early tests, we’ve found they are equally effective remotely. What we lack in proximity is made up with increased ambiance through digital tools, like music, art, and cinematics. The impact that this can have is potentially quite large, since we are creating a new format of edutainment that can scale organically and has built-in community creation elements. We believe that this will help parents working from home AND children who want to spark the flame of self-learning in a way that is both immersive and impactful.

By offering a different way of learning and of sparking the desire to learn, our project will have an impact on the children who participate in the first phase of the project. Add to that the indirect effects that come from others adapting the method or being inspired by it, and the possibility of a true ripple effect is there. Some of our previous projects have received global media coverage, and a couple of our concepts have gone viral. Thus, we are confident that we will be seeing a solid indirect impact on teaching due to the concept being simple to understand and (while not simple to copy), simple to be inspired by. Due to this fact, we will expect to be contacted by formal educational organisations and other companies in the second part of the project to help them develop educational experiences based on their curriculum and educational goals + to train facilitators and to create digital experiences.

The necessities in order to continue the project

We have a huge advantage when it comes to execution since we are able to incorporate current projects immediately. We also have a team that includes high-level individuals from both the academic, the corporate, and the creative sector, meaning we already have access to the teams we need to make this a reality.

The next steps will be (next 4 weeks):

Securing initial funding (350k EUR for development of platform and epic adventures)
Recruiting the first round of participants
Briefing and training the first Expert Storytellers
Prototyping the first learning sessions

Following this, we will ramp-up to full production of more learning adventures, and begin development on the online portal. This initial ramp-up will be quite rapid, and easily scalable. Once the School of Incredible Adventures forms a stable team and inspires the world, then we will prepare for the second phase: expansion by helping others develop their own adventures and train their staff to run them + transforming educational content into digital game-like experiences.

The value of our solution after the crisis

On the business side, the way we have created this means it can start small while dreaming big, and has the capability to scale quite fast. Transitioning into digital formats broadens our reach and grows the number of adventurers worldwide. Being able to monetize some of these digital formats will sustain this exciting learning format moving forward. Our support of Adventure Methodology will continue.

After the crisis is over, there will still be many people working from home who wish for their kids to learn new skills in an engaging and social way. The need for transnational communities won’t go away anytime soon either - especially among youngsters, who will be those who carry on the dream of Europe into the future.

Where to find out more

Over the course of the weekend, we have created a business plan that explains the first phase of our concept (The School of Incredible Experiences) in more detail. While we do not claim for it to be perfect, we are certain it will help interested readers to find out even more about what we have planned. We invite you to check it out here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c6V_N1N5tnByRQyL_VeK1XF9HP39Ks2eo7AU9D9cF0Y/edit?usp=sharing

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales!” - Albert Einstein