Gamestar(t): Free pedagogies at the intersection of art, technology, and video games

Gamestar(t): Free pedagogies at the intersection of art, technology, and video games

Educational project by ARSGAMES (2010-2017)

What was Gamestar(t)?

Proyecto educativo

Gamestar(t) was an innovative playful and educational project by the association ARSGAMES where technologies, video games, and art came together in a creative combination in which boys and girls were the absolute protagonists, taking control and making decisions for themselves. The project stood halfway between horizontal and collaborative artistic-technological creation and critical pedagogies, forming a meeting place and self-managed learning space for children and teenagers aged 7 to 18.

The main goal was to turn its participants into agents of creation and experimentation, not passive subjects subjected to the flow of technologies. Special emphasis was placed on technological creation through Do It Yourself, recycling, and free software, using open source tools as the main learning resources. Video games played a central role, but other elements were also integrated, such as comics, film, painting, music, sculpture, or computer programming.

Editions and expansion of the project

Gamestar(t) began in 2010 in Madrid and, after a successful run in several venues in the capital, expanded to other Spanish cities such as Málaga (2014), Valencia (2015), and Barcelona (2016), also reaching Mexico City (2015). Throughout its various editions, more than 500 boys and girls participated in the project, whether in the central program or in the numerous workshops, camps, and sessions held at its different venues.

Main editions and venues:

• Matadero Madrid (2010-2013): The project began thanks to grants for contemporary creation from Matadero Madrid. In 2010, it started with a group of 12 and 13-year-old boys and girls in situations of social vulnerability, in collaboration with the Red Cross. During this period, Gamestar(t) functioned as a self-managed game club where participants decided the rules, the loan of video games, and even the destination of the budget. In July 2012, the first Summer School took place, and during the 2012/2013 academic year, the format of weekly sessions was consolidated. During Christmas 2012/2013, Gamestar(t) Explosion! took place, an intensive edition with workshops on gender, art history, philosophy, psychology, and level design.
• 2013/2014 academic year at the ARSGAMES venue: The project-based learning methodology continued, introducing technologies such as robotics and 3D printing at the participants’ request. Video games and robots were programmed, machinimas were filmed, artistic objects and inventions were made from computer scraps, and participants learned to organize their time and work as a team.
• Málaga (2014-2016): Gamestar(t) landed at La Noria thanks to social innovation grants from La Caixa, demonstrating the project’s replicability. In 2016, activities diversified, including TalentLAB and the Gamemóvil, a bus equipped with the project’s equipment that allowed children from towns and rural areas to play and learn with technology.
• Valencia (2015-2016): The Gamestar(t) Summer School at La Tapadera (Benimaclet) marked the start of the project in Valencia. During the 2015/2016 academic year, participants experienced critical play and self-managed learning, learning to take responsibility for their own learning process in a playful way.
• Mexico City (2015-2017): Gamestar(t) began its journey in Mexico in October 2015 with the Gender Workshop at Miguel Serrano School, within the context of the Digital Citizenship Laboratory with the Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico. In 2016, teacher training sessions were held at Churchill School & College, and the first long-term training process began at the Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico, aimed at an audience of 13 to 17 year olds. In 2017, Gamestar(t) landed at Fábrica Digital El Rule with Saturday sessions.

Other venues and collaborations:

• Barcelona (2016)
• Zaragoza and Cuenca (one-off workshops, with a view to opening permanent venues)
• Summer School at Medialab-Prado (2014): “City laboratory: crafting the city” with Minecraft
• Casa del Lector (2014): Workshop “With information, you DO play” commemorating the 75th anniversary of the EFE Agency
• Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico (2015-2016): Gender and video game hacking workshops
• Tamayo Museum, Mexico (2016): Summer course “Campo Traviesa”

Methodology and pedagogical foundations

Gamestar(t)’s methodology was based on the principles of pedagogical self-management, horizontality, integral education, and free pedagogies, inspired by the New School, the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, Freinet techniques, Paulo Freire, Silvio Gallo, Josefa Martín Luengo (Paideia school), and A. S. Neill (Summerhill).

The project was structured around three fundamental spaces, connected by the free movement of participants:

1. Assembly: A place for decision-making, conflict resolution, expression, self-management, and the convergence of ideas. In the assemblies, the budget’s destination, the hiring of external workshop facilitators, the distribution of resources, and “work commitments” were decided.
2. Video Game Launchpad: A space with computers and consoles for critical play sessions, information searching, and video game design.
3. Creation and experimentation area “Artec”: A space where artistic and technological materials were combined for project creation.

The coordinating team

Gamestar(t) had a transdisciplinary team of facilitators and coordinators at each venue:

• General coordination: Eurídice Cabañes (president of ARSGAMES, philosopher of technology) and María Rubio (specialist in pedagogical innovation and video games), who designed and developed the project in its different phases.
• Mexico coordination: Eurídice Cabañes.
• Madrid coordination: Eurídice Cabañes and María Rubio.
• Málaga coordination: Jose Manuel Salado (social educator, Master in Peace Culture).
• Valencia coordination: Ana Armero (historian, specialist in pedagogy and video games).

Recognition and legacy

Throughout its trajectory, Gamestar(t) received important recognition:

• Finalist in the SIMO Education awards (2013) for best project-based work.
• Winner of the best project award at 10 X 10 PÚBLICA from the Banco Sabadell Foundation (2015).
• Selected among the Top 100 Educational Innovations by the Telefónica Foundation (2016).
• Coverage in multiple media outlets, including a feature on the Spanish Television program La Aventura del Saber.

The project became an international reference in the field of education with video games, being integrated as a compulsory case study in various pedagogy degrees and featured in numerous national and international educational publications.

Available materials and resources

Although the project and the ARSGAMES association are no longer active, Gamestar(t) left behind a significant documentary legacy:

• Project book: Gamestar(t): Free pedagogies at the intersection of art, technology, and video games (2013), by Eurídice Cabañes and María Rubio. ISBN: 978-84-941493-0-6.
• Book chapter: “GAMESTAR(T): An ARSGAMES Project”, published in Student Usability in Educational Software and Games: Improving Experiences (IGI Global, 2013).
• Related articles and chapters: “Experiencia Gamestar(t): Pedagogías libres aplicadas al aprendizaje de tecnologías y arte” in Recursos tecnológicos en contextos educativos (UNED, 2016), among others.
• Videos and graphic documentation available here.

Gamestar(t) was more than an educational project: it was a commitment to free, collaborative, and critical education, demonstrating that it is possible to learn in a self-managed, creative, and meaningful way through video games and technology. Its legacy lives on in the methodologies and pedagogical practices it inspired.