Projects

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AT SCHOOL: (1/9/2019-31/8/2022). Scientific Coordinator of the University of the Aegean on the Erasmus + (2019-1-EL01-KA201-062883), Exchange of Good Practices program, entitled: Computational Thinking at School, (CompuT), for a period of three years [01/09 / 2019-31 / 8 / 2022], and a budget of € 226,131.00. Secondary Education Schools from Greece, Spain, Portugal, Norway participate in the Strategic Partnerships Program KA2, School Education Sector, with the Coordination of the Directorate of Secondary Education of Dodecanese, which applied the proposal in collaboration with the University of the Aegean. During the program secondary education teachers will train in integrating Computational Thinking into their educational practice.

CRETLIT (2016-2017). Coordinator of the structured course and training events program CRETLICT, for the professional development of teachers, in the framework of “Erasmus+/Key Action 1: Learning Mobility of Individuals/Mobility project for school education staff/Staff training”. The course focuses on areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enhanced learning and teaching, as well as in using foreign languages and European cultural environment. Title of the professional development course: “Creative learning and teaching using ICT and the cultural environment” – CRETLICT. For the detailed description of the course see project page: Erasmus+ KA1:CRETLICT

INTERACTION ΑNALYSIS (2005-2006). Supporting participants in technology based learning activities: Jointly Executed Integrated Research Project in the framework of Kaleidoscope NoE. Prof. Angelique Dimitracopoulou. It is a continuation of the ICALTS project below.

RECOIL (2004-2006). Resources for COllaborative Inquiry Learning. In the framework of e-learning initiative of European Commission. Project coordination: Dr. Wouter R. van Joolingen, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Graduate School of teaching and learning, Wibautstraat 2-4, AMSTERDAM. Investigation of inquiry learning promotion in European Educational reality synthesizing the views of three research projects (ModellingSpace, CoLaB και VITEN). My responsibilities included: contribution to the development of resource center for the application of collaborative inquiry learning and design of learning activities.

ICALTS (2004-2005). Interaction & Collaboration Analysis supporting Teachers & Students Self-regulation. Jointly Executed Integrated Research Project in the framework of Kaleidoscope NoE. Project Coordinator prof Angelique Dimitracopoulou. In this project I contributed in the examination, design and implementation of interaction analysis tools for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments. I also designed, developed and maintain the projects web site.

MOSIL (2004-2005). Mobile Support for Integrated Learning. Jointly Executed Integrated Research Project in the framework of Kaleidoscope NoE. Scientific coordinator Prof. Pierre Dillenbourg. CRAFT, Center for Research and Support of Training and its Technologies, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. In the framework of the project I contributed to the design, experimental application and evaluation of scenarios for mobile learning and exploitation of mobile technology in education. We also explored formal representation methods for learning scripts that enable automated delivery and implementation.

MODELLINGSPACE (2001-2003). Information Society Technologies, IST- 2000-25385, Education and Training, School of Tomorrow, Space of Ideas expression, modelling and collaboration for the development of imagination, reasoning and learning, Design, development and evaluation of the collaborative learning environment system and the accompanied material, appropriate for the educational system of four countries (Greece, France, Belgium, Portugal). Scientific Project Manager, Angelique Dimitracopoulou. My responsibilities include: contribution to the edition/production of the deliverables: D01-User Requirements, D02-Pedagogical approach. Pedagogical validation using qualitative field research. Design of learning activities.

PARACHUTE (1994–1996). Parallel Constraint Handling for User Technologies (PARACHUTE), ESPRIT Project, EP 9134 (May 1994 – Sept. 1996). Design and development of airline crew scheduling system. Scientific manager and project coordinator: Prof Constantin Halatsis. In the framework of the project an innovative crew scheduling optimization system has been developed using UNIX, C++ & ORACLE platform based on the general set partitioning problem. My main responsibility was the development of set partitioning module using constrained programming.

«TRAINING OF ICT 2^ND LEVEL TRAINERS» – PAKE: (28/11/2018-31/10/2019). Scientific partner in the project “Training of ICT 2^nd level trainers”, code 5833.01 implemented in the framework of the project “Training of ICT trainers”. of Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning, Act entitled MIS 5000065, which is co-funded by the European Union ECB and National Resources of the University of Thessaly, with Senior Scientific Assistant Dr. Panagiotis Politis. The program had the main purpose of training 300 new ICT trainers at the University Training Centers (PAKE). In the context of this project my responsibilities include: 1) Scientifically Responsible of the training of primary education trainers, 2) Coordinator of the authoring team for the production of additional educational material for primary education, 3) Design and creation of additional educational material and 4) teaching at PAKE of Corinth. In the separate subproject of the production of additional educational material, I coordinated a six-member working group that produced material for at least 35 hours, distance training, mainly in new modules that were not covered by the existing material.

INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE ON INFORMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL THINKING “CASTOR” (BEBRAS) GREECE: 1/12/2017-present: Coordinator of the Greek Organizing Committee and a Representative in the international community of the “Castor” Informatics and Computational Thinking Student Challenge (Bebras.gr). The Bebras®, or “Castor”, Challenge was launched by Professor Valentina Dagiene of the University of Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2004, aiming to promote Computer Literacy. The Bebras Challenge is today an international initiative of The Bebras Community, (http://bebras.org), aiming to develop Informatics and mainly Computational Thinking among teachers and students. The challenge is open to students of all levels of education, from preschool to high school. More and more countries around the world are hosting the Bebras challenge, which is the extracurricular IT activity with the world’s largest audience. In 2017, Bebras challenges were held in more than 40 different countries, with a total of about two million students participating. During the 2018-2019 school year, “Bebras” took place in 56 different countries and a total of approximately 2,700,000 students participated. At the same year, it was organized for the first time in Greece by the LTEE lab (http://ltee.aegean.gr) of the University of the Aegean, in collaboration with various organizations, associations and volunteers. In the first competition held in schools between 25/02/2019 -08/03/2019, 398 schools and more than 13,000 students of all levels of education from all regions of the country participated.In the context of the Bebras-Castor Challenge organization in Greece, I participated, as Head of the Greek delegation, in the intensive workshops for the creation and selection of the competition topics, organized each year by the Bebras community:

• 14th International Bebras Tasks Workshop (IBW2018), 7-11 May 2018, Bebras Community & Cyprus Computer Scociety, Protaras, Cyprus.
• 15th International Bebras Tasks Workshop (IBW2019), 12-17 May 2019, Bebras Community and Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Informatics, Hungary.

For the purposes of the challenge, a website and a system for the management and implementation of the competition were developed. A process for the creation and contribution of subjects to the community by Greek scientists was also organized. Data on students’ participation to the challenge are analyzed and training teachers in organizing the competition and computational thinking in general is organized.

DEVELOPMENT OF AUGMENTED REALITY LOCATION-SENSITIVE GAMES FOR MOBILE DEVICES FOR THE “OPEN DOORS” EVENT: (1/8/2016-30/9/2016 & 1/8/2019-30/9/2019). Design and development of augmented reality spatial games for mobile devices for the Open Doors / European Heritage Days event organized by Rhodes International Culture & Heritage Society (RICHeS) in Rhodes. Open Doors is a RICHeS initiative launched in 2010. It has since become a popular cultural event in the city of Rhodes, with thousands of visitors, locals and tourists. For the Open Doors I have coordinated the design and development of two games: 1) For the Open Doors of September 2016 “The Knights of Rhodes”, the mystery game “Rhodes 1521” concerning the Knights. and 2) For the September 2019 Open Doors the interactive game-guide “Open Doors 2019” concerning the interactive historical tour on selected monuments. The games run on the visitors’ mobile devices on the scenic backdrop of the medieval town of Rhodes, giving information on each subject. The games are available and used in educational and recreational events by educators, cultural associations and visitors.

DESIGN, DEVELOPΜENT AND SUPPORT OF THE E-LEARNING SERVICES OF THE MASTERS’ PROGRAM “MODELS OF DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL UNITS”: (1/9/2016-Today) Scientifically responsible for the introduction and utilization of synchronous and asynchronous distance education technologies in the Masters’ program “Models of Design and Development of Educational Units”, in the context of the project: “Development of an electronic platform with modern training methods using digital media, within the rules of science and technology and technical support and maintenance of the online platform for the needs of the graduate students’ courses”. As part of this project, the electronic platform (Moodle + BBB) was developed and teachers and students were trained on how to use it. Certain effort was given to the development of the capacity to produce educational material and apply modern teaching-learning methods through social interaction and collaboration. Many lectures are now conducted online (30% -50%), reducing the cost of attendance and maintaining the necessary level of quality in monitoring the Masters’ procedures.

“SCHOOL GARDENERS” ONLINE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: (1/12/2012-31/12/2017). Scientific partner of the online community of practice “School Gardeners” of Environmental Education Center of Edessa-Giannitsa in the framework of the thematic network environmental education “School Gardens”. My main responsibilities in the project was the learning design of the OCoP, the teachers training, the development of the OCoP web site and the design of the community management and facilitation. Project manager is Mrs. Sofia Theodoridou, administrator of the Environmental Education Center.

TECHNO-RECYCLING: (1/3/2013-30/9/2014). Research fellow at the project: «Techno-Recycling: Development of interactive methodology of the cultivation of creative thinking and the environmental awareness, the teaching and demystification of science through the construction of experimental instrument-devices using recyclable materials» (http://technorecycle.gr/) in the framework of the action ARCHEMIDES ΙΙΙ of ESPA national development program. Scientific responsible Prof. Emeritus Athanasios Zisos, and in collaboration with Prof. Antonios Baldukas. My responsibilities in the project concerned the technical report about the coordination of interactive training, the design of the project portal and the results dissemination

DIGITAL SCHOOL: Interactive textbooks, Digital educational content: (2/2/2012 – 31/8/2012 & 2/1/2013 – 1/08/2013) (http://dschool.edu.gr/). Research Fellow at the CTI project entitled «Digital Educational Platform Specifications, Digital Knowledge Base Development, Digital Modulation and Technical Meta-annotations of Educational Material, Infrastructure for Exemplary Teaching and Utilization of Collaborative Web». The project was included in the Operational Program «Education and Lifelong Learning» which is co-funded by the EU (The European Social Fund) and Greek national funds (NFSR, 2007-2013). The project involved the design and development of digital interactive material, as well as the selection and adaptation of appropriate existing material, with the aim of enriching the electronic version of the textbooks, in accordance with the where-appropriate pedagogical and technical specifications. My participation in the project concerned the enrichment of the Mathematics school textbooks, with scientific responsible, Prof. Chronis Kynigos.

IT APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION GROUP OF CTI: (1/6/2011-31/12/2012). Scientific partner-member of the “IT applications in Education” group within the framework of the CTI no No D240/21-03-2011_ΤΕΚ call, regarding the implementation of the projects «Training teachers in the use and exploitation of ICT in teaching practice». My responsibilities included participation in scientific teams for:

• Providing expertise and scientific documentation on specific scientific subjects regarding the utilization of information and communication technologies in education
• Developing, modifying and updating training material for trainers’ training and teachers’ training.
• Customizing the training material for the purposes of implementing mixed-model teachers’ training

In the case of ICT teachers specifically, in cooperation with the scientific coordinator, Prof. Vasilios Komis

NEW SCHOOL (21th Century School) – NEW ICT CURRICULUM: (29/10/2010-31/12/2012).  Member of the Experts Committee, responsible for the development of the new ICT and Informatics curricula within the framework in the project: “New School (21^th Century School) – New Curriculum, in the 1, 2, 3 Priority Axes – Horizontal Action”, of the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP). General Scientific Coordinator: Associate Prof. Athanasios Tzimogiannis and scientific project coordinator: Christos Doukas, Vice President of IEP. More specifically, I participated in the Sub-project 1 titled: «Development of the curricula of Primary and Secondary Education and of the Teachers’ Guide “Tools for Teaching approaches”». The project team developed the modern curricula for ICT and Informatics literacy that meet the international standards such as those of ACM and ISTE. Within the framework of the project, Teachers’ Guides containing material and lesson plans that implement the new curricula, was also developed.

NEW SCHOOL (21th Century School) – TRAINING AND PILOT APPLICATION OF THE NEW ICT CURRICULUM: (21/10/2011-30/11/2012).  Participation as an expert, with the role of providing support at the training processes and to the trainers, during the training actions taking placing within the framework of the project: “New School (21^th Century School) – New Curriculum, in the 1,2,3 Priority Axes – Horizontal Action”, of the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP), for the purposes of the Sub-project 7, titled: «Design, Monitoring and internal/formative assessment of the pilot application of the new curricula and of the training processes». Within the framework of this project, both training programs and training material were developed. The training of the teachers and headmasters of the pilot schools as well as of the school advisors was also coordinated. The training involved the implementation and the assessment of the new ICT and Informatics curricula.

PAKE: (8/6/2011-31/3/2012). Deputy coordinator and trainer at the University Training Center (PAKE) of the University of the Aegean for the trainers training about ICT integration in education in the framework of the project “Teachers training for the utilization and the integration of ICT in their teaching practice” of OEPEK.  Scientific responsible of the project was Prof. Angelique Dimitracopoulou. My main responsibilities for this project include the preparation of its proposal, the organization and the operation of the training center as well as the teaching of training courses.

BUILDING ROBOTS IN RHODES (1/2/2010-30/6/2010). Coordinator of the project “Building Robots in Rhodes” for the Municipality of Rhodes. During the project I designed and implemented educational robotics training program delivered to 20 teachers and 60 students from schools of Rhodes using lego mindstorms. The project was granted by “Stavros Niarchos Foundation”. The training was designed using the studio learning approach. One of the trained groups took the first place in the Greek educational robotics contest of 12 June 2010 (http://wrohellas.gr) and represented Greece in the world robotics contest at Philippines.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHERS (26/3/ – 6/4/2008). Associate to the project “Professional development of Computer Science Teachers” of Greek Ministry of Education. In the context of the project I was training designer, training material developer and trainer for 120 trainers who will train Computer Science teachers all over Greece. The training program had 50 hours duration and was implemented from 25 March to 6 April 2008 at University of Patras. Coordinator of the project was Prof. Panagiotis Pintelas.

EPINOISIS (2007-2008). Scientific partner to the project EPINOISIS: “Teachers professional development and educational material production for people with mental retardation”. The training was for 400 hours while teachers learnt how to use, design and develop digital games for learning. My responsibilities included teachers training the running of the training center for Dodecanese. Coordinator of the project was Prof. Michael Meimaris of Communication and Mass Media department of University of Athens.

SELECTION AND PREPERATION OF e-LEARNING EDUCATIONAL CONTENT ABOUT DODECANESE. (2007-2008). Project in the framework South Aegean Regional Operational Program (ROP) 2000-2006 by the Dodecanese Prefecture. Main goal of the project was the design and development of about 40 e-learning modules about local history, culture, environmental, and archaeological themes. The modules are open to the public on the http://lms.nad.gr. My main responsibility was the coordination of the e-learning team along with the management of the project. Project coordinator, University of Aegean Prof. Chrysi Vitsilaki.

DIGITAL WORLD OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION (2006-2008). Project in the framework INTERREG III Greece – Cyprus 2000-2006 of the European Initiative. The project aims mainly to the development of a portal with learning activities to promote the interaction among the children of the two countries while in the axis of physical interaction the project will support congresses implementation and professional development actions. In the project I contributed mainly to the design of the resource center portal of the project and to the development interactive multimedia educational applications for the preschoolers accessible from the internet. Project coordinator for the University of Crete is Prof. Georgios Kitsaras, and for University of Aegean Prof. Fragiskos Kalavasis.

Aegean DOLPHIN (1998-2000). Distance and Open Learning Programs on Hellenic Interactive Network. Greek Ministry of Education/EPEAEK Project – Distance Education Projects, Scientific Coordinator: Prof. O. Sakellaridis. My main responsibilities include a. administration of learning center at Rhodes Island. b. Collection and first processing of data for assessment of the pilot project.