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The @Cyprus Interaction Lab and the @Language Center of the @Cyprus University of Technology, hosted the 3rd Transnational Project Meeting of the #DR FLEMP project on the 20th-21st of October aiming to review the project results’ progress and discuss future steps. Partners from Germany, Sweden, Lithuania and Cyprus attended the meeting. Many ideas were shared towards the development of the Mixed Reality application for language learning for medical purposes and the next steps to be taken were defined. #virtualreality #vrinforeignlanguageeducation

Erasmus days 2022 event at Museum Thalassa at Agia Napa, Cyprus. Stella Timotheou from the Cyprus team disseminated the work of Assessmake21 and presented projects from the pilots in which she was involved, directly linked to her PhD work.

ARIDLL project (Augmented Reality Instructional Design for Language Learning) had the project kick-off meeting on the 19th-21st of September in Trondheim, Norway. The workshop intended to bring together a group of experts in Augmented Reality (AR) with all types of expertise required in the project and all partners to get to know each other. During the meeting a list of challenges and solutions was developed along with user stories. Also, technical recommendations for AR tools to support language learning as well as instructional design guides for language learning with AR were drafted.The Cyprus Interaction Lab and the Language Centre of the CUT participated in this first expert workshop.

As part of the Cyprus Forum events 2022 The “Future of Makerspaces in Education” organized by the Cyprus Forum, Youth Makerspace Larnaka and Oxygono, begun with an introduction to the Erasmus+ project Assessmake21 and what was achieved in the context of developing and piloting a digital tool to assess the development of 21st C Skills. The event continued with a panel discussion bringing into conversation three doctoral candidates — Stella Timotheou, Giorgos Pallaris, Dora Constantinou — and early career researchers like Andreas Papallas, which have been working and researching digital making and learning through makerspace environments. The event took place on Saturday, 17th of September, at the Youth Makerspace Larnaka of the Youth Board of Cyprus and the participants will have the opportunity to meet the space!

  Are you 18–35 years old with an artificial intelligence or a social innovation background? Join our Hackathon | Stronger Together through the power of AI for the Common Good!We are joining forces with Microsoft Cyprus and CYENS Centre of Excellence for a hackathon, where young people will explore and showcase the power of Artificial Intelligence for the common good. The hackathon is taking place on 16–18 December in Nicosia and is supported by the Cyprus University of Technology / Τεχνολογικό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, the Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου | University Of Cyprus, UCLan Cyprus, University of Nicosia, the European University Cyprus and Frederick University Cyprus, under the auspices of the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy / Υφυπουργείο Έρευνας, Καινοτομίας & Ψηφιακής Πολιτικής.

  Learning a Foreign Language Education (FLE) can increase engagement and can become more immersive and interactive with the help of emerging technologies. Language experts have been interested in using Extended Reality (XR) technologies in education [various simulation-based technologies, such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Holography (HG) (Pomerantz, 2019)], particularly in language learning.    VR produces an entirely artificial and virtual environment (Hein et al., 2021) and it also provides learners with the opportunity to practice their speaking skills (Li et al., 2020).   AR overlays virtual content over real-world objects and locations while MR falls halfway between AR and VR. According to Hein et al. (2021), MR refers to human-machine interactions produced by wearables and computer technologies in real and virtual settings that are merged.    One of the topics DR FLEMP project aims to examine is the identification of the barriers and …

Register @ https://www.facebook.com/events/797358381265455The “Future of Makerspaces in Education” organized by the Cyprus Forum, Youth Makerspace Larnaka and Oxygono, will begin with an introduction to the Erasmus+ project Assessmake21 and what was achieved in the context of developing and piloting a digital tool to assess the development of 21st C Skills.The event will continue with a panel discussion bringing into conversation three doctoral candidates — Stella Timotheou, Giorgos Pallaris, Dora Constantinou — and early career researchers like Andreas Papallas, which have been working and researching digital making and learning through makerspace environments.The panel will be taking place on Saturday, 17th of September, at the Youth Makerspace Larnaka of the Youth Board of Cyprus and the participants, will have the opportunity to meet the space!

  On behalf of CYENS and the European Erasmus+ funded project ENTER EdTech we would like to invite you to the “Learning Innovation Hub” Develop the skills, introduce your idea to a broad network of mentors and pitch your start-up to an established group of professionals at the closing event. The ENTER EdTech project aspires to promote entrepreneurial skills and create an entrepreneurial mindset in the education technology sector, at a time when education is undergoing fundamental changes.    The Learning Innovation Hub will be offering free online training & in-person mentoring divided into three phases:   Phase 1: Training Programme – Online18.10.2022 “Education Market”25.10.2022 “Product Market Fit & Evaluation”02.11.2022 “Sales Process”08.11.2022 “Financial Planning & Revenue Models in EdTech”15.11.2022 “Commercialisation, Marketing and Pitching”   Phase 2: Mentoring – CYENS, NicosiaFour in-person mentoring sessions with an established local network of mentors26/11/2022 | 03/12/2022 | 10/12/2022 |17/12/2022   Phase 3: Closing EventOne …

Multiplier Event:ASSESSMAKE21 Final Conference and Dissemination Event This end of project event is aimed at educators, facilitators of makerspaces and those interested in the development of 21st C Skills through making activities.As the Maker movement is increasingly adopted into Primary and Secondary schools and nonformal makerspaces, students have more opportunities to generate unique, personalized projects and artifacts, such as computer programs, robots, DIY electronics and develop new competencies and skills. These making activities can provide learning experiences that promote young people’s creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills – the essential skills necessary in the workplace of the 21st century. Register  We will provide an introduction about the project, who was involved, and what we achieved in the context of developing and piloting a digital tool to assess the development of 21st C Skills. There will also be an opportunity to meet other stakeholders through breakout sessions. Find out more.  

A Design Thinking Workshop took place in September at the Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Cyprus University of technology, as part of the DR FLEMP project. In the workshop, language instructors, instructional designers and nursing professionals participated and a storyboard of the future VR application scenario was drafted. Some of the ideas discussed during the workshop include the engagement of the students in different real-life scenarios and real-life dialogue in medical emergencies, ways to increase active learning and promote learning autonomy of students as well as the promotion of collaborative learning.

Our EIT Climate-KIC Cyprus #younginnovators program featured in UNECE Report on Youth Engagement for ESD Cyprus University of Technology Cyprus Energy Agency Climate-KIC EIT – European Institute of Innovation and Technology Andri Ioannou Andreas Pastides Theognosita Karra. Thank you Aravella Zachariou for inviting us! Reading: Engaging Young People in the Implementation of ESD in the UNECE Region: Good Practices in the Engagement of Youth in Education for Sustainable Developmenthttps://unece.org/info/Environment-Policy/Education-for-Sustainable-Development/pub/370223?fbclid=IwAR0MhVXhzQ52iyo162uP-aMhg2NhWn8rhY5_5lOP_TaP5EPL7AYxMjuLPVI

Special issue ETR&D Special Issue Call:Learning Through Design and Maker Education https://link.springer.com/journal/11423/volumes-and-issues/72-1 Guest Editors: Andri Ioannou, Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus Interaction Lab), CYENS Center of Excellence, <andri@cyprusinteractionlab.com>, http://andriioannou.weebly.com/Brian Gravel, Tufts University, <brian.gravel@tufts.edu>, https://sites.tufts.edu/briangravel/ Research topics to be addressed include but are not limited to: Learning design meshing pedagogy and practice to drive learning in maker education Development of empirically driven conceptual and analytical frameworks for assessing making Uses and tensions around technology (digital or analog) in learning through design Understanding the interplay and dynamics of teaching and learning interactions, among the learner, educator/tutor and technology in making contexts Critical perspectives involving issues of power and equity in maker education across contexts International perspectives on technological, practical, empirical, and conceptual aspects of learning through design and maker education Manuscript Submission- due in the Editorial Management system: November 30, 2022 Submission InstructionsWhen ready to submit your manuscript at https://www.editorialmanager.com/etrd/ please choose “Research Section (Johnson)”. When …

FemPower – Gender Equality in the Clean Energy Transition is a Cooperation Partnership in Higher Education. Our journey towards a just and gender equal CET started in February 2022. FemPower aims to increase female representation in the sector, empower and prepare those who are already active in academia or the market, and integrate the gender dimension in CET research and development. The objectives of the project are the following: Develop methodologies and tools to establish gender mainstreaming in the CET Develop, test and evaluate transversal Open Educational Resources (a Massive Open Online Course and an interactive map) and a gender mainstreaming checklist especially for HEIs in the field of CET to raise gender awareness in CET education and increase female participation in the research activities of the involved organizations Develop gender inclusive co-creation methodologies for cross-sectoral and international cooperation in the field of CET, as well as test and evaluate them Develop …

CUT is one of the members of the consortium of the DR FLEMP project   The DR FLEMP project [Erasmus + KA2] aims to support digital transformation in Foreign Language Education (FLE) in the EU, whilst focusing on filling the existing gaps and raising efficacy of foreign language education by nursing and caretaking students, as well as already qualified professionals, through Immersive learning environments that can address the challenges of digitization in educational systems. The coordinator of the project is the Internationale Akademie für Management und Technologie (INTAMT) e.V., Germany. CUT is one of the partners of the project along with SPRACHiNVEST GmbH (Germany), Utenos kolegija (Lithuania), UMEA UNIVERSITET (Sweden), and Internationale Agentur für Marketing und Technologietransfer (INTAMT), GmbH (Germany). The DR FLEMP project and its aims were presented in February at the Cyprus Interaction Lab monthly meeting, where instructors and academics attended and it will also be presented in …

The ERUM Open Educational Repository is a free and open collection of the study materials that have been developed in the framework of the EU-funded ERUM project. Aimed at Higher Education students from all study fields, the 15 modules listed in the Catalogue intend to provide learners with an experiential journey to deepen their knowledge about mis/disinformation, equip them with critical thinking skills to improve their resilience to “fake news”, and raise awareness about its impact on our society.   Open Educational Repository 

The event “Breaking the glass ceiling” in the context of the European project “Female Empowerment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Higher Education (FeSTEM)” was held with great success on Thursday, June 2, 2022 at the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol. The aim of the event was to disseminate all the project’s final results and outcomes to the target audience in Cyprus, as well as to highlight the valuable benefits of the FeSTEM CoP as a place to connect, discuss and access services and learning material. Of paramount importance was the presentation of Anna Aristotelous, Director of the Central Prisons Department, who set the example of the Central Prison’s Department as an example of courageous leadership, which managed to overcome obstacles and difficulties by adopting a human-centered approach and following culturally and gender-sensitive principles. The event indicated the successful completion of the project. Its main results are available …

25 May, 2022  One of the main deliverables of the ERUM project was the production of learning material to foster students’ media and information literacy as well as transversal skills such as critical thinking. In this context, we developed 15 learning modules that focus on issues related to mis- and disinformation and allow for an integration into diverse fields of study. The learning modules address controversially discussed topics that are prone to false information (such as migration, 5G or global warming), provide general knowledge in relation to “fake news”, conspiracy myths and science communication as well as methodological know-how when it comes to visual analysis, reporting on scientific issues or audiences of scientific information. Some of the developed modules were piloted during our 2nd Intensive Study Programme with students from throughout Europe and all modules were furthermore tested by integrating the learning material into postgraduate and graduate courses of the …

There is no denying that misinformation and disinformation have gained incredible momentum in the past couple of years, particularly after the outbreak of the pandemic. On one side, what the United Nations and the World Health Organization have identified as infodemic has once more confirmed that no topic is immune to such phenomena, not even science-related subjects. On the other hand, this stressed how important it is to make sure that quality information is perceived as a public good, and as such it demands to be safeguarded not only by individuals but also by the (democratic) institutions. Active engagement and concerted effort Therefore, counteracting the spread of disinformation and misinformation requires an active engagement and concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders, including the media industry, Higher Education Institutions, and policymakers. Indeed, the circulation of false content is a real risk that can undermine the democratic process, have an impact on decision-making, or polarise …

On April 28th the ERUM partners – under the lead of the University of Vienna – hosted the third ERUM conference “Facts & Figures | Evidence-based Information in Contemporary Societies: The Role of Academia and the Media” to present and discuss the project’s outcomes. An interested audience from higher education and media institutions as well as (non)governmental bodies was able to participate in Vienna as well as online. How To: Enhancing Media and Information Literacy In the morning, participants had the chance to get an introduction to the ERUM project and find out more about the learning material that was developed in the course of the project. The material will be available to the public as Open Educational Resources by the end of May and addresses different aspects related to the fostering of higher education students´ media and information literacy. The learning modules build upon the previous outcomes of the project …

We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Multiplier event of the FeSTEM project, which is organised by the team of SMILE Lab of the University of Macedonia, Greece, which will take place on Monday, May 16th, 2022 between 11:15-15:30 CET. We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Multiplier event of the FeSTEM project, which is organised by the team of SMILE Lab of the University of Macedonia, Greece, which will take place on Monday, May 16th, 2022 between 11:15-15:30 CET. The event entitled “Connecting women STEM: building a stronger network & a brighter future !” will introduce participants to the final outcomes of the FeSTEM project, but will also host wonderful keynote speakers and panelists that will discuss today’s challenges for girls and women in STEM and their promising future.  Keynote speakers: Dr. Lina Ntokou, Yale University, USA, Founder of “Greek women in STEM”  Dr. Lilian Balatsou,  Bangor University, UK, Founder of “Greek Girls Code”  Panelists:  Dr. …