News & Events

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Press release of the NEFELE online inaugural meeting

logo-nefeleThe inaugural online meeting of the NEFELE project, co-financed by the European Commission Erasmus +, took place on 16 February 2022 in Naples, Italy. The DAISSy research team of the Hellenic Open University (http://daissy.eap.gr/en/) participates in the activities of the new project, which is co-financed by the Erasmus + 2021-2027 program.

Hosted by the University of Naples (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), 18 people participated in an online meeting, representing all project partners from Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands.

The project meeting was dedicated to networking, project overview, questions about the administrative / financial aspects. It was fundamental for all partners, as it allowed for a common understanding of the project objectives, the validation of the work plan, a better clarification of each partner’s rules and responsibilities, and the definition of agreements and communication procedures.

NEFELE is a 30-month Erasmus + project (December 2021-May 2025), which aims to train high school teachers who can act to prevent NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) by supporting students in their development. skills and their professional identity.

The project includes the creation of a handbook that will contain an innovative framework for teachers which will include the Career Development Framework, the Positive Youth Development Framework and the TUIs (Tangible User Interfaces). This framework will be the basis for the development of MOOC, NEFELE BOX and the creation of Open Education Resources material that will be freely available on the NEFELE Platform. The last part of the MOOC will contain examples of using the NEFELE BOX.

The platform will share all the content of the project, as well as guidelines and good practices for professional teachers, policy recommendations and will allow the download of all content to those who will use the NEFELE training model.

 

 

If you or your institution are interested in NEFELE and would like to contribute, benefit or just follow the development of the project, you can contact the EAP DAISSy research team for more information and other activities at the following:

Project partners:

  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II UNINA, Italy, Coordinator
  • HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY, Greece
  • UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA , Spain
  • SCUOLA UNIVERSITARIA PROFESSIONALE DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA, Switzerland
  • SMARTED SRL,Italy
  • VERENIGING VAN EUROPEAN DISTANCE TEACHING UNIVERSITIES, Netherlands
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Press Release of LEAD-Online project.

lead-project-prThe DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University (http://daissy.eap.gr/en/) participates in the activities of the new project entitled “LEAD-Online: Learn, Engage, Act: Digital Tools to Prevent and Counter Hate Speech Online”, which is co-funded by the CERV Programme (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme).

The LEAD-Online project (with a duration of 24 months) aims to enhance critical thinking and digital & media literacy skills in young people, as causally linked to the low levels of reporting and the “normalization” of hate speech online (HSO). The project will empower youth, teachers, media and social media activists in 7 countries (AT, BG, CY, HR, IT, EL, RO) to become agents of change by

  • training them to recognize hateful discourses and underlying forms of intolerance, prejudices and discrimination, using a rights-based approach;
  • providing them with innovative digital tools to classify, decode and counter HSO, and
  • opening up spaces for discussion of HSO, promoting attitudes and behaviour that respect human rights and values.

On April 7th and 8th 2022, the kick-off meeting of the LEAD-Online project was delivered with physical presence of the partners in Sofia Bulgaria, hosted by SDA team from Bulgaria, Coordinator of the project.  The first project meeting was dedicated to an overview on the LEAD-Online project, the proposal submitted and previous agreements among partners. The project meeting was dedicated to networking, project management, administrative, financial aspects, quality evaluation, and reporting obligations of all partners. It was a great help for the partners in order to properly understand the Project management and coordination, Self-Assessment And Development of Hate Speech Ontologies, the “Digital Gardening” To Tackle Hate Speech Online, the Play Against Hate: Online Game To Detect and Counter Hate Speech Online and the general Dissemination and Communication of the project. In addition, the meeting clearly defined the work plan and tasks to be implemented by each partner.

At the end of the project, target groups and stakeholders in education, civic sector, media sector in partner countries will benefit from new multiple open-access learning resources and sustainable, scalable, interactive digital instruments for countering HSO. Policy-makers in partner countries will be provided with recommendations to support formal educational activities for media literacy.

For more information about the project and the other activities of DAISSy research group:

  • Website: http://daissy.eap.gr
  • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
  • Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup
  • Twitter: @daissy_research
  • Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup
  • Email: info@daissy.eap.gr

Project Partners

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4th Transnational Project Meeting of “XENIA: He Inclusiveness Index”

project-xeniaThe DAISSy Group of Hellenic Open University participated in the 4th Transnational Meeting of the project XENIA, in Barcelona, 29-30 March 2022. The meeting was organized at the University of Barcelona (Deparment of Psychology) and was held in hybrid mode, with both in-person and remote attendees.

The discussion was moderated by the SInaPSi centre of the University of Naples Federico II, Coordinator of the project Consortium. After a brief overview of their joint progress so far, the Consortium partners discussed the current status of the project and their plans for the next months.

Particular attention was paid to Work Package N. 3 – Validation Plan, the completion of which is led by Hellenic Open University. The afore-mentioned work package involves the pilot implementation (in stages) of social survey tools for assessing the Inclusiveness of European academic communities as regards sex, gender and sexual orientation. The whole process will be supported by a dedicated, accessible web platform.

XΕΝΙΑ, a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, is run by a Consortium of 7 Partners from 5 countries (Ireland, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Spain). The project aims to promote social and educational inclusion of sexual minority and gender marginalised groups in EU HEIs, by developing and implementing an innovative inclusiveness index (“the XENIA Inclusiveness Index”) to support Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in EU HE contexts.

  • Website  : http://daissy.eap.gr/en/projects/xenia/, https://www.xeniaindex.eu/
  • Facebook : @DAISSyResearchGroup, @ XENIA Erasmus+ Project
  • Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
  • Twitter : https://twitter.com/daissy_research
  • Instagram  : @daissy_researchgroup
  • Email : info@daissy.eap.gr
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Press release of STEAMedu project study visits coordinated by the DAISSy research team of HOU

The two STEAMedu study visits were successfully completed, which were conducted online in coordination with the DAISSy research team of HOU. The STEAMedu project aims to provide practical solutions to help close the gap between industry needs/expectations and educational system outputs, by creating a STE(A)M education master programme. The later will train in-service and future educators at all levels of education to implement STEAM-related courses in 13 universities of 3 Western Balkan countries (Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina). It will develop innovative learning material and services offering educators a multidisciplinary perspective and participating universities the chance to exchange best practices, modernize, renew and align their curricula towards multidisciplinary skills and competencies necessary for rapidly changing job markets.

The role of the two online study visits, with a duration of 3 days each, was twofold. First, they aimed at transferring knowledge and expertise from EU partners to Western Balkan partners on STEAM education and curriculum development. Second, they gave the consortium the opportunity to work together to co-create the STEAM curriculum courses and decide upon fundamental issues of the curriculum the STEAMedu project will develop, such as duration, ECTS, structure and student profiles.

The first online study visit was organized by the DAISSy research team with the participation of a total of 63 participants, 47 of whom were university professors from the Western Balkans. On the first day of the visit, the operation model of HOU, the relevant research activities of the DAISSy team, as well as basic information about STEAM education and the way it has been integrated in the Greek education system so far were presented. On the second day, similar postgraduate programs offered in Greece and Europe were analyzed, which in combination with the results of relevant research programs in which the DAISSy research team participates, formed the basis for the proposed structure of the MSc in STEAM education. This was followed by the presentation of the voting results, which took place before the visit with the participation of all project partners and concerned the proposed structure of the MSc. Finally, on the 3rd day, the participants in the visit were divided into 4 working groups and collaboratively formed the outlines of 22 MSc courses.

The second online study visit was organized by the University of Cyprus with the participation of a total of 57 people, 43 of whom were university professors from the Western Balkans. The first two days were dedicated to the presentation of results from research programs in the field of STEAM education, while on the 3rd day of the visit the collaborative development of STEAM MSc course outlines continued with emphasis on the fields of training material, equipment and required resources.

For more information on the STEAMedu project and the activities of the DAISSy research team:

 

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Δελτίο τύπου εκδήλωσης απονομής πιστοποιητικών ειδίκευσης ψηφιακών ικανοτήτων στελεχών έξυπνων πόλεων με τη συμμετοχή της ερευνητικής ομάδας DAISSy του ΕΑΠ

devops-logoΤην Τετάρτη 16/3/2022 πραγματοποιήθηκε η εκδήλωση απονομής πιστοποιητικών ειδίκευσης ψηφιακών ικανοτήτων στελεχών έξυπνων πόλεων στα πλαίσια του έργου SmartDevOps (https://smartdevops.eu). Στο έργο “DevOps Competences for SmartCities”  συμμετείχαν 13 εταίροι (4 από Ελλάδα, 3 από Γερμανία, 3 από Ιταλία, 2 από Κύπρο και 1 από Βέλγιο), μεταξύ των οποίων και το Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο (ΕΑΠ) μέσω της ερευντικής ομάδας DAISSy. Ο βασικός του στόχος ήταν η επαγγελματική ανάπτυξη μέσω κατάλληλης επιμόρφωσης των στελεχών που εργάζονται ή θα εργαστούν σε Δήμους, οι οποίοι σταδιακά μετασχηματίζονται σε Έξυπνες Πόλεις. Για την επίτευξη του στόχου αυτόύ, προσδιορίστηκαν τρία νέα επαγγελματικά προφίλ για όσους επιθυμούν να εργαστούν σε μία έξυπνη πόλη και καθορίστηκαντις βασικότερες ικανότητες για κάθε προφίλ.

Την εκδήλωση τίμησαν με την παρουσία τους και χαιρέτησαν ο καθηγητής Οδυσσέας Ζώρας, Πρόεδρος του Ελληνικού Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου, ο καθηγητής Ζήσης Μαμούρης, Πρύτανης του Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλίας, ο κ. Δημήτριος Δεληγιάννης, Αντιδήμαρχος Διοίκησης, Παιδείας και Δια Βίου Μάθησης του Δήμου Λαρισαίων, η κα Γεωργία Ρεμπούτσικα, Διευθύνουσα Σύμβουλος Εθνικού Συστήματος Υποδομών Ποιότητας και ο Οδυσσέας Ράπτης, Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος e-Trikala A.E..

Οι ομιλητές της εκδήλωσης ήταν η κα Ευγενία Λόκανα, επικεφαλής της Διεύθυνσης Ψηφιακών Ικανοτήτων της ΕΔΥΤΕ Α.Ε. / Εθνική Ακαδημία Ψηφιακών Ικανοτήτων, η οποία παρουσίασε τις ανάγκες στην εκπαίδευση των στελεχών και των πολιτών στις έξυνες πόλεις και ο κ. Πάνος Φιτσιλής, καθηγητής του Τμήματος Διοίκησης του Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλίας και συντονιστής του έργου DevOps Competences for Smart Cities, ο οποίος παρουσίασε τα νέα επαγγέλματα για την ανάπτυξη των έξυπνων πόλεων.

Στα πλαίσια της εκδήλωσης απονεμήθηκαν πιστοποιητικά επαγγελματικής κατάρτισης αλλά και πιστοποιητικά παρακολούθησης σεμιναρίων (για όσους παρακολούθησαν τμήμα του συνολικού προγράμματος). Συνολικά δόθηκαν 36 πιστοποιητικά για το επαγγελματικό προφίλ «Σχεδιαστής έξυπνων πόλεων», 8 για το προφίλ «Προϊστάμενος του τμήματος πληροφορικής έξυπνης πόλης», και 24 για το προφίλ «Ειδικός ψηφιακών συστημάτων έξυπνης πόλης».

Μέρος του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού έχει αναρτηθεί στην ψηφιακή ακαδημία πολιτών και βρίσκεται στην ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση https://nationaldigitalacademy.gov.gr/texnologies-aixmhs-6 και είναι διαθέσιμο δωρεάν στο κοινό.

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες σχετικά με τις δραστηριότητες της ερευνητικής ομάδας DAISSy:

 

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Press release of the RE-EDUCO project multiplier event organized by the DAISSy team of HOU

logo-reeducoOn Friday, April 1 2022, from 18:00 to 20:00, the DAISSy research team of the Hellenic Open University, organizes the live event entitled “Digital culture as a means of developing students and teachers” to disseminate the results of the RE-EDUCO (REthinking EDUcation COmpetencies. Εxpertise, best practices and teaching in Digital Era) project. The RE-EDUCO project aims to strengthen the role of digital culture as a means to improve the growth opportunities for students and teachers, widening their choices in private and professional life, through research, exchange of good practices, training and creative activities.

The event was held at Byzantino hotel, Riga Feraiou Street. 106, Patras and was attended by 56 people in total. It lasted 2 hours and was split in two parts. The first focused on presenting the project’s key information (scope, objectives, partnership, etc.) and the outcomes achieved so far. Specifically, the Greek national desk research on the emerging trends and needs from the digital transformation with a special emphasis on education, the orientation seminars and training activities for students of Greek schools, as well as the online course for teachers that was developed and delivered by the DAISSy research group were presented. The second part of the event focused on similar activities of the DAISSy research team in other Erasmus+ projects.

Three short interviews with people who attended the event were realized, who expressed their satisfaction with the knowledge they gained and their willingness to participate in both future educational activities and dissemination events from the projects of the research team DAISSy.

For more information for Re-EDUCO project and the DAISSy research team:

 

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DAISSy / HOU participates in the project «CRISIS – Competences for Resilient Smart Cities’ Staff»

The DAISSy research group of Hellenic Open University (HOU) participates in the activities of the new project entitled “CRISIS – Competences for Resilient Smart Cities’ Staff”, which is co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme 2021-2027. The CRISIS project (with a duration of 24 months) mainly focuses on improving digital, transferrable, resilience and smart city-related competences of people interested in seeking job opportunities and careers as Smart City Resilience Officers. To achieve this objective, the expected results include a self-assessment tool to identify gaps in required competences, an innovative learning journey design tool to define the educational goals and strategy for each learner, a flexible curriculum, digital open educational resources, an online learning platform and a pilot training program for certifying the first cohort of Smart City Resilience Officers.

On April 7 and 8, 2022, the kick-off meeting of the CRISIS project was held online, hosted by the DAISSy research team of the HOU. The meeting was attended by a total of 16 people from the 5 project partners, which are the University of Thessaly, the Hellenic Open University, the University of Minho (Portugal), the FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany) and EDEX (Cyprus). On the first day, the partners presented their institutions and their research teams, while the project coordinator (University of Thessaly) presented the context, objectives, actions and expected results, as well as the project management and financial management plans. On the second day, the educational approach and strategy of the project were discussed in detail, as well as curriculum design issues. An open discussion between the project partners closed both days of the kick-off meeting.

For more information on the activities of the DAISSy research team:

 

 

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Press Release of the Learn.Inc online meeting

On March 25, 2022, the inaugural online meeting of the Learn.Inc project, co-financed by the European Commission Erasmus +, took place in Sibiu, Romania. The DAISSy Research team of the Hellenic Open University participates in the activities of the new project, which is co-financed by the Erasmus + 2021-2027 program.

Hosted by Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 17 people participated in an online meeting, representing all project partners from Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

The project meeting was dedicated to networking, project overview, questions about the administrative / financial aspects, the plan for the next 6 months as well as questions and comments. It was fundamental for all partners, as it allowed for a common understanding of the project objectives, the validation of the work plan, a better clarification of each partner’s rules and responsibilities, and the definition of agreements and communication procedures.

Learn.Inc is a three-year project Erasmus + (April 2022-February 2025) that aims to promote innovation in teaching and learning, at partner universities in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey, through the use of different digital tools and online platforms, for postgraduate students (MA and PhD).

More specifically, it aims to promote innovation in learner-centered learning and teaching, with learners co-designing flexible forms of e-learning that are developed in response to related social issues. By bringing learning and education closer to the agenda of the community and local communities, the proposal seeks to create a supportive environment for initiatives, where research is a key element of the process, and learners follow individualized learning paths.

The results of the project will be, a virtual Sandbox (VOCIS), an Incubator (PROTINC) and an Open digital Archive (OPENARCH) which will contribute to the development of a high-performance digital education system, which will connect academic staff, students and local actors. Through close collaboration with local stakeholders and communities, the project also aims to raise awareness of current societal challenges and provide opportunities for community-based academic engagement.

If you or your institution are interested in Learn. Inc. and you wish to contribute, benefit or simply follow the development of the project, you can contact for more information and the other activities of the DAISSy research team of EAP at the following:

Project partners:

  • Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, Coordinator
  • HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY with the DAISSy team, Greece
  • Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria
  • Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Universitesi, Turkey
  • Research & Training Point Foundation, Bulgaria
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Third transnational project meeting of the project “T4SVEN – Training 4 Skills in the Digital Environment”

tasven-meetingThe DAISSy research group of Hellenic Open University (HOU) organized and hosted in Athens on 22nd and 23rd March 2022 the third partners meeting of the Erasmus+ project “T4SVEN – Training 4 Skills in the Digital Environment“.

The aim of the project is the creation of a set of digital open resources based on digital pedagogy principles to equip VET teachers & trainers with competencies for integration of digital technologies with their content-matter expertise and thus enhance effective teaching, enrich the methods of VET delivery, including Work-based Learning (WBL).

This meeting was a great opportunity for resuming the past year and planning new activities!

This 2-days meeting was the opportunity to meet again all our partners and wrap up the first year of the project by reviewing, finalizing and validating:

  • Output 1 – Digital Framework
  • Output 2 – Digital Course Curricula
  • Year 1 Dissemination report
  • The Project Interim Report

We then dedicated a big part of the meeting to discussing and efficiently planning the implementation of the next project stages including the T4SVEN “Digital Platform”, the “Virtual World” and the upcoming “Workshop on VR Training Scenario”.

The meeting was faithful, all partners were actively participating in the discussions, and everyone has a clear idea of what needed to be done for the second year!

You can follow the development of the project on our project website as well as on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook.

Don’t hesitate to contact us as well if you would like to participate in the implementation of the platform once it is ready.

Stay tuned for some important development that will be revealed pretty soon!

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The international laboratory of the BIBLIO project of the DAISSy Research Group of EAP, a partner body in Greece, is of interest in “ALL DIGITAL Weeks 2022”

biblio-logoUndoubtedly, the international BIBLIO webinar entitled “BIBLIO-Exchanging ideas on transforming Libraries in the digital age“, was a very interesting initiative attracting more than forty (40) participants! It was organized online on 29th March 2022 by the ALL DIGITAL (AD) network, BIBLIO project partner in Belgium, in cooperation with the project partners and within the framework of the «ALL DIGITAL Weeks-ADWs 2022» campaign.

It triggered the interest of library professionals, experts and practitioners, representatives of authorities and institutions, active citizens, and more generally anyone interested in the digital evolution within the library world.

DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), within the framework of the implementation of the “BIBLIO: Boosting digital skills ad competencies for librarians in EuropeEU project.

Gabriela Ruseva, Communication Officer of ALL DIGITAL coordinated the webinar and the session was launched by a welcome speech by Peter Palvolgyi, Chief Executive Officer of the AD network, who explained briefly the goals of the ADWeeks 2022 campaign.

The speeches started by Nicola Barbuti, University Aldo Moro Μπάρι, BIBLIO Coordinator who focused on the significant contribution of the project findings to the digital transformation of the Library services. Speaking the truth, he declared that various organisations from Europe, Africa and Asia have already expressed their interest in exploiting the BIBLIO tools for upgrading their operation.

More precisely, Alteo Valentini from EGINA, Italian partner, analyzed the content of BIBLIO and its findings regarding ► the two emerging job profiles of the Community Engagement and Communication Officer (CECO) and the Digital Transformation Facilitator (DIGY) ► the methodology of the BIBLIO modular blended training program that takes into account the different levels of digital skills of Library professionals ► the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of the project which was completed with great success attracting thousands of participants all over the world and ► the Specialization Courses (SCs) currently undergoing which are included in the BIBLIO blended training course and will be followed by the work-based learning activities in Libraries.

 

This was followed by speeches delivered by Library professionals representing the project partner countries of Italy, Latvia, Bulgaria and Greece, who take part in the BIBLIO modular training program – they recognized the innovative nature of the project in terms of both the vocational training aspect and the certification of qualifications based on European standards.

The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), the Greek Biblio partner,  was represented in the panel of Library professionals by Mrs Angeliki GIANNOPOULOU, Librarian at the Distance Library and Information Centre of the HOU (DLIC-HOU), who delivered a speech about “Implementing IoT and Cloud Services for transforming remote e-resource access”. She emphasized the nature of Libraries throughout their long history, as organizations that preserve and promote the cultural heritage of countries. Libraries evolve and use new practices and methods to serve the demands of their users and react to their new roles arisen. As a result, the use of state-of-the-art technologies (such as cloud services) for connecting libraries with citizens worldwide, is highly recommended. In addition, Angeliki explained that while the role of public Libraries is changing, the part of the Internet of Things with technologies, such as the RFID machine to machine (M2M) communication, could enhance the efficient collection of data and create more extended user profiles.

The webinar was completed by brief remarks made by the Library professionals who recognized the valuable use of the BIBLIO tools in the accomplishment of their daily tasks at work, aiming at the provision of integrated services to the library users.

The «BIBLIO-Boosting digital skills and competencies for librarians in Europe» is an Erasmus+ KA2 Sector Skills Alliances EU project (2019-2022) that addresses the skills gap in the library/archives sector due to the digital transformation that is changing the role of Libraries. The DAISSy Research Group of the HOU is a member of the ALL DIGITAL network, is the Greek BIBLIO partner and implements the project in cooperation with the Distance Library and Documentation Centre (DLIC) of the HOU.

 

Stay tuned and find out more about the BIBLIO project and other activities of DAISSy-HOU: