The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), succesfuly organised the multiplier event entitled “Enhancing teachers’ digital skills and creativity”, in the context of the Erasmus+ project “CrowdDreaming – Youth co-create digital culture”. The event took place online, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, on the 14th April 2021. More than 50 representatives of educational, cultural and policy making sectors in Greece participated in the event which was organised by the Greek project partner.

Professor Achilles Kameas, Director of the DAISSy Research Group and Scientific Coordinator of the CrowdDreaming in Greece, opened the event with a short greeting, briefly presenting the objectives and an overview of the results of the project as well as an overview of the activities and European cofunded projects of DAISSy while emphasizing on the ones relevent to the enhancement of digital skills and creativity, and addressed the importance of supporting the educational community.

Following, Ms. Elena Sarli, Promoter of European Programmes at the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Western Greece, presented the active role of the Regional Directorate in terms of information, dissemination and promotion for all European projects, like CrowdDreaming, that aim to innovative educational practices, and highlighted the importance of CrowdDreaming for the educational community and for the promotion of digital cultural heritage among them.

The scope, the methodology and the impact of the project were presented by Ms. Eleni Georgakakou, Project Manager of CrowdDreaming on behalf of DAISSy in Greece. Ms Georgakakou highlighted that the project applied the good Italian practice of the “Art of CrowdDreaming” with aim to encourage young people to reflect and valorize their own cultural heritage and develop digital thanksgiving scenes to acknowledge another nation’s contribution to the European culture. She also noted that in Greece, 21 teachers, together with their students, were enthusiasticly involved in all piloting phases of the project, despite the restrictive measures and unforseen challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They researched the cultural contributions of other European nations to the Greek cultural heritage, learned about new digital tools and created digital scenes for the the virtual monument Europa Square.

Two participant teachers, Ms. Zeta Tsiga and Ms. Niki Efstathopoulou, shared their overall experience from the project, the workshops with their students as well as the story behind the digital scenes they created. How did this project affect them and their students? They realised that digital media can promote values and concepts such as multiculturalism, inclusion, critical thinking, co-creation, sustainable preservation of cultural heritage. Above all, a group of people together as a Connective Mind, can Dreamscape the Future, and thus create History.

At the last part of the event, two very interesting presentations of relevant European projects targeting the educational community with an aim, like CrowdDreaming, to enhance their digital skills and/ or creativity took place. Professor Achilles Kameas presented the project “STEAMonEDU”, which aims to the up-skilling of STE(A)M educators through online tools and a very active community of practice, and Ms. Katerina Nikolakopoulou, Coordinator of Educational Activities in the Regional Centre for Educational Planning of Western Greece, presented the project “Creative Audiovisual Lab for the promotion of critical thinking and media literacy-CrAL”, which exploits audiovisual creative writing and reading towards the promotion of students’ critical thinking and media literacy.

The event closed with a short “thanksgiving” session by the event Moderator and CrowdDreaming project Manager in Greece, Ms. Georgakakou, addressed to all partners, tutors, teachers and students for their great work and cooperation, and to the participants of the event.

H Ερευνητική Ομάδα DAISSy του Ελληνικού Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου (ΕΑΠ), εταίρος στο ευρωπαϊκό έργο «Crowddreaming: Youth Co-Create Digital Culture» – «Crowddreaming: Οι Νέοι-ες συν-δημιουργούν Ψηφιακή Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά», σας προσκαλεί να συμμετέχετε διαδικτυακά στην τελική εκδήλωση του έργου με τίτλο “Ενισχύοντας τις ψηφιακές δεξιότητες και τη δημιουργικότητα των εκπαιδευτικών”, η οποία θα λάβει χώρα στις 14 Απριλίου 2021, 17:00’-18:30’, στα ελληνικά.

Στην εκδήλωση θα παρουσιαστεί ο τρόπος με τον οποίο περισσότεροι–ες από 1.600 μαθητές-μαθήτριες από την Ελλάδα, την Ιταλία, την Κροατία και τη Λετονία, υπό την καθοδήγηση 90 δασκάλων και την υποστήριξη εκπαιδευτών-εκπαιδευτριών, διερεύνησαν πώς συνδέεται η τοπική τους ιστορία με άλλα ευρωπαϊκά έθνη. Τα αποτελέσματα της δουλειάς τους εκτίθενται στο ψηφιακό μνημείο Europa Square (Πλατεία Europa), το οποίο φιλοξενεί περισσότερες από 80 ψηφιακές σκηνές ευχαριστιών που δημιουργήθηκαν από νέους-νέες. Επίσης, στο πλαίσιο της θα παρουσιαστούν κι άλλα ευρωπαϊκά έργα σχετικά με την ενίσχυση των ψηφιακών δεξιοτήτων και τη δημιουργικότητα των εκπαιδευτικών.

Η εκδήλωση είναι δωρεάν και ανοικτή προς κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο-η. Θα δοθούν Βεβαιώσεις συμμετοχής. Για την εγγραφή σας, παρακαλούμε όπως ακολουθήσετε τον σύνδεσμο https://forms.gle/Ku3oVdQGXVcm1wH29 έως 14 Απριλίου, 14:00’, και για το Πρόγραμμα των ομιλιών δείτε εδώ.

DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), the Greek project partner of the project “Crowddreaming: Youth Co-Create Digital Culture”, cordially invites you you to attend online the Final International Conference on 25 March 2021 at 14:00′-17:15′.

To register please click on this link by 23 March. A personal link will be sent to you closer to the event date with the access details to the event platform. This event will take place in English.

Cultural heritage was put in the spotlight in 2018 with European Year of Cultural Heritage that saw thousands of events and millions of people engaged across the European continent. But it didn’t stop there. Successes from 2018 and new policy document (e.g. New European Agenda for Culture) have strengthened other dimensions of cultural policy and also cultural heritage.

Here our story begins. Crowddreaming: Youth Co-Create Digital Culture (CDDC) is an Erasmus+ project that started 2 years ago. We scaled up an Italian good practice and developed a methodology to use digital cultural heritage as a mean for inclusive education and the promotion of European values among youngsters.

The online event will present how more than 1600 students from Croatia, Greece, Italy and Latvia under the mentorship of 90 teachers and support by tutors dived into their local history and explored how it connects to other European nations. The results of their work is a digital monument Europa Square. It hosts more than 80 digital thankyou scenes created by youngsters. You will not only learn about the Crowddreaming methodology that enabled this but also explore the Europa Square yourself.

The Conference will also bring together representatives of policy makers and representatives of the civil society organisations who will discuss why we need a stronger collaboration between cultural and education sectors and how to ensure it. The tone of the event will be set by aspiring keynotes from two renowned experts in innovation in digital cultural heritage. More information about the speakers is available here.

Programme of the conference

In the upcoming days, information will follow for the Greek national, also online, final event of the CDDC project, which is organised by DAISSy, in Greek. Both events are co-financed by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union.

For more information on CDDC and DAISSy and its projects, you can visit/ contact us at:

• Website   : http://daissy.eap.gr/en/projects/cddc-project/ & www.crowddreaming.eu
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup, @crowddreamingEU
• Linkedin   : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
• Twitter      : https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup
• Email         : info@daissy.eap.gr

For your registration to the Europa Square digital monument: https://crowddreaming.eu/europa-square-registration/.

Το έργο Crowddreaming: Youth co–create digital culture συμμετείχε στην ετήσια Σύνοδο Κορυφής 2020 του πανευρωπαϊκού δικτύου ALL DIGITAL (7 & 8.10.2020)! Συγκεκριμένα, το έργο συμπεριλήφθηκε σε ειδικό εργαστήριο για την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά (heritage) στον δεύτερο κύκλο συζητήσεων της δεύτερης ημέρας εργασιών της Συνόδου.

Στο εργαστήριο για το Crowddreaming προβλήθηκαν: Η μεθοδολογία Crowddreaming, το Πρόγραμμα Σπουδών και το Μαζικό Ανοικτό Διαδικτυακό Μάθημα (MOOC) που κινητοποιεί τους εκπαιδευτικούς να χρησιμοποιήσουν το Crowddreaming με τους μαθητές τους, οι εμπειρίες από την εφαρμογή της μεθοδολογίας σε 5 Ευρωπαϊκές χώρες και η Europa Square – ένα αέναο ψηφιακό μνημείο αφιερωμένο στην Ευρώπη ως διαπολιτισμικό εργαστήριο.

• Οι εργασίες της Συνόδου 2020 του Δικτύου ALL DIGITAL πραγματοποιήθηκαν διαδικτυακά, κερδίζοντας το ενδιαφέρον ακαδημαϊκών, ερευνητών αλλά και επαγγελματιών στο χώρο της εκπαίδευσης, της αυτοδιοίκησης, του πολιτισμού, κλπ. Το εργαστήριο παρουσίασης του έργου Crowddreaming απέσπασε έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους αριθμούς συμμετοχών.

• Tο Δίκτυο της ALL DIGITAL είναι πανευρωπαϊκό και απαριθμεί 70 μέλη, τα οποία αντιπροσωπεύουν κέντρα ψηφιακών ικανοτήτων ή δίκτυα κέντρων ψηφιακών ικανοτήτων, κέντρα μάθησης ΤΠΕ, κέντρα εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη, όπου παιδιά και ενήλικες μπορούν να έχουν πρόσβαση στο διαδίκτυο, να μάθουν για τις πλέον πρόσφατες ψηφιακές δεξιότητες και να ενημερώνονται για τις τεχνολογικές εξελίξεις. Μέλος της ALL DITIGAL είναι η Ερευνητική Ομάδα DAISSy του Ελληνικού Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου, που υλοποιεί το έργο Crowddreaming ως φορέας-εταίρος στην Ελλάδα.

Μείνετε συντονισμένοι και θυμηθείτε να επισκέπτεστε την Ιστοσελίδα του Crowddreaming και τη Europa Square, το Ευρωπαϊκό ψηφιακό μνημείο που συνεχώς εξελίσσεται και εμπλουτίζεται από τους συμμετέχοντες μαθητές και δασκάλους στο πλαίσιο του έργου!

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το έργο Crowddreaming καθώς κι άλλες δράσεις της Ερευνητικής Ομάδας DAISSy-ΕΑΠ:

• Website    : http://daissy.eap.gr/en, https://crowddreaming.eu/el/
• Facebook : @DAISSyResearchGroup, @crowddreamingEU
• Linkedin    : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
• Twitter      : https://twitter.com/daissy_research, @CrowddreamingP
• Instagram : @daissy_researchgroup
• Email         : info@daissy.eap.gr

When: 8 October 2020 @ 11:40 (until 13:10)

Where: Online

Registration: Mandatory – to register, please fill in and submit registration form

Deadline for registrations: 6 October 2020

Key words: digital cultural heritage; MOOC for teachers; co-creation of digital scenes; virtual/augmented reality; European digital monument; Europa Square; social inclusion; European history; European values; coaching circles

The art of Crowddreaming (CDDC) is a methodology that connects young people and educators with cultural heritage and digitalisation in a unique co-creation process that contributes to the common understanding of the European history and values, intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding.

Crowddream is a vision for the improvement of the society which comes to life when it is turned to a compelling story that captures the imagination of a crowd big enough to make it happen.

Workshop participants will learn about:

• Crowddreaming methodology (origin, objectives and results of its use)
• Curriculum and MOOC that empowers educators (teachers, trainers, coaches, facilitators) for use of the Crowddreaming with young people in schools, digital learning centres, etc.
• Experiences with implementation of the methodology in 5 European countries.
• Europa Square – a lasting digital monument dedicated to Europe as a transcultural laboratory.
• How to set up your own Crowddreaming activity and connect with peers across Europe.

Registration for the event is mandatory. To register, please fill in and submit registration form by October 6th 2020.

About Crowddreaming: Youth co-create digital culture project

“Crowddreaming: Youth co-create digital culture” is an Erasmus+ project implemented in the framework of the annual KA3 call on Social Inclusion and Common Values: The Contribution in the Field of Education and Training managed by Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission.

The purpose of the project is to disseminate and scale-up at European level a good practice in the field of the valorization of digital cultural heritage as a mean for inclusive education and for the promotion of European values among youngsters.

The good practice identified is “Crowddreaming: youths co-create digital culture” born as a contest for Italian schools and promoted by the Italian association Stati Generali dell’Innovazione, whose aim is to create a lasting digital monument dedicated to Europe as a transcultural laboratory.

The Crowddreaming project involves 5 partners coming from 5 European countries. The pilot action is being implemented in 4 Countries (Croatia, Greece, Italy andLatvia,) and addresses secondary school teachers (20 in each country) and students (400 in each country).

Learn more about the project at https://crowddreaming.eu.