Over 680 participants participated in the Greek National Event of STEAMonEdu project. The event has been organized by DAISSy research group of Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” in collaboration with RDEWG. The blended event took place on Wednesday 24 November 2021 and was attended by 665 online participants and 20 people who were physically present at the amphitheatre of CTI in Patras, Greece.

A wide variety of topics and speakers were included in the event’s program, which was moderated by Prof. I. Zaharakis, the STEAMonEdu project manager.

Prof. A. Kameas, the scientific coordinator of STEAMonEdu project, opened the event with an overview of the project approach, tasks and outputs. He emphasized that, in order to achieve widespread adoption of STE(A)M education, the project focused on the professional development of teachers, educators and trainers, firstly by developing a dedicated international community of practice that was supported by a user-friendly online platform. With the aid of CoP members, project researchers adopted a holistic approach to competence development and produced significant outputs, including frameworks, tools, practices, policies and of course, dedicated high-quality training.

N. Spyropoulou described STEAMComp, the first-ever STE(A)M Educators’ Competence Framework and the STEAM Readiness Self-Assessment online tool that is based on it. Prof. A. Iosifidis familiarized the participants with the full educational program of STEAMonEdu. Also, researcher I. Kalemis demonstrated the STE(A)M Educators Community via our online platform, which will remain active and refreshed with new STE(A)M practices due to the enthusiasm and interaction of its members.

Good STE(A)M practices were also presented by Greek members of the Regional Directorate of Education of Western Greece. In particular, Professor P. Papadouris and educators G. Pagania, K. Gasteratou presented “FairyTale Mathematics”, Dr A. Nikolakopoulou and educator A. Nastou presented “Germs I am not afraid of you…I always keep in mind the health precautions rules”, Dr A. Mpalomenou and educators V. Riga, S. Soulioti, P. Poulou, L. Voutsina presented “When the sun is higher… it measures earth’s perimeter”.

Finally, Professor S. Papadakis, scientifically responsible for the Regional Directorate of Education of Western Greece on STEAMonEdu, gave an explanatory presentation of step by step designing STE(A)M educational scenarios by using LAMS Template.

Towards the end of the event, Prof. Kameas, in response to questions posed by participants regarding the next steps of STEAMonEdu, mentioned that the project team will now focus on the sustainability of the project results. In particular, the consortium considers offering again the MOOC and Blended Course in 2022, as well as designing more versatile training offers based on their digital content. Moreover, adaptation of the STE(A)M educators’ competence framework, profile and self-assessment tools in different education contexts will be pursued.

The STEAMonEdu Greek National Event is available online on Youtube.

By RDEWG