Department of Educational Technology and e - Learning
Head: Sotiropoulos Panagiotis
Staff:
Postgraduate researchers:
Research assistants:
The scope of the Educational Technology and e - Learning department is the
development and application of new methods and tools, based on modern learning
theories and instruction techniques, which create an enhanced learning environment
and provide integrated teaching solutions. The utilization of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) provide the appropriate means to overcome learning
obstacles inherent in traditional lecturing as well as to encourage productive
efforts to solve problems and rekindle knowledge.
With the use of network based
multimedia applications the Laboratory aims to consolidate all the technological
and pedagogic prerequisites, which appoint technology as a useful tool for the
dissemination of information and the management of knowledge. By organizing
seminars addressed to teachers, students and business executives, the Laboratory
aims to highlight the catalytic role of ICT in the dilation of knowledge and
enterprise activities.
The research efforts of the Laboratory are also focused
on the application of pilot educational programs aiming at the adoption of innovative
teaching methods that will transform the structure of pedagogic relationship
between lecturers and students. Emphasis is given in the development and application
of educational software based on templates oriented towards the exploration
of "micro-worlds" and the design of educational material, which is based on
internationally acclaimed and pedagogically valid educational software.
The investment made in the area of electronically
supported learning (e-learning) and Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems
enables the Laboratory to offer lectures and advance the dissemination of
knowledge in the form of a virtual university, to promote the development
of learning communities and to support the lifelong education.
The provision of digital learning services includes asynchronous
(storage of educational material) as well as synchronous methods (teleconference
and optional interaction with the flow of the lecture and the class). The
laboratory participates in European Programs of e-Learning that aim in the
production of software tools for synchronous distance learning (online tele-education),
which will combine pedagogic virtue and low operational cost.
Among the Laboratory's activities is included the support
of the Educational Portal "Έδρα Εκπαίδευσης (Educational Workbench)" (http://www.edra.ipet.gr)
that provides information on educational subjects with daily updates of
both printed and electronic press, publication of school activities seminars,
conferences and official documents. In the future it is scheduled to expand
to an Internet site that will provide also educational material.
The materialization of the laboratory goals is achieved with the close cooperation
of the Multimedia Unit, which provides modern equipment (digital scanners, 3D
scanners, reading units, high definition digital cameras, digital recording
and reproduction sound systems) and conducts research on methods for managing
sound and video (streaming or compressed video, digital image processing). The
Network Operation Center of the Institute also, offers to the Laboratory access
to specialized application development software and a high-speed network infra-structure.
The Laboratory facilities include an experimental teleconference room for the
comparative testing and evaluation of related software and for the educational
assessment of methods for distance learning. The electronic library of the Laboratory
is continuously updated with national and international educational software
and multimedia applications.
The Laboratory appoints the prerequisite computer
infrastructure and experienced personnel for the evaluation and certification
of educational software. The development of consortiums in the national and
international level secures the exchange of technological knowledge and the
undertaking of actions that promote the research in the fields of Education
and Culture.
