From youth awareness to action: The case of the EIT Climate-KIC Young Innovators program in Cyprus

Sowing the seeds of ESD in K-12 school systems has been pivotal in creating the student movement of ‘climate strikes’ that have dominated international news across the globe. Students across Europe and the globe are aware of the climate emergency and are taking to the streets to demand action. Moving from awareness to action, Young Innovators, a pioneering program launched by EIT Climate-KIC, aims to empower young people to use systems thinking and climate innovation approaches in order to contribute to local and regional challenges faced by their community. The implementation of the pilot in high schools (12-18 year olds) in the
Republic of Cyprus in 2020 is presented here, highlighting the effect this intervention had on teachers and students alike, as well as lessons learned for scaling up the program across ESD-related curricula in Cyprus. 

Yiatros, S., Pastides, A. Karra, S. Ioannou, A. 2022. From youth awareness to action: The case of the EIT Climate-KIC Young Innovators program in Cyprus. In “Engaging young people in the implementation of ESD in the UNECE Region: Good practices in the engagement of Youth in education for sustainable development. Edited by Zachariou, A. and Herteleer, S. UNECE. Available at https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/Engaging_Young_People_web_final_05.09.2022.pdf#page=107 

Educational Robotics for Computational Thinking

Few studies have systematically investigated the effectiveness of Educational Robotics (ER) activities for the development of Computational Thinking (CT) skills. Through an action research study, consisting of four consecutive cycles, this work aimed to determine if ER activities can improve students’ CT skills via ER. The study examined the issue with a total of 118 student-participants over a period of two and a half years. Findings from quantitative data showed that students who participated in ER activities had a statistically significant improvement in CT as opposed to students who did not participate in ER activities. In addition, students who participated in ER activities were able to effectively solve complex problems in real ER competitions. The work provides a comprehensive picture of the use of different ER technologies and shows that CT skills are developed through ER activities regardless of the technological tool being used.

[e.g.,  Constantinou, V., & Ioannou A. (2018). Development of Computational Thinking Skills through Educational Robotics. EC-TEL 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer.]

Constructionist learning model for social technologies​

The rapid popularity of social technologies has led to a widespread of research studies conducted in formal and informal contexts demonstrating a wide range of their benefits in teaching and learning. Yet, the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in classroom settings calls for better task-technology alignment. With this in mind, this dissertation brought forward a three-year intervention, employing constructionism as an overarching theoretical framework, and unpacking the potential of social technologies as instructional tools that support social construction of artifacts by groups of language learners. Findings demonstrate the constructionist model that demonstrates the core dimensions of social technologies as social constructionist tools, with actions held for the social construction of an artifact; and a set of instructional design elements that encloses the theoretical understanding of the classroom whilst groups of learners use social technologies for constructing an artifact. 

[e.g., Parmaxi, A., Zaphiris, P., & Ioannou, A. (2016). Enacting artifact-based activities for social technologies in language learning using a design-based research approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 556-567.

Parmaxi, A., & Zaphiris, P. (2015). Specifying the dynamics of social technologies as social microworlds. Behaviour & Information Technology, 34(4), 413-424]

Educational robotics as tools for group metacognition and collaborative knowledge construction in STEM education​

The purpose of this study was to explore how Educational Robotics (ER) can support students’ development of metacognitive thinking as a key element for collaborative knowledge construction in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) settings. The work adopts a Design-based Research (DBR) methodology, to address the development of metacognitive skills via ER while documenting design principles for successful implementations, based on collected evidence of cycles of work. The study consists of three sequential cycles in real classroom settings in primary education. The first cycle explored the use of ER in supporting collaborative knowledge construction as well as the mediating role of ER in supporting students’ group metacognitive processes. The second cycle investigated the potential added value of ER in promoting students’ metacognitive thinking and mathematical problem-solving. In the third cycle, the study examined how different ER learning design approaches could influence student learning. The third cycle presented differences between a structured and an unstructured ER curriculum in supporting students’ learning.

[e.g., Socratous, C., & Ioannou, A. (2021). Structured or unstructured educational robotics curriculum? A study of debugging in block-based programming. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69(6), 3081-3100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10056-x

Socratous, C., & Ioannou, A. (2022). Evaluating the Impact of the Curriculum Structure on Group Metacognition During Collaborative Problem-solving Using Educational Robotics. TechTrends, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00738-5]

Expanding the Curricular Space with Educational Robotics

While initiatives worldwide continue to place pressure on schools to improve STEM education, the already overcrowded curriculum often leaves little space for the integration of new courses or topics. Numerous benefits are reported in the literature about the use of educational robotics; yet, their integration in school contexts requires time that cannot be taken from other important courses. In the end, most educational robotics activities are done outside the curriculum such as in after-school programs and summer camps. The major contribution of this work is the presentation of a case of creative and non-intrusive integration of educational robotics to support the current school curricula. We present an example of expanding the curricular space, by integrating educational robotics in an existing course unit. In the absence of formal educational robotics curriculum and courses, the study presents an exemplar case of educational robotics integration in a creative and non-intrusive way. The lesson design and implementation are presented; the creative infusion can be realized and holds benefits for the students. Through educational robotics, students can practice new skills such as problem solving and teamwork, while they gain knowledge in the specific domain of the course unit.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., Socratous, C., Nikolaedou, E. (2018). Expanding the Curricular Space with Educational Robotics: A Creative Course on Road Safety. In: Pammer-Schindler, V., Pérez-Sanagustín, M., Drachsler, H., Elferink, R., Scheffel, M. (eds) Lifelong Technology-Enhanced Learning. EC-TEL 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11082. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98572-5_42]

Learning through Making, Tinkering, Coding and Play

Although a few researchers have recently focused on the value of making, tinkering, coding, and play in learning, a synthesis of this work is currently missing, creating an unclear path for future research in this area. Computational-making-enhanced activities, framed as activities promoting making, tinkering, coding and play in the learning process, have gained a lot of attention during the last decade. Despite the significant interest in this type of activities, the majority of research has focused on implementations in informal learning contexts. Our work takes computational-making into the classroom allowing young learners to engage in projects using arts, crafts, and technological tools such as physical robots. We investigate learners’ knowledge gains and attitudes in the areas of STEAM, as well as their development of 21st-century skills. Our findings suggest that young students can greatly benefit from computational-making-enhanced activities integrated into the school curriculum.

[e.g., Timotheou, S., Ioannou, A. (2019). On a making & tinkering STEAM approach to learning Mathematics: Knowledge gains, attitudes, and 21 st century skills. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning.]

A Distributed Cognition Perspective for Collaboration and Coordination

This study focused on the understanding of the interactions evident in an artifact ecology around a design task. The researchers delved into the physical and digital space of several learning groups to obtain a rich understanding of their collaboration around design tasks. Through the rich data set – interviews, focus groups, reflective diaries, online interactions, and video recordings for face-to-face sessions – we constructed a summative description of the group work and extended the methodological framework of Distributed Cognition for Teamwork.

[e.g.,Vasiliou,C., Ioannou, A., & Zaphiris, P. (2019). From behaviour to design: implications for artifact ecologies as shared spaces for design activities, Behaviour & Information Technology, DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2019.1601258]

Problem-Based Learning in Multimodal Information Spaces

In a  series of studies we enhanced a Problem Based Learning (PBL) environment with affordable, everyday technologies that can be found in most university classrooms (e.g., projectors, tablets, owned smartphones, traditional paper-pencil, and Facebook). The work was conducted over a three-year period, with 60 post-graduate learners in design (HCI) courses, following a PBL approach. We contributed a detailed description of how PBL can be enacted in a multimodal, technology-rich classroom. We also presented evaluation data on learners’ technology adoption experience while engaging in PBL.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., Vasiliou, C., Zaphiris, P., Arh. T., Klobučar, T., & Pipan, M. (2015). Creative multimodal learning environments and blended interaction during problem-based activity in HCI education. TechTrends, 59 (2), 47-56.

Ioannou, A., Vasiliou, C.,& Zaphiris, P. (2016). Problem Based Learning in Multimodal Learning Environments: Learners’ Technology Adoption Experiences. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54 (7), 1022-1040.]

Multitouch Interactive Tabletops for Collaboration and Peacemaking​

In his work, a tabletop application was used to mediate dialog and collaborative construction of a taxonomy of ideas based on the participants’ consensus. The scenarios for discussion concerned the promotion of global peace and the social integration of immigrants in the society.The study contributes a systematically developed coding scheme capturing the cognitive and physical elements of problem-based group collaboration around the interactive tabletop. Also, the consistent themes and ideas contributed across the participating groups highlight a number of areas where research could focus in terms of using technology for peace.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., Zaphiris, P., Loizides, F., & Vasiliou, C. (2013).  Let’s talk about Technology for Peace: A systematic assessment of problem-based group collaboration around an interactive tabletop. Interacting with Computers, doi: 10.1093/iwc/iwt061.]

Don’t Read My Lips: Supporting Hearing-impaired Children with NAO​

The study suggests an innovative way of using intelligent robots to help develop the auditory skills for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children through play. NAO does not have a human mouth and therefore DHH children cannot do lipreading; this unique characteristic of the technology has been successfully used in this study to create playful and engaging auditory-verbal therapy sessions for DHH kindergarten children, allowing them to improve their listening and hearing skills.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., & Andreva, A. (2019, September). Play and learn with an intelligent robot: Enhancing the therapy of hearing-impaired children. In IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 436-452). Springer, Cham. ]


Embracing Collaboration and Social Perspective Taking using Interactive Tabletops

In the contemporary multicultural classroom of the 21st century in which students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds learn together, it becomes necessary to embrace collaboration, social perspective-taking and understanding of the ‘other’ to help students comprehend their classmates’ values and perspectives. The study presents a case of practical utility and impact of tabletop research in this arena. We present evidence of perceived collaboration and learning around the tabletop, as well as gains in social perspective-taking propensity, demonstrating the promise of the use of interactive tabletops in the multicultural classroom.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., & Antoniou, C (2016). Tabletops for Peace: Technology Enhanced Peacemaking in School Contexts. Educational Technology & Society, 19 (2), 164-176 ;  Ioannou, A., Constantinou, V. (2018). Embracing Collaboration and Social Perspective Taking using Interactive Tabletops. TechTrends, 62(4), 403-411. ]

Inclusive access to emergency services: focused on hearing impaired citizens

In this work, we describe the development and evaluation of a system aiming to meet the communication needs of hearing impaired citizens in cases of emergency. The system consists of (i) a mobile application that records and sends the details of an emergency event, and (ii) a central management system that handles these calls from the operation center at the emergency services. The system was completed in four cycles of design, development, and evaluation with the involvement of 74 hearing impaired users and three officers from the Cyprus Police (Emergency Response Unit).

[e.g., Constantinou, V., Ioannou, A., & Diaz, P. (2016). Inclusive access to emergency services: an action research project focused on hearing-impaired citizens. Universal Access in the Information Society, 1-9.]

A Heuristic Evaluation for Deaf Web User Experience

The aim of the project is to develop a novel usability inspection method that can be applied to measure the usability and user experience of websites that are designed for Deaf users. The usability inspection method will be in the form of a heuristic evaluation that can be used by HCI experts and developers alike. It will be required to understand the unique characteristics of Deaf user interactions with websites and to examine existing web design guidelines and principles for Deaf users. In addition, a process must be applied for developing new heuristics for specific application domains.

[e.g., Yeratziotis, A., & Zaphiris, P. (2018). A Heuristic Evaluation for Deaf Web User Experience (HE4DWUX). International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 34(3), 195-217.]

Augmented reality supporting deaf students

The study suggests a practical use of augmented reality (AR) in supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students. First, we used AR via wearable glasses to support the communication and feedback loop between the instructor and DHH learner during the lesson. Second, we used AR via a typical tablet to support the DHH students in acquiring vocabulary and subsequently, improving their reading-comprehension capabilities. The study demonstrates the utility of AR technology in real-world settings, serving the needs of special education students, in this case, those with hearing loss, potentially contributing to more inclusive classroom environments in mainstream schools.

[e.g., Ioannou, A., & Constantinou, V. (2017). Augmented Reality Supporting Deaf Students in Mainstream Schools: Two Case Studies of Practical Utility of the Technology. Proceedings of Interactive Mobile Communication, Technologies and Learning (pp. 387-396). Springer, Cham.  (BEST PAPER AWARD)]