Artificial Intelligence (AI) Powered Education
Skills and values on center stage
Mandoulides Schools organize online the 7th SMART EDUCATION workshop, on the topic: ” Artificial Intelligence (AI) Powered Education – Skills and Values in the Foreground “, on Saturday, December 2, 2023.
The workshop is part of the general actions of the Schools as Microsoft Showcase School for the 8th consecutive year and is addressed to teachers of Primary and Secondary Education in Greece and the Greek Diaspora.
AI has the potential to revolutionize education by transforming learning. By leveraging AI technologies, we can create personalized and adaptive learning experiences that meet the unique needs of each learner.
By embracing its potential, harnessing its benefits, and mitigating its risks, we can equip the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to thrive in an AI-driven world.
With thoughtful integration and cooperation, AI can shape the future of education, empowering students, supporting teachers, and encouraging a more inclusive and more equitable learning environment.
As part of the workshop, participants will be informed by university professors, representatives of Microsoft and other innovative companies and organizations, researchers, and educators about :
- The integration of AI technologies in learning and teaching.
- The use of ChatGPT in education.
- The smart teaching methods that promote and increase interaction and ensure better collaboration between peers.
- The needs of the labor market.
- The importance of soft skills for the use of artificial intelligence.
- The ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence.
- The leading role of values in school and social life.
- The Microsoft tools and their use in teaching.
In the first part of the workshop, the following will participate as speakers, among others:
- Yannis Anastasopoulos, Industry Sector Lead in Education, Greece, Cyprus & Malta, Microsoft Hellas
- Theodora Varvarigou, Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens
- Maria Gianniou, Empowerment & Leadership Coach, PhD, Corporate Trainer Founder of Lead From Within
- Christos Malliarakis, Dr. of Computer Science, Author, MIE Expert, MIE Trainer
- Dimitris Bertsimas, Boeing Professor of Operations Research and the Associate Dean of Business Analytics at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Byron Nicolaides, Founder of PeopleCert
- Vassilis Economou, Advisor to the President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture
- Theodoros Papaggelis, Full Member of the Academy of Athens, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Philology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, President of the Centre for Greek Language
- Alexandros Papaspyridis, Senior Advisor, Microsoft, Asia
- Demetrios Sampson, Professor of the Department of Digital Systems, University of Piraeus
The workshop will be addressed by Mr. Dimitrios Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance.
Also, in Part B of the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to exchange views and experiences with teachers who have integrated Microsoft technologies into their teaching (Office 365 tools: Teams, OneNote, OneDrive, Booking, SharePoint, Sway, Forms, FlipGrid, Minecraft EDU, etc.) and see how they can develop their own skills and those of their students.
Those interested in attending the workshop may register online HERE.
Past Workshops
Reimagining education - The role of education in an ever-changing world
The 6th SMART EDUCATION Workshop – Webinar, on the subject: “Reimagining education – The role of education in an ever-changing world”, organized by Mandoulides Schools, will take place on Saturday, December 10, 2022.
The event is organized in the framework of the Microsoft Showcase School program for the 7th year running and is addressed to teachers of Primary and Secondary Education, both in Greece and abroad.
Redesigning education after the COVID-19 crisis requires a redefinition of what we knew so far, and a transformation based on students’ needs and labor market requirements.
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of technological innovation and digital transformation, which proves that through a crisis opportunities can be created and changes and innovative reforms can be processed faster.
According to an article published by the prestigious US research company McKinsey & Company, it is necessary to base the changes in the field of education on 4 pillars, so that students can keep up with the exponential rate of change in the 21st century:
- Core skills
- High-quality teachers and teaching
- Evaluation and Feedback
- Adapted educational systems to the performance, needs, and abilities of students
At the conference, they will participate as speakers, among others:
- Diana Ghazaryan, PMP, 2nd-degree connection, K-12 Industry Executive, Education, CEE Area HQ at Microsoft
- Dina Ghobashy, Senior Manager, Education Leadership at Microsoft
- Anna Diamantopoulou, President DIKTIO Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, Chair of the High-Level Group on the Future of Social Protection in the EU and of the Welfare State in the EU Members, former European Commissioner and; former member of the Greek government
- Vassilis Economou, Director of Informatics and Digital Education, Athens College | Hellenic – American Educational Foundation College
- Veroni Papatzimou, General Manager, People Services, KPMG Consultants
- Harry Anthony Patrinos, Adviser, Office of the Chief Economist, World Bank, Europe, and Central Asia
- Dimitrios Sampson, Professor, Department of Digital Systems, University of Piraeus
- Maria Spyraki, Member of the European Parliament
- Stratos Stratigakis, Educational Analyst
- Ilia Tzortzopoulou, Co-Founder, COO, Morphoses Skills Ltd
During the workshop participants will be informed by university professors, representatives of Microsoft and other innovative companies and organizations, researchers, and educators about:
- The necessity of changes in education
- Fostering technical and life skills by integrating new technologies into education
- Smart teaching methods and modern curricula with greater interaction between students and teachers and better cooperation between peers
- The role of Career Guidance and Counselling at School
- The labor market skill requirements
- The tools of Microsoft and their utilization in teaching.
Registered teachers of Primary and Secondary Education will be able to join the live-streamed seminar via Livemedia as well as Facebook and the Youtube channel of Mandoulides Schools.
Certificates of attendance will be issued to all participants.
The workshop was held with the kind sponsorship of Microsoft and the support of the Municipality of Thermi and the Municipality of Pylaia – Chortiatis
5G - Α new era for education
SMART EDUCATION 5: “5G – A New Era for Education”
Mandoulides Schools organized the 5th SMART EDUCATION seminar on “5G – A New Era for Education” on Saturday, 13 November 2021.
The seminar is part of the general activities of the Schools as Microsoft Showcase Schools and is addressed to educators of Greece as well as the Greek Diaspora. It is offered free of charge and concerns the new era for education as shaped by the rapidly evolving new technologies.
Innovation in education is considered imperative. It is as important as students’ access to education in general. 5G is a promising tool aiming to provide more opportunities to students and render education accessible to everyone.
The contribution of 5G to education can really make a difference. By using 5G technology, every classroom and every school will be able to transform into an interactive learning environment, allowing a more engaging lesson to occur.
The introduction of new technologies, such as teaching with the aid of artificial intelligence, as well as the use of virtual and augmented reality and the promotion of STEM and robotics require faster and more reliable Internet connection along with less response time.
Since it can offer significantly higher Internet speed than 4G, 5G technology will provide educators and students with the necessary tools to reinvent learning procedures.
Among the seminar speakers were:
- Manos Varvarigos, Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens
- Stavros Dimitriadis, Professor, School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- Elena Zaglaridou, Education Future Skills Development Lead, Microsoft Central Eastern Europe
- Maria Mpoura, Director, Marketing, Communications, Government & Industry Relations at Ericsson
- Vasilis Oikonomou, Director of Informatics and Digital Education, Athens College | Hellenic – American Educational Foundation
- Marina Oikonomou – Lalioti, Professor of Psychiatry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Konstantinos Papadias, Executive Director of the Research, Technology & Innovation Network and Professor of Informatics, American College of Greece
- Chariton Polatoglou, Professor, School of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
During the seminar, participants were informed by University Professors, representatives of Microsoft and other innovative organizations and companies, researchers and teachers about:
- The necessity of changes in education
- 5G as the facilitator of the digital transformation of education
- Advantages vs disadvantages
- Development of technical skills along with life skills through the incorporation of new technologies in education
- Smart classrooms with new technologies, better interaction between students and teachers as well as better cooperation among peer students
- Microsoft tools and their beneficial application in teaching
In addition, they had the opportunity to share their opinions and experiences with other teachers who have incorporated Microsoft technologies in their teaching (Office 365 tools: Teams, OneNote, OneDrive, Booking, SharePoint, Sway, Forms, FlipGrid, Minecraft EDU, etc) and discovered how they can develop both their own and their students’ skills.
Teachers of primary and secondary education who registered for participation were able to join the live streamed seminar via Livemedia as well as Facebook and the Youtube channel of Mandoulides Schools.
- Certificates of attendance were issued to all participants.
The workshop was held with the kind sponsorship of Microsoft and the support of the Municipality of Thermi and the Municipality of Pylaia – Chortiatis.
Communication sponsors: Livemedia, Macedonia, Makthes.gr, Thessaloniki Press, TyposThes.gr, Status fm 107.7, viosimi.gr, GR Times.gr, KA-Business.gr and Economic Review/Greek business file.
Entrepreneurship education
Mandoulides Schools organized the 4th SMART EDUCATION seminar on: “Entrepreneurship education”, on Saturday, November 14, 2020.
The seminar is part of the general activities of our Schools as Microsoft Showcase Schools and it is supported by the Regional Directorate of Education of Central Macedonia, the Municipality of Thermi and the Municipality of Pylaia – Hortiatis.
It was addressed to teachers of Primary and Secondary Education and it concerned the promotion of entrepreneurship in primary and secondary education.
In the seminar, the following speakers participated:
- Vanessa Antoniadou, Teacher Engagement Manager, Microsoft Greece – Cyprus – Malta
- Markos Veremis, Upstream Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board
- Maria Gianniou, Empowerment & Leadership Coach | Corporate Trainer
- Grigoris Zarifopoulos, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance
- Kyriakos Loufakis, President of Alexandreia’s Innovation Zone
- Dimitris Mandoulides, Vice President of Mandoulides Schools
- Spiros Protopsaltis, Governon OAED
- Tasos Tzikas, President of the Board at Thessaloniki International Fair – HELEXPO S.A
- Giannis Chatzidimitriou, Rector of the University of Macedonia
During the seminar, participants were informed by university professors, representatives of Microsoft, other innovative companies and organizations, researchers and teachers about:
- The need for entrepreneurship education
- Innovative teaching methods and practices for promoting entrepreneurship in schools
- The cultivation of life and digital skills
- The role of new technologies in entrepreneurship education
- Microsoft tools
- Distance learning
In addition, they also had the opportunity to share their opinions and experiences with other teachers who have incorporated Microsoft technologies into their teaching (Office 365 tools: Teams, OneNote, OneDrive, Booking, Sharepoint, Sway, Forms, etc.) and see how they can develop both their own skills and those of their students.
Teachers of primary and secondary education joined the seminar through Livemedia as well as through Facebook and the Youtube channel of our School.
Certificates of attendance were given to the participants who joined both parts of the seminar.
The seminar was held with the kind sponsorship of Microsoft and Eurobank.
Media Sponsors: Livemedia, Macedonia, Makthes.gr, Thessaloniki News, TyposThes.gr and Status fm 107.7.
Gamification & Education
Gamification & Education
Mandoulides Schools held the seminar “Smart Education” on Saturday, 9 November, 2019 on the Junior–Senior High School premises (12th klm. National Road Thessaloniki – Ν. Μoudania).
The seminar is part of the actions of Mandoulides as a Microsoft Showcase School. It is supported by the Regional Directorate of Education of Central Macedonia, the Department of Educational and Social Policy of the University of Macedonia and the Informatics and Robotics Lab, the Municipality of Thermi, the Municipality of Pylaia – Hortiatis, RobotixLab, Eduact and Technokids/Technoplus.
During the seminar participants were informed by specialists, university professors, representatives of Microsoft and other innovative companies, researchers and teachers about:
- The integration of gamification into education
- Serious Games
- The dangers of video games
- Microsoft tools
- The value of programming in our lives
In addition, participants had the opportunity to exchange views and experiences with teachers who have integrated Microsoft technologies into their teaching (Office 365, Teams, OneDrive, Minecraft, Skype, Learning Tools, etc.) and they also attended workshops where they were able to see how they can develop both their own skills and their students’.
The seminar was courtesy of Microsoft, Eurobank, Koumentakis & Associates – Law Firm, Samaras & Associates S.A. – Consulting Engineers, and Dotsoft.
Media Sponsors: Livemedia, Makedonia, Makthes.gr, Typos Thessalonikis, TyposThes.gr and Status FM 107.7
Τechnology and Innovation in Education
Mandoulides Schools held the 2nd Smart Education seminar as part of their actions as a Microsoft Showcase School on Saturday 10 November, 2018. It was addressed to teachers of Primary and Secondary Education and dealt with the integration of technology and innovation in education.
During the seminar participants were informed by specialists, university professors, Microsoft and other innovative companies’ representatives, researchers, and teachers about:
- The integration of new technologies into education
- The value of programming
- Robotics at school
- Internet security
- Microsoft tools
- The General Data Protection Regulation
The meeting took place with the support of the School of Informatics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Municipalities of Thermi and Pylaia – Hortiatis, and Alexander Innovation Zone S.A.
Transforming Education
Teachers and executives of educational organizations had the opportunity to attend a very interesting workshop on the weekend of 11 and 12 February. At the workshop, which was organized by Mandoulides Schools in collaboration with Microsoft Hellas, participants had the opportunity to become acquainted with Microsoft’s innovative educational tools (OneNote, Office Mix, Sway), be informed by the representatives of the company about the Microsoft Innovative Educators Experts program and come into first contact with integrated IT educational management systems.
Mandoulides Schools – one out of three Microsoft Showcase Schools in Greece – plan to multiply this kind of actions in order to contribute to the dissemination of educational innovation and to the formation of an intelligent, interactive and creative school.
