The present article introduces the impact of the “SHE Creates: STEM Edition” Summer School in Greece. This summer academy was exclusively for girls attending high school between the ages of 13 and 17 and it is a part of the European project SECOVE, which is funded by the European Commission through the ERASMUS+Program. The summer school was a holistic experience for the girls who took part because they gained so much from it: their empathy, team spirit, and creativity grew stronger and more coordinated. And it was so inspiring to see them divide into groups and create flexible ensembles, which helped them to transfer what they had learned. The Summer Academy “SHE Creates: STEM Edition” in June 2024 in Greece worked effectively on empowerment through the education of women's identity in the world of Sustainable Energy.

The challenges of teaching programming have led to the development of various models, approaches, and tools which attempt to overcome a variety of obstacles. In this article, we explore the application of Noam Chomsky's theory of transformational grammar (TG) to the teaching of programming languages ​​(PLs). In the context of the comparative teaching (CT) of programming languages, we propose a model for exploiting TG's deep structure (DS) and surface structure (SS)., using the technology of Cloud Compilers (CC). We design a theoretical framework for the comparative teaching of programming languages, starting from the deep structure of the computational problem. Through this process, we develop the solution algorithm and transform it to its surface structure, implementing it in various programming languages. The writing, compilation and execution of programs is implemented through the online CC programming environments, within the framework of organized remote labs, where no local installation is required on the user's part and they are free to use. This paper contributes to the scientific debate on issues related to the teaching of computer programming by providing a new model for teaching programming languages, called the Comparative Learning Model (CLM).

There is great potential in the introduction of gamified, interdisciplinary learning approaches in various education environments. This paper explores the effectiveness of Musical Mastermind, a gamified educational tool combining music education and computational thinking to promote interdisciplinary learning. The game, which uses a microcontroller-based LED matrix, challenges students to decode musical sequences, bridging artistic creativity and logical problem-solving. Rooted in the constructivist and experiential learning theories, Musical Mastermind integrates gamification into education, aligning with STEAM principles to foster holistic skill development. The game combines music theory and coding, encouraging exploration, problem-solving, and collaboration. The study was conducted in a seventhgrade classroom using the micro:bit, a cost-effective microcontroller. The students began with an introduction to music and coding, and then created and decoded musical sequences while engaging in collaborative gameplay. A mixedmethods approach was employed, utilizing pre-and post-test assessments, observational analyses, and feedback surveys to evaluate learning outcomes. Results showed significant improvements in music theory comprehension, computational thinking, and problem-solving skills. The students demonstrated high levels of engagement, teamwork, and perseverance, with increased motivation and a stronger connection between music and technology.

In today's dynamic educational environment, gamification has emerged as a powerful approach to captivate students and elevate their learning experiences. This paper aims to demonstrate the potential of a gamified teaching experience as a transformative educational strategy by utilizing the Global Positioning System, Google Maps, and Geolocation in a location-based game, following a multi-disciplinary approach that successfully combines History, Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Language, and Arts. Examining the specific case of Rhodes' Old (Medieval) Town, the paper provides insights into how adventure, technology, and multidisciplinary learning can create a dynamic, interactive, and engaging educational environment in an outdoor setting.

Over the last decade, It has been illustrated by many modern pedagogical theorists that the contemporary learning process must be meticulously updated by incorporating digital tools that may transform the educational context to the core. Serious games may form immersive experiences that positively boost the players’ engagement as they interact in a computer-generated environment that includes educational elements. This paper aims to review the development and consequent incorporation of a serious game, i.e. a game designed with an underlying intent to educate or inform), into the school curricula (high school, senior high school). “Build to Green” is a single-touch controlled, explorative, and educational gameplay that seeks to teach students how to build a smart city from scratch while coping with radical elements that may allow them to create a unique digital smart ecosystem based on crucial notions of today's society, such as sustainability, recycling, minimization of energy footprint, green economy, open innovation, and cloud computing. Our primal vision is to be able to link this innovative gameplay with certain school subjects (e.g., Mathematics, Geography, Computer Science, Social Science, and Economics) and corresponding learning outcomes.

The education of Vocational Education and Training (VET) students on various topics related to the programming of personalized electronic devices beyond a strong theoretical foundation requires a broad hands-on experience as well. This paper proposes such a hands-on didactic application that can be integrated with the design of the extension of the curriculum of the Specialty “Technical Applications of Informatics” for the course “Computer Programming” of the Greek VET educational system. In particular, this paper explores how a program that identifies unsolicited (spam) Short Message Services (SMSs) using modern Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques can be integrated into the teaching practice. First, we cover the theoretical background for the necessity of the intervention and the overall framework that is required to understand and ensure the correctness of the techniques used. Then, we demonstrate how the implementation of an artificial neural network can be used effectively to solve this particular problem. To achieve all the above, we have designed and proposed a teaching scenario that on the one hand approaches the new advanced communication technologies, and, on the other hand, operates within the cognitive limits of secondary technical education.

The transformation of the digital economy into an opportunity for women goes through complexities related to political, economic, social, cultural, customary, and family issues. As a consequence, the vulnerable groups of women are closer to acquiring the skills needed to access jobs but, on the other hand, these are unstable and shallow digital jobs that do not guarantee their exit from employment exclusion. In this article, data collected by the program "WOMEN4IT-20" are presented, followed by a discussion on delving into the prospects and plans of the program for the immediate future. The article concludes that women have equal access to the digital economy, as the digital age belongs to women equally.

This article presents the synchronous and asynchronous administrative tools that were mostly engaged in Digital Learning at the second phase of the COVID-19 lockdown. Apart from eLearning tools, this article also presents the necessary administrative tools and techniques that can support DL in public schools and especially in junior high schools. These administrative tools can be used in conjunction with the “my-school” platform, which contributes to distance learning by enhancing the database of the participating teachers and students to provide crucial student-school communications.

The Vocational Education and Training (VET) curriculum aims to provide students with the necessary skills to make them employable and successful in their specialties. Therefore, an increasing number of VET curricula are employing various resources to equip students with 21stcentury skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and information literacy. In this paper, we explore the key dimensions of active learning for empowering and enriching Collaboration, Individual Empowerment, and Development of the apprentices’ learning processes through Teaching and Learning Analytics (TLA), in a Learning Management System (LMS) for VET apprenticeships. We describe in detail “how TLA can “work” in a VET environment, and we present how we organize the TLA methodology inside the proposed LMS.

The purpose of this article is to investigate how to design and organize Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses for students of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Our work has been triggered by the fact that the Greek government following European standards for training has enacted a two-hour STEM course for the first class of the technical high schools. Through an enriched learning environment, we analyze the teaching mechanisms as well as the actions that should be implemented with the intention of supporting vocational educational students to acquire the best preparation for the STEM courses. We present several learning strategies that utilize educational technologies in order for the students and the teachers of TVET to achieve the optimum adaptation.