CARDET and the University of Nicosia, hosted the 62nd Annual conference of the International Council for Educational Media (ICEM) in conjunction with the 5th Annual Innovative Learning Environments 2012 conference.  The event was under the Auspices of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union and took place on 27-29 of September 2012 at the University of Nicosia. This global event is of great importance for Cyprus and is in line with the long term strategy of the island to become a regional center for education and services.

The conference theme was: “Design Thinking in Education, Media and Society”. The theme is based on the idea that all humans have an inherent ability to design. Design thinking is an interdisciplinary framework that draws from the fields of cognition, media, creativity, engineering, arts, and the social sciences. Design thinking uses the sensibilities of a designer to develop human-centered innovative solutions to problems. During the ICEM2012 conference, we explored the various applications of design thinking and elearning and discussed challenges and opportunities that arise when combining design with learning technologies to address challenges faced in education, media, and society. For information about the event visit http://icem2012.cardet.org.

The Mediterranenan Migration Network was officially launched during a two-day working meeting at the University of Nicosia on March 1-2, 2012. Present at the meeting were the Minister of Interior, Mr. Neoclis Sylikiotis, Dr. Michalis Attalides, and representatives from publci and private organizations from Cyprus and Europe. Among the organizations represented included the International Organization for Migration, The Migration Policy Group based in Brussels, Oxfam Italia, COA from the Netherlands, High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue in Portugal, the Ministry of Education and Culture, NGOs, and Union representatives.

Dr. Vrasidas & the Minister of Interior

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How Do You Awake the Joy of Reading Among Children? The above question concerns many people as educators and administrators, because the low level of many young Europeans’ literacy skills has been repeatedly documented. The International Research Center CARDET in cooperation with partners from 6 countries have recently launched project “LiRe” (a Comenius Multilateral project) that aspires to bring positive changes, through a coordinated effort and collaboration at the European level in the field of reading promotion. The kickoff meeting of the project took place in Nicosia on December 8-9, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

On November 29, 2011 the Lifelong Learning Foundation hosted a conference on e-learning and the use of technology for teaching and learning. The keynote presentation that I gave is available here:  VRASIDAS_IDEPE_PDF. There were more 500 people attending the event, among which students, teachers, counselors and academics. Very interesting projects were showcased from a variety of disciplines and age groups. The possibilities of videogames and social networking were very well received by both teachers and students.