Issue 2 February 2011

SCIENCE VIEW

Welcome to Science View Newsletter

Dear Friends,
I would like to welcome you in the second issue of
our Newsletter. This issue includes articles mostly
about Science Education and informs you about
initiatives and events that take place in Greece and
Europe.
As you will see members and cooperators of Sci-
ence View have started sending articles to be in-
cluded in this issue. We have received from sev-
eral people articles that are going to be published
both in our Newsletter and our new web site.
Within February we are going also to inform you In April Science View is scheduling to organize an event
about the structured way (providing also the re- concerning Science and Music and how these two have
spective format) in order for you to send us articles interacted through the centuries. By mid February the
that you would like to be published. information will be available in our website (News sec-
tion). You will have more details in the next issue of our
The new website is already running and will pro- Newsletter (March issue).
vide you useful information as well as links to re-
sources concerning science. You can visit it follow- Enjoy!
ing the link www.scienceview.gr. Menelaos Sotiriou, Secretary General, Science View

Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Events:
Scientix European Conference 2011 (http://www.scientix.eu/web/guest/conference) 6-8/5/2011

EUSCEA Anniversary Conference 2011 (http://www.euscea.org) 10-12/5/2011

Ecsite Annual Conference 2011 (http://www.ecsite.eu/annual_conference) 26-28/5/2011

EDEN Annual Conference, 2011 (http://www.eden-online.org/eden.php?menuId=530) 19-22/6/2011

Summer School for Science Journalism (http://www.scienceview.gr/seminars/4) 3-9/7/2011

Summer School on Bioinformatics Models, Methods and Algorithms (http://ec.europa.eu/education/

15-21/7/2011
trainingdatabase/index.cfm?fuseaction=DisplayCourse&cid=27581)

Interesting publications:
• Changing qualifications (http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/publications/17429.aspx)
• Social Sciences and Innovation - OECD Book (http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/social-
sciences-and-innovation_9789264192836-en)
• A Guide to Peer to Peer Mentorship in Science Journalism - World Federation of Science Journalists (http://
www.wfsj.org/resources/page.php?id=36)
• Online Course in Science Journalism, Created by the WFSJ and SciDev.Net (http://www.wfsj.org/course/en/)
• Review: How Old is the Universe? By David A. Weintraub, (http://astroguyz.com/2011/01/28/review-how-old-is-
the-universe-by-david-a-weintraub/)
 Page 2

Designing the School of Tomorrow

Ellinogermaniki Agogi (a Greek Education Institution) hosted from Friday

14 to Sunday 16 of January, 2011 the 5th Educational Conference
“Designing the School of Tomorrow” (www.schooloftomorrow.gr). The
Conference participants stressed on the Life long learning process that is
strengthened by innovative tools as well as new trends for a continuity in learn-
ing.
The Conference joined some of the experts from European countries in the
domain of education in order to discuss and evaluate the latest innovations
and results in the fields of new technological applications in education, new
methodologies in the assessment of the learning content, the use of platforms
and social network tools in the classroom environment, the link between re-
search and secondary education, the modern approaches in teaching foreign
languages, etc.
As stated during the preliminary session of the Conference, Technology has
Picture 1: Participants of the Science Café
the power to deliver learning in a variety of ways. In this issue of our News
during the lecture from the Scientist
Letter we will focus on the use of the Science Café and virtual Science Café in
the school environment as presented during an Open Discussion coordinated

According to the speakers, the innovative communication tool of a Science Café, an initiative that had been initially de-
signed for adults, now, can be easily applied and work perfectly in a school environment. Based on the active learning
principle, the students are the center of interest and all the discussion is monitored according to the questions, concerns
and reflections on everything that could be linked more or less to science matters.
Speakers from the UK, Denmark and Italy introduced and shared their experiences as directors of their local Junior Sci-
ence Cafés stressing on the fact that students even those who were less interested in science had been enthusiastic par-
ticipating in “an informal, discussion-based format which is anything but boring” as stated Mrs. Mary Arber, Director of the
Café Sci in UK.
A Junior Science Café gives students the opportunity to meet scientists in an informal, relaxed, café environment (the
school canteen as well) and together explore issues in science technology and everyday life since there's science in every
subject!
The procedure is more than simple and free. The invited scientist introduces his topic for about 15 minutes. The scientist is
a volunteer that comes from a university, a research institute, or an industry, can be a professor or a PhD student passion-
ate about the subject, willing to communicate and answer questions of all levels.
Mr. Gert Balling for the Danish Vcaf Organization mentioned that little by little the students take the initiative to organize
their own science café, to choose the topics, to prepare the café room setting, invite and prepare topics with the scientists,
even promote the whole organization through various channels, and so forth.
Summarising, we could assume, that a Science Café could be successfully implemented in the new education design en-
couraging both students and teachers to use an extra tool to the learning process. Since the educational goal is the life
long learning, the students and teachers involved in the Science Café experience would be more than open to science in
life.
Katerina Chotzoglou, Member of Science View (for more information please contact at info@scienceview.gr)

Study trip to Heidelberg from 18 to 20 of July 2011

Science View members can participate to the EUSJA study trip to Heidel-
berg from 18 to 20 of July 2011. During the trip the participant will have the
opportunity to visit 2 famous research institutes – the German Cancer Re-
search Center (http://www.dkfz.de) and the European Molecular Biology
Laboratory (http://www.embl.de). The staff of these institutes promises a so-
phisticated program with a view to bridge basic research topics to applied re-
search in the life sciences. Participants will be introduced to both institutes,
their research and there will be ample time to visit laboratories and to interact
with scientists. The participants are also welcome to attend the Euroscience
Media Award ceremony which will be held at EMBL. EUSJA has 25 invita-
tions and part of these could be offered to Science View Members. The
journalists will be offered accommodation (3 nights), meal and travel to/
from Frankfurt airport for free. In Order to apply for this study trip please
visit Science View website (www.scienceview.gr/news). Applications are
accepted by the mid of April.
Education and ICT Tools Page 3

Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling is the practice of using computer-based
tools to create stories. Digital storytelling allows students to
jointly create and share their stories outside of the traditional
written form using their imagination, creativity and cultural
experiences. Digital stories contain mixture of images, text,
recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music. Studies
suggest that digital storytelling learning activities have an
impact on students’ achievements. The current trend is to
engage students in digital story making/telling activities
(often collaborative ones) helping them acquire multiliteracy
skills. CosyLLab at the Department of Technology Education
and Digital Systems of the University of Piraeus, in Piraeus,
Greece has developed Comic strip creator which is a free-

ware, standalone application for making comic strips allowing teachers and students to express their creativ-
ity and become digital story tellers. Also, the research team at CosyLLab has implemented a European
Comenius education project, the Educomics project which provides a whole perspective in the area of digi-
tal story telling by motivating the two most important actors of the educative procedure (teachers and stu-
dents) to create digitalized stories.
Prof. Simos Retalis, CosyLLAb. Department of Digital systems, University of Piraeus

Interactive Whiteboard: a new way of teaching and learning!

There is a high level of interest in ICT as a tool for whole-class
teaching. The interactive whiteboard is an effective medium for the
teacher presenting to the whole class, and for reviewing the les-
son. The teacher at the front of the class is better positioned to
observe pupils' response. The board can be used effectively in a
number of subject areas as replacement for traditional whiteboards
or flipcharts. It provides ways to show students anything which can
be presented on a computer's desktop (educational software, e
content, web sites, and others) and to utilize a number of applica-
tions and tools either web or standalone. In addition, the interac-
tive whiteboard allows teachers to record their instruction and post
the material for review by students at a later time. Brief instruc-

tional blocks can be recorded for review by students—they will see the exact presentation that occurred in
the classroom with the teacher's audio input. This can help transform learning and instruction. Recently the
Greek Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning & Religious Affairs has unannounced that will allocate funds
in order to provide Interactive Whiteboards in Secondary Schools, and set the use of new technologies in
education (from teachers and students) as a first priority.
For more information on the use of the Interactive Whiteboards you can visit also the http://
www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/interactivewhiteboards.htm
Konstantina Georga, e-Learning Scientific Consultant, Member of Science View

SCIENCE VIEW

www.scienceview.gr
3 Makri str.
117 42, Αthens
@ScienceView
Greece
Phone: +30 210 9231955 @ScienceView_org
Fax: +30 210 9231956
E-mail: info@scienceview.gr www.linkedin.com/company/science-view