Celebrating EduCardia’s Success: Inspiring Talks & an Exciting Hackathon!
The informative event titled “Informative Event on the Results of the EduCardia Project in Schools: From Theory to Practice” was successfully held on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, from 15:00 to 20:00 at the Multimedia Amphitheater of the Central Library of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The event showcased the key findings of the EduCardia project, focusing on teachers’ experiences in applying its methodology and broader initiatives for integrating open-source software in education. With both in-person and online participation, the event fostered a rich exchange of knowledge and experiences among educators, researchers, and technology experts.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the distinguished speakers who provided invaluable insights during the event. Professor Symeon Papavassiliou (NTUA) opened the session with a warm welcome, followed by Anastasios Zafeiropoulos (NTUA), who presented a comprehensive overview of the EduCardia project and Eleni Fotopoulou, who presented the research results from the application of the EduCardia methodology in primary and secondary schools in Greece. Kleio Kazana from the Open Technologies Organization (ELL.AK) delivered an engaging session on open-source technology in education. Additionally, we sincerely appreciate the valuable contributions of Ioannis Galinos, Eleni Papamichalaki, Irini Mavrokefalidou, Vicky Archonti, Nikoula Floka, and Efstratia Kormentza who shared their first-hand experiences in implementing the EduCardia methodology in primary and secondary schools. Their reflections provided a crucial perspective on the real-world impact of the project.
In addition to this successful event, a hackathon titled “Hackathon – Development of Digital Services for the Erasmus+ EduCardia Project” was held on Thursday, February 20, 2025, from 17:00 to 20:00 at Room 001 in the New Building of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NTUA. During the hackathon, students engaged with open data from the EduCardia project and developed digital services aimed at facilitating the implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs for primary and secondary school educators. The event began with an introduction to knowledge graphs and their potential for recommendation systems, followed by presentations on tools such as Neo4j, Python, NetworkX, and Docker. Participants then formed teams, brainstormed ideas, and laid out action plans for evaluating their digital solutions based on criteria such as creativity, technical implementation, functionality, and usability. The hackathon provided a dynamic environment for innovation and collaboration, reinforcing the role of technology in supporting emotional and social learning in schools.
We would like to extend our special thanks to all hackathon participants for their enthusiasm, dedication, and innovative spirit. Two teams emerged as winners, showcasing exceptional projects. The first winning team, consisting of Petros Maratos, Giorgos Gotzias, Aris Tziapouras, and Gerasimos Mountakis, developed a sentiment analysis tool. This tool performs sentiment analysis on comments left on activities conducted within the EduCardia project, providing valuable insights for evaluating each activity. The implementation is based on a dockerized application that integrates data into a Knowledge Graph using Neo4j. The second winning team, composed of Sofia Barkatsa and Stefanos Voikos, created a series of visualizations using Python, leveraging collected data from the implementation of the EduCardia methodology. These visualizations offer a clearer understanding of the impact and effectiveness of the project’s initiatives.
The two events together demonstrated the strong commitment of educators, researchers, and students to enhancing emotional education and integrating innovative digital tools into the learning environment. We sincerely thank all participants and contributors for their enthusiasm and dedication. The EduCardia project continues to pave the way for meaningful advancements in educational methodologies and digital transformation in schools.
