Papers by Stefanos Nikiforos
Transforming Physical Learning Communities (PLCs) into Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) throug... more Transforming Physical Learning Communities (PLCs) into Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) through web-based collaborative environments is defined as virtualization process. The impact of project-based activities on the bullying behavior of the members, during the virtualization process, was examined in the current research. Through the analysis of both the dialogues and the artifacts of a VLC, it was investigated whether the absence of specific targeted activities affected the behavior of the participants in the VLC. Results showed that both the language and the bullying behavior of the participants were significantly affected by the absence of project-based activities.
European Journal of Engineering and Technology Research, Dec 19, 2020
Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mai... more Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mainly concerned adults and education at university level. In the recent years, through the internet development, distance education has acquired a new hypostasis, as innovative applications have facilitated its implementation in multiple contexts. Despite this, education remained mainly on a physical level (face to face interaction), while distance education was rather complementary (hybrid or blended learning). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the first pandemic in the digital era, an urgent need that led to a universal and "violent" transition to distance education arose, often without assuring the necessary preconditions. This research aims to capture the experience of teachers in Greece during this transition.
Education and Information Technologies, Feb 15, 2020
The present study attempts to investigate the virtualization process of a community. An existing ... more The present study attempts to investigate the virtualization process of a community. An existing physical learning community (PLC) was transformed into a virtual one (VLC) through the Wikispaces web-based collaborative platform. We analyze the dialogues exchanged and the artifacts created, focusing on the detection of the aggressive behavior (bullying), the teacher's role, and the presence of inner speech as well. The key question is whether community and its members are positively affected by its virtualization process. Results indicate that the attempted "virtualization" could be a promising framework to behavior modification. Systematic instruction positively affects this process. Finally, inner speech is an indicator of a well-working community.
Education and Information Technologies
The Covid-19 outbreak caused transition from face-to-face teaching to Emergency Remote Teaching (... more The Covid-19 outbreak caused transition from face-to-face teaching to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Due to the hastily and disorganized implementation of ERT considerable difficulties were caused for all the students. Aim of the present study was to investigate (i) parents' views of students with functional diversity regarding ERT during the Covid-19 pandemic and (ii) how their children's functional diversity affected participation in ERT. ERT proved to be an even greater challenge for those students, who faced various learning, psychological and technical problems that further hindered the learning process. In the current research, the views of 12 parents of students with functional diversity were collected with semistructured interviews. A Modern Greek dataset of qualitative humanistic-linguistic data was created. A novel type of data analysis, combining qualitative descriptive analysis by hand and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based linguistic analysis was performed on the interview text. Results revealed (i) how those students responded to ERT, (ii) the way that their functional diversity affected their attendance on the online courses and (iii) how their parents evaluate the educational dimension of ERT along with any changes noticed in their children's psychological and emotional state. Parents' evaluations disclosed the overall negative impact of ERT on their children and presented their suggestions for meeting their children's special needs in case of ERT appliance in the future. The current research is considered significant as it investigates ERT impact on K-12 students with functional diversity during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on authentic humanistic data. Our research contributes on (i) the creation of this kind of dataset, as this particular group of students is hard to come by and their collection constitutes a significant contribution and (ii) the twofold way data analysis methodology, which is novel, combining linguistic and qualitative processes (semantic and sentiment analysis), providing important findings.
International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 2023
2020 5th South-East Europe Design Automation, Computer Engineering, Computer Networks and Social Media Conference (SEEDA-CECNSM)
Transforming Physical Learning Communities (PLCs) into Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) throug... more Transforming Physical Learning Communities (PLCs) into Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) through web-based collaborative environments is defined as virtualization process. The impact of project-based activities on the bullying behavior of the members, during the virtualization process, was examined in the current research. Through the analysis of both the dialogues and the artifacts of a VLC, it was investigated whether the absence of specific targeted activities affected the behavior of the participants in the VLC. Results showed that both the language and the bullying behavior of the participants were significantly affected by the absence of project-based activities.
European Journal of Engineering Research and Science
Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mai... more Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mainly concerned adults and education at university level. In the recent years, through the internet development, distance education has acquired a new hypostasis, as innovative applications have facilitated its implementation in multiple contexts. Despite this, education remained mainly on a physical level (face to face interaction), while distance education was rather complementary (hybrid or blended learning). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the first pandemic in the digital era, an urgent need that led to a universal and “violent” transition to distance education arose, often without assuring the necessary preconditions. This research aims to capture the experience of teachers in Greece during this transition.
Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality
Current research concerns the views of elementary school teachers in Greece about both the necess... more Current research concerns the views of elementary school teachers in Greece about both the necessity of their training in new teaching approaches and the use of new technologies in the implementation of innovative educational projects. Quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group) methods were used to collect data. It is noted that teachers were well informed about innovative educational projects and they wanted support by their principal and their colleagues. Experiential seminars by specialized scientists were also considered as necessary. Applications of new technologies were considered to particularly contribute to the implementation of innovative projects. Data analysis did not reveal significant gender differences in teachers’ views. Results are of particular value for the design of training programs and the integration strategies of new technologies in the design of innovative educational projects.
Journal of Computers in Education
European Journal of Engineering Research and Science
STEM education in Greek schools has become more prevalent in recent years, mainly through the imp... more STEM education in Greek schools has become more prevalent in recent years, mainly through the implementation of Educational Robotics projects. Small-scale working groups of handpicked participants constitutes the main practice of implementing these projects, aiming to participate in competitions for the purpose of discrimination. These projects are usually a parallel school activity concerning only the participants in it, having relatively little impact on school community. An alternative teaching approach is proposed and applied in the present research consisting of collaborative activities between volunteer participants who created a learning community. Results show that the proposed method satisfied students and generated their interest in both the future engagement with Robotics and the participation in similar collaborative activities.
Current Psychology, 2021
Distance education was imposed due to the sudden suspension of schools as a result of the COVID-1... more Distance education was imposed due to the sudden suspension of schools as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Impact of technology use on distance learning in early adolescence was the main aim of the current research. Asynchronous teaching methods were implemented in a digital classroom environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching practice was enriched with the use of technology-based tools. Results revealed that such a teaching practice method could have a positive impact on students' creativity, increasing their motivation to create and develop new forms of social interaction. Students who did not actively participate in face to face educational process, took an active participating role during distance education. This research is regarded as original, as it concerns a case study of asynchronous teaching during the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2017
Bullying through the internet has been investigated and analyzed mainly in the field of social me... more Bullying through the internet has been investigated and analyzed mainly in the field of social media. In this paper, it is attempted to analyze bullying in the Virtual Learning Communities using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, mainly in the context of sociocultural learning theories. Therefore four case studies took place. We aim to apply NLP techniques to speech analysis on communication data of online communities. Emphasis is given on qualitative data, taking into account the subjectivity of the collaborative activity. Finally, this is the first time such type of analysis is attempted on Greek data.
European Journal of Engineering Research and Science, 2020
Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mai... more Distance education had already appeared since 1970. During the first implementation period it mainly concerned adults and education at university level. In the recent years, through the internet development, distance education has acquired a new hypostasis, as innovative applications have facilitated its implementation in multiple contexts. Despite this, education remained mainly on a physical level (face to face interaction), while distance education was rather complementary (hybrid or blended learning). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the first pandemic in the digital era, an urgent need that led to a universal and "violent" transition to distance education arose, often without assuring the necessary preconditions. This research aims to capture the experience of teachers in Greece during this transition.
8th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM 2020), 2020
Current research concerns the views of elementary school teachers in Greece about both the necess... more Current research concerns the views of elementary school teachers in Greece about both the necessity of their training in new teaching approaches and the use of new technologies in the implementation of innovative educational projects. Quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group) methods were used to collect data. It is noted that teachers were well informed about innovative educational projects and they wanted support by their principal and their colleagues. Experiential seminars by specialized scientists were also considered as necessary. Applications of new technologies were considered to particularly contribute to the implementation of innovative projects. Data analysis did not reveal significant gender differences in teachers’ views. Results are of particular value for the design of training programs and the integration strategies of new technologies in the design of innovative educational projects.
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Papers by Stefanos Nikiforos