The Creative Technologies Learning Lab research group (http://ctll.e-ce.uth.gr) of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Thessaly (DECE) presented research project ICT-INOV: Modernizing ICT Education for Harvesting Innovation (http://ictinov– project. eu) to educators of the Hellenic Open University. The research project aims to encourage innovative thinking in Computer Science through design thinking and gamification. The presentation took place on December 9, 2022 via the internet. 18 individuals participated in the event.
The audience became familiar with the process of design thinking, a deeply anthropocentric method for designing solutions to difficult problems of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship through a process of empathy that contributes to a better understanding of the true dimensions of a problem, giving through a perspective that considers both the functional and emotional needs of users the opportunity to design solutions even when they are not obvious at first glance. Participants became familiar with the objectives, activities, partners, and results of the ICT-INOV project, including the development of physical labs, a digital collaboration platform, learning activities, and teacher training to promote ICT innovation skills. The audience further participated in a demonstration of the ICT-INOV digital design platform and its functionality, including the organisation of educational activities, the creation of courses and their connection to educational content, common workspaces promoting group collaboration, supporting content for teachers, and more. Finally, the audience had the opportunity to attend a presentation of good practices based on the experience of applying the ICT-INOV method to real learning processes in higher education.
The ICT-INOV research project is coordinated by the University of Thessaly and is implemented by a consortium of 12 universities from Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Nepal. Of these, 8 universities are located in Asia. The project runs from 2021 to 2024.