This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By clicking or navigating the site you agree to allow our collection of information through cookies. More info

Posted on Tuesday April 13, 2021

Updated on Monday November 6, 2023

Digital Education and the Power of Storytelling with Europeana

This webinar and training event demonstrates to primary and secondary education teachers how to use and reuse Europeana resources in their lessons. It was organised in cooperation with Europeana, the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, all the Cyprus Educational organisations, the Cyprus Library, the ERA CHAIR Project Mnemosyne and the UNESCO CHAIR on Digital Cultural Heritage at the Cyprus University of Technology.

About

The importance of digitally competent, confident teachers and educators has been dramatically brought to light by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which forced schools and cultural institutions to find online solutions to replace face-to-face activities.
 
This Zoom webinar for teachers showcases the value of Europeana resources and free, open tools for online learning. It demonstrates how to acquire digital skills and knowledge about innovative pedagogies to improve educational practice.

This event, which is dedicated to Europe Day (9/5/2021), also explores and demonstrates to CY teachers the crucial role that cultural heritage and storytelling plays in education.
 
Cultural heritage artefacts tell stories about people or events and within a classroom, have the power to contextualise the ideas and concepts of a lesson. This makes them more accessible for students, while enriching their learning experience and helping them to build connections with their own life. 

This event took place on 15 April 2021 from 17:00 - 18:30 CET. More than 240 people attended. 

Speakers

  • H.E Mr. Prodromos Prodromou, Cyprus Minister of Education and Culture
  • Dr. Myria Vassiliou, Chair Cyprus Greek Teacher Organisation (read her full speech below). 
  • Mr. Harry Verwayen, General Director, Europeana
  • Mr. Panayiotis Zaphiris, CUT Rector
  • Dr. Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, CY Parliament Chair of Committee on Educational Affairs and Culture
  • Dr. Stelios Himona, Permanent Secretary, Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
  • Susan Hazan, Chair, Europeana Association Network (ENA)
  • Isabel Crespo, Business Development Coordinator, Education, Europeana
  • Maggy Szynkielewska, Content & Exhibitions Coordinator Europeana
  • Beth Daley, Europeana Editorial Adviser and Chair, Story-telling Task Force

Resources

Collapsed content

Event programme

17:00-17:05 Marinos Ioannides, UNESCO and ERA Chairs on Digital Cultural Heritage 

17:05-17:20 

  • Opening Speech by the Cyprus Minister of Education and Culture H.E Mr. Prodromos Prodromou 

  • Welcome message by the representative of the Educational Organisations in Cyprus Dr. Myria Vassiliou, Chair Cyprus Greek Teacher Organisation

  • Welcome message by Europeana Foundation Mr. Harry Verwayen, General Director, Europeana 

  • Welcome message by Cyprus University of Technology Mr. Panayiotis Zaphiris, CUT Rector 

  • Welcome message by the CY Parliament Chair of Committee on Educational Affairs and Culture Dr. Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis 

  • Welcome message by the Permanent Secretary, Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Dr. Stelios Himonas 

17:20-17:25 Europeana Communities Susan Hazan, Chair, Europeana Association Network (ENA) 

17:25-17:45 Digital education with Europeana resources Isabel Crespo, Business Development Coordinator, Education, Europeana 

17:45-17:50 Mentimeter 

17:50-18:00 Educational engagement with GIF IT UP and Europeana editorials Maggy Szynkielewska, Content & Exhibitions Coordinator Europeana (prerecorded video) 

  • GIF IT UP competition

  • Exhibitions and blogs

  • Create your own gallery 

18:00-18:15 7 tips for good storytelling Beth Daley, Europeana Editorial Adviser and Chair, Story-telling Task Force conclusions of the Storytelling Task Force with an educational focus. 

18:15-18:25 Build your own Micro-Story, Susan Hazan 

  • Using the recommendations of the Task Force build a micro-story around your newly found castle on Europeana.eu 

  • Put the link to your castle in the padlet with your own micro-story 

  • We will save and share all the micro-stories afterwards with everyone 

18:25-18:30 Castles in Cyprus - wrap up

Collapsed content

Dr. Myria Vassiliou - speech

Dear guests, friends, 

It is with great pleasure that I participate in this teleconference today in order to applaud the first attempt being made for informing educators of an EU member state about Europeana, the largest digital library dedicated to the world cultural inheritance, on behalf of the three Educational Associations OELMEK, POED and OLTEK. 

The demands of the society and the contemporary school are constantly changing and the use of technology as enforcement tool and facilitator of the educational process has become even more imperative. This was made clear over the past year where the pandemic has revealed educators’ and students’ need fοr using technology in order to satisfy and make sure that children have access to the proper education they deserve. Under extremely difficult and demanding conditions, educators in Cyprus managed to overcome the difficulties and obstacles they faced, and through training and personal efforts they were able to contribute to the distant learning process. 

Europeana is the biggest digital library in the world in the area of Cultural Heritage. Its materialisation comprises one of the biggest successes of the European Union since it provides access to millions of pictures, texts, audio files, videos and 3D objects from thousands of European libraries, records, museums, art studios and audiovisual collections. And what is more, these materials are accessible internationally. 

In today’s webinar, the participants will have the chance to discover the multiple sources and the specialised tools that can significantly contribute to the digital learning process offered by Europeana. At the same time, the fact that cultural heritage and story-telling can contribute to the educational process will emerge. 

This seminar is held within the framework of the celebrations for the Day of Europe, the 9th of May, which is a day for celebrating peace and unity all over Europe. This date is not accidental, since it signals the anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration. At his speech in Paris in 1950, Robert Schuman who was the Foreign Affairs Minister of France back then, proposed a new form of political cooperation in Europe which would deter any possibilities of war amongst the people of Europe. Schuman’s proposal is considered as the founding stone for what we came to know as the European Union. 

We express our gratitude to Cyprus University of Technology and mr. Marinos Ioannides, UNESCO and ERA Chairs on Digital Cultural Heritage who had they idea and took the initiative for organising this event. We also would like to thank the speakers of today’s seminary Susan Hazan, Chair, Europeana Association Network, Isabel Crespo, Business Development Coordinator, Education, Europeana, Maggy Szynkielewska, Content & Exhibitions Coordinator Europeana and Beth Daley, Europeana Editorial Adviser and Chair. 

I will end my speech by citing an excerpt from Robert Schuman’s proposal which led to the creation of the European Union. 

“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it. The contribution which an organised and living Europe can bring to civilization is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.” 

I am certain that Europeana and all actions that take place and will take place in the future with regards to the biggest digital library, will significantly contribute on various areas such as the educational process, the preservation of cultural heritage and the peace and solidarity among countries. 

Thank you. 

top