2022-12-17, 15:40–16:00 (Europe/Athens), Room 1
The introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the teaching and learning process has profoundly altered the face of education over the course of the last few decades, from the use of web-supplemented courses, to web-dependent courses, mixed mode courses and fully online courses. Education has experienced a forced shift to online teaching and learning due to social distancing. Prof. Mangina will discuss, based on her own experiences as an academic and a mother of three, what has changed and what EdTech researchers can do to help right now and in the foreseeable future. Prof. Mangina is an advocate of Open Education and the utilisation of emerging technologies. Technology has presented educators everywhere with new opportunities to impart knowledge and help students to learn. In the last couple of decades alone, it has enabled teachers to make huge strides in the classroom. Augmented reality has become one of the biggest drivers in the tech economy, but until recently, it didn’t get much of a look-in within the education system. This is something that Professor Eleni Mangina is trying to change. She is a Professor in UCD School of Computer Science since 2002 and has secured more than €10 million for research and innovation projects in emerging technologies.
One of the projects is called ARETE (Augmented Reality Interactive Educational System) and is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework programme. It follows on from Professor Mangina’s previous project, AHA (ADHD Augmented) which focused on augmented reality educational tools for children aged 9-11 with a diagnosis of ADHD. ARETE builds on the work completed in that project and has been designed and pilots Augmented Reality (AR) educational tools for classrooms in countries across Europe. The new project focuses on improving literacy, STEM subjects, behaviour in the classroom and advancing the teachers’ digital skills. The key note will focus on the outcomes of a number of projects lead from Prof. Mangina within the educational setting and will discuss the resilience of education during the pandemic and the opportunities XR technologies bring in the new era of learning and living.
Eleni Mangina carried out her PhD work at the University of Strathclyde (UK), Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, working on Agent-based applications for intelligent data interpretation (1998-2001). The research area focused on software analysis, design and development of multi agent systems, which utilize different Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques (Knowledge based systems, Artificial Neural Networks, Case Based Reasoning systems and Model based Reasoning systems). Eleni Mangina holds an M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence from the Department of Artificial Intelligence at University of Edinburgh in the UK and an MSc in Agricultural Science from Agricultural University of Athens in Greece. In 2002 she joined the School of Computer Science, at University College Dublin, Ireland. Dr Eleni Mangina is currently Professor at the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin in Ireland and the Vice Principal (International) for College of Science. Eleni Mangina is guided by her own definition of the art of persistence, that involves both courage and compassion with research integrity and authenticity. Her lab operates at the intersection between applied Artificial Intelligence (VR/AR; Data Analytics; UAVs; Information Systems) and a portfolio development within interdisciplinary applications (i.e. Energy Sector and Educational Systems with XR). She has extensive experience for the last 20 years in National, EU and International funded projects and she is project coordinator of two (2) H2020 projects (ARETE & AHA), one (1) Erasmus+KA2 (FANTASIA) and partner within other H2020 projects (i.e. iSEED) and three (3) Erasmus+ projects (XRforPed, BASE, RoboPisces). She is funded investigator as part of SFI Energy Systems Integration Partnership Programme (ESIPP), NEXSYS and academic supervisor for two (2) SFI Centres for Research Training (CRT) (Machine Learning – ML-Labs; Digitally-Enhanced Reality – D-REAL). She has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in national and international peer reviewed workshops and conferences and international journals, including in IEEE and ACM. Eleni Mangina also contributes as a committee member for reviews to many international conferences and journals. Eleni Mangina also contributes actively to IEEE Standards and is the Executive Editor for the publications of the IEEE Global Initiative on XR Ethics. She is currently the Chair of Athena SWAN Bronze Award application for the School of Computer Science as an advocate of gender equality, diversion and inclusion in ICT.