On Thursday, November 29th, the attendees of the 26th SciFY Academy on “Teaching Astronomy using Digital Tools” that took place in INNOVATHENS had the opportunity to experience something unique. Researchers, educators, students of exact sciences, especially astrophysics, and people interested in astronomy attended this interactive event organized by SciFY – Science For You, in collaboration with SciCo – Science Communication.
The seminar’s goal was to show how we can teach Astronomy in the digital age and bring students back to the science that allows them to dream. We had the opportunity to provide concrete ideas, practical ways, and digital tools to the country’s creative educators to help spread interest in Astronomy.
First, Vassilis Giannakopoulos from SciFY presented us with educational games we have created on the subject of Astronomy, First with the new free game for tablets and smartphones, “The Moondiver Xperience”, which the participants had the opportunity to try during the seminar. Then, Mr. Giannakopoulos presented us with two more Astronomy games on the Memor-i Studio platform, where everyone can easily create their own educational game.
SciCo then introduced the participants to experiential and digital teaching methods related to space exploration. They presented educational platforms and informed the participants about games, digital exploratory learning scenarios, and citizen science projects to introduce students to the exciting world of Astronomy researchers. The participants also took part in experiential activities using augmented reality applications, where they saw our solar system in 3D and explored the red planet.
You can find the speakers’ presentations and watch the event video here.
A big thank you to INNOVATHENS, SciCo, and all of you who once again contributed to realizing our vision for the free diffusion of knowledge!