@conference{Karachristos2020,
title = {Defining e-learning facilitation - the Greek case study},
author = {C. Karachristos and T. Kouvara and T. Orphanoudakis and E. Stavropoulos and Z. Batsi and M. Chronopoulou},
url = {https://eeyem.eap.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1353.pdf},
isbn = {978-84-09-24232-0},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-11-09},
booktitle = {Proceedings of ICERI2020 Conference},
pages = {6283-6290},
abstract = {During the last decades, the field of e-learning is continually expanding. The new era of e-learning education opens up a new problem space for researchers in order to redefine the educational needs that arise in this sector. The demand for e-learning facilitation is growing accordingly to the rising number of participants in e-learning modules in Europe and specifically in Greece. Additionally, the recent COVID-19 lockdown with its tremendous consequences in most of humans’ personal and professional lives, has affected the way of thinking and acting and has highlighted the merits of distance education, by strengthening the need for further dynamic instructional designing models and new skills acquisition. The aim of e-learning facilitation as well as the tasks of an e-learning facilitator are not clearly defined. An e-learning facilitator facilitates an online training course or programme. Among others, he aims to motivate, engage, and support the learners, to facilitate their communication and collaboration throughout the course. The pedagogical role is usually confused with the role of a teacher, but in fact, a facilitator might not be an expert on the subject of the course. Motivated by the above observations, the current research is a first effort to cover the bibliographic gap for the elearning facilitator profile definition. The study aims to identify the pedagogical needs of the adults who are being trained via electronic devices and e-learning platforms, which a facilitator has to fulfill. This step is of utmost importance for defining the pedagogical and technical skills, which have to be possessed by a facilitator. Our research gathers data based on the Greek case, however, it is a part of a wider research where five European countries are participating. A number of stakeholders with a variety of profiles in adult learning (incl. staff from universities, professors, tutors, researchers, company trainers) have been interviewed about the current situation in their country, the tasks and the skills that an e-learning facilitator should have. The results of the research highlighted the pedagogical and technical needs that make the role of a facilitator significant. Based on these needs, a framework has been developed defining the skills of the facilitator. The potential future goal is to create a curriculum aimed at the exclusive training of facilitators in distance adult education.},
keywords = {COVID-19, distance education, e-learning facilitator},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {conference}
}

@conference{Lionarakis2020,
title = {The development of a massive online course on distance education to support greek school teachers during the covid-19 lockdown},
author = {A. Lionarakis and T. Orphanoudakis and A. Kokkos and A. Emvalotis and E. Manousou and A. Hartofylaka and V. Ioakimidou and S. Papadimitriou and E. Karagianni and N. Grammenos and C. Karachristos and E. Stavropoulos},
url = {https://eeyem.eap.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1370.pdf},
isbn = {978-84-09-24232-0},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-11-09},
booktitle = {Proceedings of ICERI2020 Conference},
pages = {6373-6380},
abstract = {The COVID-19 lockdown has had serious implications for most professional fields worldwide. School education appears to be one of the most deeply affected domains as face-to-face teaching and learning had to be replaced by distance practices overnight. Greek educators needed to acquire new skills in very limited time in order to cope with the abrupt changes and adopt new ways of communication and collaboration. Undoubtedly, this transition has led to numerous short- and long-term changes that are bound to affect teachers’ ways of thinking and acting as well as their acquisition of new skills. Greek school teachers were obliged to transfer their work in a digital environment and use tools which they were not familiar with. This was often done without prior knowledge or training, all set in a scenery of uncertainty and fear. The provision of a short, intensive course on the basic principles of distance teaching and learning to all educators serving in Greek schools was the key to the challenging situation described. This paper aims to outline the rapid design and development of a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which has been realized by the Hellenic Open University and the Greek Institute of Educational Policy during the lockdown. The aim of the MOOC was to acquaint all school teachers, regardless of their level of expertise, with the key issues regarding distance school education. The present paper illustrates all the critical points of the design, development and launching of the MOOC. More specifically, it presents the rationale behind the decision, the MOOC’s special profile, the team members’ roles and ways of collaboration, the restrictions and the challenges faced, the topics and the examples included in the curriculum as well as the instructional design applied and the media used. The first results, as extracted from the platform data and the attendees’ responses to the survey after the completion of the course, are also presented and discussed in detail. These findings highlight the need for providing every educator with knowledge of the fundamental principles of Distance Education both at theoretical and at practical level and offers suggestions as to how it can be implemented effectively.},
keywords = {COVID-19, MOOC, School Distance Education, teacher training},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {conference}
}