Erasmus+ Teaching Stay at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

I recently had the opportunity to take part in an Erasmus+ sponsored visit to Thessaloniki, Greece. Professor Venetia Apostolidou from the the School of Primary Education at the University of Aristotelou had been kind enough to invite me to discuss our shared interest in digital storytelling and provide more insight into the ambitious digital storytelling project, DigiStory Hubs, which she had organised with her colleague, Zisoula Gkoutsioukosta.

DigiStory Hubs had several aims: primarily the dissemination of digital storytelling practice and the transfer of research practice from universities to both primary and secondary schools. A total of 50 teachers from Thessaloniki and the city of Larissa were involved, with 300 digital stories ultimately being created by children in primary and secondary schools, in a wide variety of subjects.

I had the opportunity to sit in on two workshops connected to the project: one in which teachers from a wide variety of disciplines presented lesson plans and the digital stories pupils had produced in their classes and a second one in which teachers received training in the principles of digital storytelling, visual literacy, using tools and producing digital stories within their subjects.

I also interviewed teachers directly about their work and visited a Greek primary school.

Ultimately, I hope to be able to transfer some of the knowledge I gained into my own teaching of primary teachers, helping them to create child-centered digital story telling projects. I would recommend Erasmus+ unhesitatingly as an excellent way to expand and refresh one’s perspective and develop professionally. 

Contact: Joanna Thompson

Published on May 13, 2024