At Bougas Private School, the ICT Course is part of the curriculum for all grades of the Primary School, Gymnasium and Lyceum (up to the 3rd Grade of Lyceum – 5th Field: Economics and Informatics).
The main objective of the ICT course is
- to help students acquire general knowledge and skills in core subjects that are the foundation of the science of Information Technology
- to have knowledge of creating, organizing, understanding, managing and processing data and information
- to be able to use computer applications for problem solving and decision making
- to familiarize children with computer hardware and software
- to recognize and present the applications of digital technology in various fields.
Training in new technologies (Robotics, Automation, Telecommunications) enables our students to gain a broader view of technology and prepares them for the digital world they will live in.
At Bougas Private Schools we also pay special attention to the approach of all Internet-related issues and their use by our students.
Bougas Private Schools are constantly looking for innovative ways of conducting lessons and providing pupils with knowledge and experience. That is why Bougas Private Schools in cooperation with the Technokids Education Organization, provide a series of technological projects based on the “Project Based Learning” method. This is an alternative approach to the educational process of the IT course, which is specifically designed to meet the needs of teachers for high quality material. At the same time, the program aims to familiarize students with technology and broaden their horizons so that they can meet the needs of our new digital age. The key to this method is the dynamics of the learning approach. In particular, the teacher sets the technological goal according to the age of the pupils, and then pupils choose the subject, based on their personal interests, and complete tasks that reflect real life situations. Thus, every student acquires the same technological skills, while each one is motivated by his/her own individual interests and experiences. The Technokids teaching modules are unique. Children are creatively engaged in learning technology through Educational Scripts. Through these scenarios, children get to know the professions that use technology in their everyday lives. They become Architects, Business Consultants, Correspondents, Authors, Travel Agents, Journalists and learn WHY AND HOW COMPUTERS ARE USED in each job. Through this creative process, children adapt smoothly to modern society, they get vocationally orientated and begin to understand professional and business concepts from an early age. Children are taught technology concepts and mainly Ms Office applications, while using the tools to complete their prefered scenario. In a creative way they explore and discover new possibilities in the way they learn. This approach promotes student’s critical thinking and creativity and the computer becomes a valuable tool starting from the early school years.
Ambassadors of the Safe Internet Day since 2008
It is important to understand that our children are “digital natives”. For them, the Internet is not a new technology that appeared to change their everyday life, it is their everyday life. Therefore, we need to adapt in order to be able to protect our children from dangers that emerge from using the internet, while enjoying its benefits at the same time. Our school is an ambassador of “Safe Internet Day” since 2008. At Bougas Schools, we help our students learn about privacy and personal data and protect them, especially now that social media (eg: facebook, twitter, …) is being used by an increasing number of children. At the same time, throughout our courses we help students acquire the ability to evaluate and “filter” any information they receive from the Internet, so that they do not only become readers but also producers and distributors of valuable information online. After all, the need of careful assessment of web material has become inevitable. Moreover, we pay special attention to protecting students from inappropriate, harmful or illegal content that is likely to be found freely on the internet. Finally, we help our students use the internet in the right way and maintain a healthy balance between entertainment and other activities of their lives. For children and adolescents, interactive media and online applications in particular, are a great lure and often overshadow traditional ways of playing and having fun. This change in the way of entertainment has an impact on children’s lives and for this reason, we are talking extensively about electronic games and possible problems that may arise from their use, such as the phenomenon of online gambling. We also propose various websites for entertainment and learning that parents can explore with children.
This year, on the 9th of February, the students of the 1st Lyceum (Manolis Giza, Penelope Zervakis, George Kokkorogiannis, Irene Koutalidis, Konstantinos Konstantakopoulos and Elias Liarakos) explores ways to be protected against the dangers of the internet as part of the World Safe Internet Day.
They found out what cyber bullying is and how we can protect ourselves. They also informed their classmates about computer viruses and the ways they can avoid them. They explained the types of internet addiction and the ways to prevent them. They also presented audiovisual material about the various dangers that exist online, they informed their fellow students about social media security and answered their questions.
Our school has been participating 9 years in a row in the online Panhellenic Student Competition Lysias. For 18 years the Lysias contest has been conducted under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, with the support of various institutions, colleges and universities. The competition, amongst its various goals, emphasizes the development of critical problem solving and children’s skills instead of memorization of information. Our students enjoy through their participation the noble rivalry with other students – participants in topics that are related to their interests and their school life. They also achieve a pedagogical and didactic approach of knowledge in a playful way through the triptych “Search – Find – Answer/Solve”. Therefore, the participants of Lysias contest gain experience online and familiarize with modern technology tools that they can later on use in their school, professional and personal life. Additionally, students’ satisfaction through the process of participating in an educational search and strategy game is indisputable. Lastly, we should also emphasize that the Lysias Panhellenic Student Competition is characterized by its social character, since an amount of money is given to an institution for children for each participation. So the children perceive the idea of “Play and Help” and become its ambassadors.
At our school during afternoon hours our high school children are given the opportunity to attend courses aiming at obtaining a computer use certification. This is an official certification of basic knowledge and computer use. To obtain it, each candidate is required to successfully complete six (6) modules.
Students at Bougas Schools take part in the digital creation festival, with the help and support of their IT teacher. The goal is the presentation of digital creation projects that have been implemented during the ICT course, the “Hour of Code” activities, the experiential projects of Gymnasium and the research project of Lyceum. It is also possible to include projects that have been implemented in the context of a school activity (Environmental Education, Cultural Issues, Health Education, etc.) or an interdisciplinary project of cooperation between the Computer Science course and other courses. Consequently, at the Bougas Schools, the Student Festival of Digital Creation enables pupils to demonstrate their creativity, present their work to classmates, teachers, parents and the wider society as well as to be informed about the learning activities that cultivate creativity and all-round learning through work plans and solving practical problems, as well as the dissemination of those activities.
The 3rd Pan-Hellenic Educational Robotics Competition on “Vehicles and Transport of Tomorrow” was held in the G. Kassimatis Hall, which is located at the Central Olympic Stage of the OAKA facilities in Athens on 18-03-2017, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. The final phase of the competition was conducted by the WRO Hellas International School of Educational Robotics Science, Technology and Mathematics. The competition involved 80 Primary School teams from across the country, two of which were from Bougas Schools. These groups were selected in the final phase by the Peloponnese Regional Contest held at the 2nd High School of Kalamata on 04-03-2017 where our teams occupied 2nd and 4th place.
At the Final Competition for Primary School the teams were invited to present their constructions and explain to the judges the way they were built, as well as the way they worked. The constructions were made of Lego bricks, combined with Lego WeDo educational robotics package, as well as motors and sensors from the same company. The Scratch environment was used to program automations and animation. The children presented their creations to all attending teachers, parents and students and admired the creations of other groups.
Bougas Schools was represented by the Future Transporters and Future Kids teams. “Future Transporters” team consisted of Dimitra Manolopoulou, Marianna Papakonstantinou, Elias Pontikis, Dimitris Parthenios, Ioannis Kartsonas and Ektor-Paris Papanikolaou. Our teacher Christakis Giorgos was responsible for their training. “Future Kids” team consisted of Valia Spyropoulou, Panagiotis Tsonis, Marios Skias and Giorgos Sarlis, while Orphanou Ergina led the team. The main partner of all teams was Kostas Kottaridis, who supported and guided both teams throughout their course.
The Primary Competition had three phases. In the first phase all the constructions were scrutinized to highlight the best 20 teams that would pass in the second phase. The judges visited each team and the children presented their constructions in detail. The idea of their construction, the automations they used, the Scratch program they had created, and anything else that made their work special. The “FutureKids” team managed to pass to the second phase of the competition with their construction. In the second phase another team of judges took over trying to discover the particular features of each construction and aiming at the final ten. The “Future Kids” team successfully passed this test and qualified for the final phase of the competition. At this stage the judges had a final look trying to discover the details that would determine the winners and the teams that would be awarded special prizes. Eventually, “Future Kids” took the seventh place and received the special award foe the “Best Idea” .
The 2nd Pan-Hellenic Educational Robotics Competition titled “Our Galaxy” was held at the Ellinogermaniki Agogi Schools in Athens on March 17, 2016, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs. The WRO Hellas Educational Robotics Science, Technology and Mathematics organization conducted the final phase of the competition to award the best designs. The competition involved 49 teams from all over the country, two of which were from the Peloponnese and specifically from Bougas’ Private Schools. All teams in the final stage were selected by Regional Competitions held across the country.
The teams presented their creations and explained to the judges how they were constructed and how they worked. The children freed their imagination and managed to impress everyone with their constructions. There were teams that “launched” spacecrafts, others that staged trips to other planets for recreational or exploratory purposes, and others quite ambitious, organizing colonization and life on other planets. All constructions were made using Lego bricks, combined with motors and sensors from the Lego WeDo educational robotics package, and the Scratch environment was used to program and operate the structures. The constructions were very complicated and many of them impressed the attendees, who admired children’s imagination and creativity once again, while many of the children’s suggestions may become future constructions.
The Region of Peloponnese was represented by the “Galaxy Wizards” and “Robofantasy” teams of Bougas Schools. The “Galaxy Wizards” team consisted of Vamvakas Konstantinos, Papanikolaou Dylan-Iason, Stratigopoulou Maria, Tassopoulou Nefeli, Troxatou Marilia and Kountouri Stavroula, while Christakis Giorgos was responsible for their training. “Robofantasy” team consisted of Anifantaki Nefeli, Diamantopoulou Chryssa, Zerva Danae, Bessie Angeliki and Tzouloufis Nikolaos, while Vassiladiotis Charalambos was the responsible teacher. The main partner of both teams was Kostas Kouttaridis who supported and guided both teams throughout their course. The “Galaxy Wizards”, inspired by a proposal by the Messinian scientist, Pericles Papadopoulos, working in N.A.S.A. they built a space portal in Kalamata. They have built a new department at Kalamata airport where prospective travelers, having gone through some of the latest health checks, embark on a space vehicle and the journey begins, leaving the traveler the choice of the planet he wants to visit. On the other hand, “Robofantasy” sent an exploratory vehicle to Mars to check for minerals. After discovering the appropriate points, it drills the surface of the red planet, collects and sends back to Earth everything it has discovered through the spacecraft.
The contest had three phases. In the first phase all the constructions were presented for choosing the best 18 teams that would pass in the second phase. The judges passed by the bench of each team and the children presented their constructions in detail. The idea of their construction, the automations they used, the Scratch program they had created, and everything else they did. The two teams from Messinia impressed with their constructions and went on to the second phase. In the second phase, another team of judges passed again by the teams’ benches, trying to discover the particular features of each construction and aiming at choosing the final six. Team “Robofantasy” successfully passed this test and qualified in the final phase of the competition. At this stage the judges took a final look trying to find the details that will determine the winners this time. Eventually the “Robofantasy” team managed to gain third place in this Pan-Hellenic Robotics Competition. It is also worth noting that in 2015 there was a double representation for Messinia in the final phase of the Pan-Hellenic Competition, with another two teams from Bougas Schools, one of which had managed to be among the best nine.
Robotakia (students from Glyfada) and “TriRoboNauts” (students from Trikala) won the first place.
ECDL 2016 Exams
In the ECDL exams held on 20 April 2016, 8 students from our school participated and were examined in two sections: Internet and Excel. All 8 of our students have passed the Certification, so we congratulate them and wish them to set and achieve similar goals during the upcoming school year.
