We are a Showcase School!!!

Creation, Innovation and collaboration are some of the characteristics that helped our school to evolve as a digital school and emerge for the year 2022-2023 as a Microsoft Showcase School.

In the “computer science” course, students understands the usefulness of cumputers. They create PowerPoints, design applications, create digital games, edit videos.

In the “robotics” course, students become familiar with the educational method concerning the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Stem education is an attempt to evolve from the tutor-centered approach into a teaching method that involves problem solving, creative initiative, research and hands-on activities.

In addition to our IT courses, computers and other digital media are also used in other subjects at our school.

Until March 2020, the teachers of Protypa used information and communications technology during teaching. The interactive smartboard, the computer, the video projector and all the applications were chosen based on their educational design and the utilization of our teachers’ teaching method.

Ιt is worth noticing that interactive whiteboards were first used in our school in 2004. We also integrated robotics into our curriculum in the computer science course in 2006, with the first-generation RCX programmable brick and then the Lego NXT Eduactional set. Today, we use robotics from the kindergarten to the 6th grade and we have managed to take part in conferences and competitions and stand out!

From March 2020 and during the whole pandemic period teachers of our school used synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods or a combination of both. All educators converted all their educational material to digital. At first, we built a learning management system (LMS) in order to upload the digital educational material that our students needed. Many Microsoft 365 applications were used in order to create that material:

• Word
• Power Point
• Forms
• Sway
• Stream, were our everyday routine for our asynchronous communication

Microsoft  Outlook was used on an almost everyday base helping students and parents communicate with us.

Microsoft Teams was also used as a classroom simulator for the synchronous communication with our students and real time feedback.

This forced turn to distance learning made our school leaders think of other ways to communicate with our students' parents too. Using Microsoft SharePoint, we created an e-school for each class that came to replace the entire communication system of our students' tasks with their parents.

While our elementary school uses sharepoint in order to communicate students'tasks, seesaw is used by our pre-kindergarten kai kindergarten teachers.

Using the right technology tools in education has offered our school's students more personalized ways of learning. Creation, Innovation and collaboration are some of the characteristics that helped our school to emerge for the year 2022-2023 as a Microsoft Showcase School.

All our elementary and kindergarten teachers are trained by specialized microsoft educator trainers in order to connect with a global, professional learning community and learn as much as they can about distance learning tools. The aim of that training is for all of our teachers to become Microsoft Innovative Educators (MIE)

Βut, digital school does not only mean using ICT in classrooms. Protypa Ekpadeftiria has been supported since 2004 by an ERP software (Enterprise resource planning) in order to manage day-to-day school activities.

We also have a Fleet management software that allows our school's manager to track all vehicles from their central location.

As a school, we try to keep up with the evolution of technology as well as the needs of our employees. So, we are preparing a custom made sharepoint site which will help all our school's staff communicate with the managers.

All this change in educational policy promoted and still promotes the use and utilization of ICT in every lesson at Protypa Ekpaideftiria of Thessaloniki. A positive development from the mandatory use of ICT and digital tools during the Covid-19 crisis is that it has led to greater familiarity of all our teachers with technology and greater use of ICT in lifelong learning in the post-Covid-19 era.