e-Facilitator Finalist: Katerina Hadjigeorgiou

City/Town: Frenaros

Country: Cyprus

Number of years / people trained: 3.5/650

Organisation: (1) “Apoplous” Cultural Organization, (2) STEAMERS - Youth Board of Cyprus, (3) Computer Museum Cyprus Retro Computing & Gaming LTD 

Position in the organisation: (1) Robotics instructor - member of the Board, (2) Robotics Instructor, (3) Museum Docent

Nominating organisation: Cyprus Computer Society

WORK EXPERIENCE PURPOSE AND PROFESSIONALISM

Katerina started working in order to enhance her communication skills, teach in practice what she had learnt all these years but also to be exposed to new experiences, people and new technologies. In all positions she holds she applied and she manages to multitask in all 3 positions.

Her responsibilities include the development of teaching material, teaching robotics to students aged from 5 to 15 and keeping them motivated. She is also preparing students to participate in competitions and promote robotics at festivals and school events.

In her classroom she is enhancing the use of robotics platforms and believes that the best teaching approach and methods must include acceptance and learning by creating. To make teaching fun she usually develops challenges and quizzes using smart applications and students on their behalf should be able and follow instructions in order to build and program their first robot and work in teams.

She truly believes that through robotics kids can experiment and by changing various factors like connections, structure of the robot, programming they can learn in practice the full spectrum of STEAM.

ONE OF A KIND

Katerina has managed from her first years to showcase her training skills by supporting her students attend competitions with great results. The list below presents some awards they have received since 2017:

• Participation in the 2019, 2018 and 2017 International Robotex Challenge Estonia, more
• Robotex Cyprus 2019: 1st & 2nd Prize, Engino Mini Competition; 2nd Prize, Lego WeDo Educational Competition
• First Lego League Competition Cyprus 2019: 5th Prize and award for Best Presentation;
• Robotex Cyprus 2018: 1st Prize, Engino Mini Competition
• Robotex Cyprus 2017 : 1st Prize, Engino Mini Competition;
• STEAMers on the National TV - Computer Museum Cyprus

EXAMPLE

When you meet Katerina you can immediately sense her positive vibes. This is also apparent when you meet her students. From the way they look at her while she explains and teaches them, to their willingness and eagerness to proudly present their work.

Although "Apoplous Cultural Organization" is located in a remote rural area about 1.5 hours away from the capital (a long distance considering Cyprus), her students participated at the Researcher’s Night in 2018 and 2019 at the Cyprus Computer Society’s venue in Limassol and Nicosia respectively. There the students presented their robots to other children and adults non-stop for more than 4 hours. It was so obvious how inspired they had been from their coach. In addition, the team attended Robotex International where students, teachers and their parents travelled to Estonia and the trust to Katerina was remarkable.

Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the team’s video was broadcast on National TV promoting robotics and inspiring the younger generation to participate in robotics and other relevant activities.