Training Activity on Methodology and Tools (17-19 September 2025)

STORIES4ALL – Exploring the Power of Digital Storytelling with eShadow: STEM, Empathy and Inclusion

Join us for a dynamic 3-day workshop that blends creativity, technology, and social impact! You’ll dive into the world of Design Thinking and discover how to use the innovative eShadow platform to craft powerful digital stories that go beyond the screen.

Through hands-on activities, you’ll learn how storytelling can be a tool to foster essential 21st-century skills—including STEM thinking, empathy, collaboration, creativity, and critical reflection. Together, we’ll explore how digital narratives can promote inclusion, support social justice, and give every voice a place in the story.

Whether you're an educator looking to enrich your teaching or a student eager to tell meaningful stories in new ways, this workshop will inspire, challenge, and empower you.

The workshop is implemented within the context of the Erasmus+ Stories4all project (Developing Innovative Pedagogies and Tools to enable the Establishment and Sustenance of Communities of Educators Promoting Empathy and Social Inclusion via Digital Stories for All).

Objectives

• Learn how to install and use eShadow, a digital tool inspired by traditional Shadow Theatre
• Learn about the design thinking methodology and how to use it with eShadow
• Collaborate within a working group to apply the design thinking methodology
• Learn how to use the Stories4All Community Building Platform (Coursevo)
• Learn how to collaborate within working groups to develop digital stories
• Evaluate the Stories4All methodology and the digital tools (eShadow and Coursevo)
• Review the design of the Stories4All online training programme and provide useful feedback

Contents

During the workshop we will justify the pedagogical value of the traditional shadow theatre and present eShadow and specific examples of its use in practice. Participants will also be guided to install the software in their laptops along with the companion mobile app in their mobiles and follow step-by-step activities on how to use it in conjunction with other tools to produce digital stories. 

Workshop participants will be invited to create hybrid working groups mixing participants with physical presents with remote participants participating via the Stories4All Community Building Platform (Coursevo). The working groups will follow the project methodology to design and develop a digital story selecting from a wide range of possible topics. 

At the end of the workshop, participants will be invited to evaluate the methodology and the digital tools used (eShadow and Coursevo). They will also review the design of the Stories4All online training program and provide useful insights to help project partners to better address teachers’ training needs in employing digital storytelling for STEM learning, empathy and inclusion.

Agenda

DAY 1 – 17/09/2025 (timing indications are in local time (EET; UTC+02:00)

Remote participation is provided from https://stories4all.coursevo.com/joinRoom?code=NDY4

DAY 2 – 18/09/2025 (timing indications are in local time (EET; UTC+02:00)

Remote participation is provided from https://stories4all.coursevo.com/joinRoom?code=NDY4

DAY 3 – 19/09/2025 (timing indications are in local time (EET; UTC+02:00)

Remote participation is provided from https://stories4all.coursevo.com/joinRoom?code=NDY4

Dates, venue, and presenters

When:

17-19 September 2025

Where:

Cultural Centre of Chania, Andrea Papandreou 70, Chania 731 34, Crete, Greece (https://maps.app.goo.gl/oEZS881cXGBsnPJ4A)

Remote participation via the corresponding Coursevo activity space accessible at: https://stories4all.coursevo.com/course_page?course_id=792.

Presenters:

Maria Hatzigianni - Assistant Professor - Early Childhood and Care - Her extensive professional background stems from over 13 years of teaching experience in early childhood education in Greece and Australia, coupled with more than a decade as an academic. Presently, she serves as an assistant professor at the University of West Attica in Athens, Greece, and holds an honorary position at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Additionally, Maria is a key member of the University Committee overseeing the "Centre of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education" since 2022. Her academic pursuits concentrate on the integration of digital technologies in early childhood education, focusing on children aged from birth to 8 years old. She earned her PhD from the University of Melbourne on a full scholarship, exploring the utilization of new technologies among young children and its influence on their self-esteem. Maria's contributions to the field are extensive, reflected in her wide-ranging publications.

Nektarios Moumoutzis – He graduated from the Computer Science Department of the School of Sciences and Engineering at the University of Crete. Holds a MEng from the School of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Crete and a PhD in Informatics from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His current work focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of creativity/learning platforms and applications, interoperability support in eLearning systems, and computer science education.

Christos Ioannidis - He graduated from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Technical University of Crete. His interests span software and hardware development, including deep learning, game and mobile app design, and web application deployment. He maintains a diverse portfolio on GitHub: https://github.com/kirisaki-momotaro. He is fluent in English, Japanese (JLPT N1), and Chinese (HSK Level 5). Beyond his engineering work, he is active in the arts as a composer, painter, and graphic designer, while also being a Latin dancer and two-time Taekwondo champion in Crete.

Registration

Please use the following link to register for the workshop. You can register either as a remote participant or with physical presence.

Registration link: https://forms.gle/GJLQYXon8FUNM42dA