The DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU ) organized with success the hybrid International Conference on the European project “Open Lab for the up-skilling of higher education staff in online Management Education-OLMEdu“, which took place on 21^st February 2023, at the headquarters of HOU in Patras, Greece (10.00’- 16.00’).

The main objective of the international conference was to present both the digital skills regarding the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) field, which should be obtained by the higher education staff (HES) in order to support the e-learning process in an integrated way, as well as the digital tools that will help this staff in their teaching work.

The launching speech was delivered by Mr Achilles Kameas, Dean of the HOU School of Science and Technology, and Professor of the HOU, Director of the DAISSy research group and Scientific Coordinator of the OLMEdu project. The first part of the conference, started with a presentation on managing education during the period of Covid -19. More specifically, Professor Manolis Koutouzis, Dean of the School of Humanities, Head of the Postgraduate Program in Adult Education of HOU, presented how an Open University applied distance education taking into account the new conditions. The second speaker, Associate Professor Mrs Nikleia Eteokleous, Head of the Distance Education Committee at Frederick University of Cyprus, referred to the way that an educational institution coped with the transition to online courses and the digital tools it used, in order to develop the appropriate educational material.

Then, the second part of the conference started by Mr Achilles Kameas, who presented the results of the OLMEdu project and within the same concept, it evolved by the partners, who analyzed the OLMEdu products and deliverables, accordingly. Furthermore, Mrs Fotini Gatomiti, DAISSy’S Project Manager, local Project Coordinator of OLMEdu, presented the OLMEdu Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which will be used by the higher education staff with regard to the Management Education topic, so that they will develop the digital skills needed for the provision of distance education. The conference content and learning objectives were presented by Dr Cute Tsiordas, University of Patras (Greece), and the analysis of the educational content was delivered by Dr Ouranios Anastasiou, Grandexperts Consulting Limited (Cyprus).

Particular attention was paid to the technical results of the OLMEdu project. More precisely, Dr Achilles Achilleos, Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics at Frederik University (Cyprus), presented a series of tools for developing web simulations in Management Education, beginning with the theoretical context and continuing with the practical framework through an interactive activity that attracted the interest of the audience. Then, Mrs Fotini Gatomati and Mr Gerasimos Vonitsanos, Researchers of DAISSy-HOU, delivered presentations about the online repository and the results of its evaluation.

The international OLMEdu conference was attended by sixty-five (65) participants on-site and five (5) participants remotely (through the Zoom electronic platform), being students, teachers, researchers and professionals in the sectors of education, digital education and vocational training, as well as training providers and decision-makers in the field of education.

Undoubtedly, the conference succeeded in operating as an open platform of discussion about the most recent innovations, trends and concerns, practical challenges and digital solutions adopted in Management Education. It was held in English and it was open to the general public, with no participation fees and provided the possibility of obtaining a Certificate of Attendance.

The OLMEdu is a two-year project, co-funded by the European Union, under the Erasmus+ Programme, Strategic Partnerships in the field of school education, Action KA2. It is coordinated by the Frederick University Cyprus and the partnership includes the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU and the University of Patras (Greece), the University of Tor Vergata in Rome (Italy) and the GrantXpert Consulting Limited (Cyprus).

For more information on the OLMEdu project, and other activities of DAISSy-HOU:

• Website: https://daissy.eu/   https://www.olmedu.eu/
• Facebook : @DAISSyResearchGroup @projectdeltaeu
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup
• Email : info@daissy.eap.gr