{"id":129,"date":"2025-06-03T08:54:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T08:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edugenz.eled.duth.gr\/?page_id=129"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:08:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:08:05","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edugenz.eled.duth.gr\/?page_id=129","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- EduGenZ About Page - WordPress Ready HTML -->\n<!-- Paste this in the WordPress block editor using a \"Custom HTML\" block -->\n\n<style>\n  .edugenz-about {\n    font-family: 'Georgia', 'Times New Roman', serif;\n    color: #1a1a1a;\n    max-width: 900px;\n    margin: 0 auto;\n    padding: 0 20px;\n  }\n\n  .edugenz-hero {\n    background: linear-gradient(135deg, #5b3016 0%, #3d1f0d 50%, #2a1508 100%);\n    color: #fff;\n    border-radius: 12px;\n    padding: 56px 48px;\n    margin-bottom: 48px;\n    position: relative;\n    overflow: hidden;\n  }\n\n  .edugenz-hero::before {\n    content: '';\n    position: absolute;\n   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margin-bottom: 40px;\n  }\n\n  .edugenz-impact h2 {\n    font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Palatino', serif;\n    font-size: 1.6em;\n    color: #fff;\n    margin-bottom: 16px;\n    border: none;\n    padding: 0;\n  }\n\n  .edugenz-impact p {\n    color: #f0dcc8;\n    line-height: 1.8;\n    font-size: 0.97em;\n    margin-bottom: 12px;\n  }\n\n  .edugenz-impact .impact-highlight {\n    background: rgba(255,255,255,0.1);\n    border-left: 3px solid #e8c9a8;\n    padding: 14px 18px;\n    border-radius: 0 6px 6px 0;\n    color: #f5e6d5;\n    font-style: italic;\n    margin-top: 16px;\n    font-size: 0.97em;\n  }\n\n  @media (max-width: 600px) {\n    .edugenz-hero {\n      padding: 36px 24px;\n    }\n    .edugenz-hero h1 {\n      font-size: 2em;\n    }\n    .edugenz-impact {\n      padding: 28px 20px;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"edugenz-about\">\n\n  <!-- Hero -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-hero\">\n    <h1>About EduGenZ<\/h1>\n    <p class=\"subtitle\">Gamified educational framework for GenZ using affective and immersive technology<\/p>\n    <span class=\"edugenz-badge\">36-Month Research Project \u00b7 H.F.R.I. Funded<\/span>\n    <div class=\"edugenz-partners\">\n      <span class=\"edugenz-partner-tag\">Democritus University of Thrace \u2014 DUTH<\/span>\n      <span class=\"edugenz-partner-tag\">Aristotle University of Thessaloniki \u2014 AUTH<\/span>\n      <span class=\"edugenz-partner-tag\">University of Ioannina \u2014 UoI<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Project Overview -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-section\">\n    <h2>Project Overview<\/h2>\n    <p>EduGenZ is a 36-month research project funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.). The project develops an innovative educational ecosystem for cultivating <strong>Systems Thinking<\/strong> skills among Generation Z pre-service teachers.<\/p>\n    <p>EduGenZ combines immersive serious games, affective technology, educational analytics, and explainable Artificial Intelligence to support future educators in understanding complex sustainability challenges and developing 21st-century competencies.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Motivation -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-section\">\n    <h2>Motivation<\/h2>\n    <p>Modern societies face increasingly complex challenges related to sustainability, climate change, digital transformation, and technological innovation. Education has a central role in preparing future citizens to understand these challenges and act responsibly.<\/p>\n    <p>A key competence for this transformation is <strong>Systems Thinking<\/strong> \u2014 the ability to understand relationships, interconnections, feedback loops, and complex systems across different domains and scales.<\/p>\n    <p>EduGenZ focuses on pre-service teachers because they will become the future educators of society. Supporting them in developing Systems Thinking skills can contribute to more sustainable, inclusive, and forward-looking educational practices. At the same time, current pre-service teachers belong to Generation Z \u2014 a generation familiar with rapidly evolving digital technologies who prefer learning environments that are visual, interactive, personalised, and game-based.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Project Vision -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-section\">\n    <h2>Project Vision<\/h2>\n    <p>EduGenZ aims to empower GenZ future educators with Systems Thinking competencies through a personalised, immersive, and gamified learning experience. The project envisions an educational ecosystem where learners can engage with complex sustainability-related problems, receive personalised feedback, and develop a deeper understanding of how systems work.<\/p>\n    <p>Through its interdisciplinary approach, EduGenZ seeks to bridge educational sciences, artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, serious games, affective computing, and learning analytics.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Objectives -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-section edugenz-objectives\">\n    <h2>Objectives<\/h2>\n    <ul>\n      <li>Identify the needs of relevant stakeholders and engage them in the development of the EduGenZ framework.<\/li>\n      <li>Investigate key obstacles that affect the adoption of Systems Thinking in GenZ educational settings.<\/li>\n      <li>Define educational metrics and digital phenotype metrics related to learners&#8217; progress, affective state, and gaming behaviour.<\/li>\n      <li>Develop trustworthy and explainable AI models for Systems Thinking learning assessment.<\/li>\n      <li>Design and implement an AI-adaptive personalised immersive serious games suite.<\/li>\n      <li>Validate the EduGenZ ecosystem through pilot studies with pre-service teachers.<\/li>\n      <li>Promote openness, visibility, dissemination, communication, and future exploitation of the project outcomes.<\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Methodological Approach -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-methodology\">\n    <h2>Methodological Approach<\/h2>\n    <p style=\"color:#2d2d2d; line-height:1.8; margin-bottom:16px;\">EduGenZ follows a <strong>user-centred, co-creation and agile methodology<\/strong>, actively involving pre-service teachers, educators, researchers, and other stakeholders throughout the design, development, and validation stages.<\/p>\n    <div class=\"edugenz-phases\">\n      <div class=\"edugenz-phase\">\n        <h3>Establishment<\/h3>\n        <p>Defines user needs, explores the state of the art, identifies relevant datasets, and sets the foundations for the project&#8217;s ethical, inclusive, and trustworthy AI framework.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-phase\">\n        <h3>Research &amp; Development<\/h3>\n        <p>Develops educational metrics, digital phenotype metrics, explainable AI models, the immersive serious games suite, EduGenZ app, and dashboard.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-phase\">\n        <h3>Data Collection &amp; Validation<\/h3>\n        <p>Conducts pilot studies with pre-service teachers in Greece to collect data, evaluate developed tools, and validate the effectiveness of the EduGenZ ecosystem.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- What EduGenZ Develops -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-section\">\n    <h2>What EduGenZ Develops<\/h2>\n    <div class=\"edugenz-tools\">\n      <div class=\"edugenz-tool-card\">\n        <span class=\"tool-icon\">\ud83c\udfae<\/span>\n        <h3>AI-Powered Immersive Serious Games<\/h3>\n        <p>A personalised immersive serious games suite designed to support Systems Thinking learning through interactive, gamified experiences.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-tool-card\">\n        <span class=\"tool-icon\">\ud83d\udcf1<\/span>\n        <h3>EduGenZ App<\/h3>\n        <p>A digital application that supports data collection, learner interaction, and feedback related to Systems Thinking competencies.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-tool-card\">\n        <span class=\"tool-icon\">\ud83d\udcca<\/span>\n        <h3>Dashboard<\/h3>\n        <p>A web-based tool for educators and researchers, providing analytics and insights into learners&#8217; progress and interaction with the ecosystem.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-tool-card\">\n        <span class=\"tool-icon\">\ud83e\udd16<\/span>\n        <h3>Explainable AI Models<\/h3>\n        <p>Trustworthy AI-based models that support Systems Thinking assessment and provide transparent, understandable, and personalised feedback.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"edugenz-tool-card\">\n        <span class=\"tool-icon\">\ud83d\udcc8<\/span>\n        <h3>Educational &amp; Affective Metrics<\/h3>\n        <p>Educational metrics, digital phenotype metrics, and game analytics that help capture learners&#8217; progress, affective state, and interaction patterns.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- Expected Impact -->\n  <div class=\"edugenz-impact\">\n    <h2>Expected Impact<\/h2>\n    <p>EduGenZ aims to generate scientific, educational, social, technological, and long-term societal impact. The project contributes to educational innovation by exploring how immersive technologies, serious games, affective computing, and explainable AI can support Systems Thinking learning.<\/p>\n    <p>In the medium term, the project aims to engage a community of at least <strong>300 pre-service teachers<\/strong> from two Greek universities, together with faculty members and stakeholders from education, research, technology, and policy.<\/p>\n    <div class=\"impact-highlight\">\n      By making its results visible and accessible, EduGenZ also aims to contribute to open science, knowledge exchange, and the responsible use of emerging technologies in education.\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<!-- End EduGenZ About Page -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About EduGenZ Gamified educational framework for GenZ using affective and immersive technology 36-Month Research Project \u00b7 H.F.R.I. 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