Teachers’ Perspective on Online Learning during COVID-19: A Case Study in Greek Primary Schools

The purpose of this case study is to examine the implementation of the flipped classroom and drama in education in the context of environmental education in a primary school in Greece. The main research question is: How and why can the flipped classroom combined with drama in education be used in primary school? Drawing content from education on sustainable development and climate change, educational materials were developed to prepare the 11-year-old students for the lesson to follow, while drama in education was used in the live classroom activities. The results verified that flipped classroom is an effective methodological tool for blended learning with students expressing a positive attitude toward this methodology. However, there was reduced participation in after-class activities. On the contrary, drama can provide opportunities for active learning and enriched experience. Studying in the context of flipped classroom seems to be effectively combined with drama in education for deeper exploration, even in difficult issues like climate change, and students welcomed the combination. The suggested mixed methodology can also promote the development of digital, soft, and green skills. Περίληψη Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης περίπτωσης είναι να εξετάσει την εφαρμογή της ανεστραμμένης τάξης και του εκπαιδευτικού δράματος στο πλαίσιο της περιβαλλοντικής εκπαίδευσης σε ένα δημοτικό σχολείο στην Ελλάδα. Το κύριο ερευνητικό ερώτημα είναι: Πώς και γιατί μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί η ανεστραμμένη τάξη σε συνδυασμό με το εκπαιδευτικό δράμα στο δημοτικό σχολείο; Αντλώντας περιεχόμενο από την εκπαίδευση για την αειφόρο ανάπτυξη και την κλιματική αλλαγή, αναπτύχθηκε εκπαιδευτικό υλικό για την προετοιμασία των 11χρονων μαθητών για το μάθημα που θα ακολουθούσε, ενώ το εκπαιδευτικό δράμα χρησιμοποιήθηκε στις δια ζώσης δραστηριότητες στην τάξη. Τα αποτελέσματα επαλήθευσαν ότι η ανεστραμμένη τάξη είναι ένα αποτελεσματικό μεθοδολογικό εργαλείο για τη μικτή μάθηση με τους/τις μαθητές/ τριες να εκφράζουν θετική στάση απέναντι σε αυτήν τη μεθοδολογία. Ωστόσο, παρατηρήθηκε μειωμένη συμμετοχή στις δραστηριότητες μετά το μάθημα. Από την άλλη πλευρά, το δράμα μπορεί να προσφέρει ευκαιρίες για ενεργητική μάθηση και εμπλουτισμένη εμπειρία. Η μελέτη στο πλαίσιο της ανεστραμμένης τάξης φαίνεται να συνδυάζεται αποτελεσματικά με το εκπαιδευτικό δράμα για βαθύτερη διερεύνηση, ακόμη και δύσκολων θεμάτων όπως η κλιματική αλλαγή και οι μαθητές αντιμετώπισαν πολύ θετικά τον συνδυασμό αυτό. Η προτεινόμενη μικτή μεθοδολογία μπορεί επίσης να προωθήσει την ανάπτυξη ψηφιακών, κοινωνικών και πράσινων δεξιοτήτων. Λέξεις κλειδιά: ανεστραμμένη τάξη; εκπαιδευτικό δράμα; ψηφιακές δεξιότητες; ήπιες δεξιότητες; πράσινες δεξιότητες; δημοτικό σχολείο

COVID-19, a pandemic that the world has not seen in decades, has caused several new obstacles for student learning and education throughout the globe. As a consequence of the worldwide surge of COVID-19 instances, several schools and institutions in almost every region of the globe have closed in 2020 or switched to online or remote learning, which will have a variety of repercussions for student learning. This has led to educators and students spending more time online than ever before, with both groups researching, learning, and familiarizing themselves with information, resources, tools, and frameworks to adapt to online or remote learning. Data mining and analysis are being done to analyze such online activity. For the construction of this dataset, the web-based data in the form of search interests connected to online learning, gathered through Google searches, was mined using Google Trends. Currently, the dataset comprises web-based data related to online learning for the 20 nations that COVID-19 negatively touched at the time of its construction. This project aims to create and evaluate time-series forecasting models of a country's end-of-term performance, explore how the pandemic has influenced the migrations of people throughout the globe, and estimate the nations' future online learning needs. Regression techniques such as linear regression, multilayer regression, and SMO regression are utilized. This is done by looking at previous data, identifying the trends, and creating short-term or long-term projections. The data demonstrate that the approach of SMO regression causes fewer errors with improved accuracy compared to others.

The purpose of this pan- Hellenic research was to study the aggressive behavior of students during sports activities and play in the school yard. Specifically, through the answers of 562 (100%) teachers (396 teachers 70% and 166 physical education 30%) the following were investigated: a) the existence and forms, the individual characteristics of children who receive or show aggression, the training of teachers and coping practices that help minimize forms of aggression, and b) differences in teachers' responses to gender, years of service, and specialization. A relevant questionnaire with a five-point scale was prepared and distributed electronically to all primary schools in Greece. Before descriptive and inductive statistics, the a-Cronbach test had showed a value of 0.898 and the control of bifurcation (Guttman) had showed a value of 0,789 which indicates that the questionnaire has good reliability. They were carried out the t-test control for independent samples, ANOVA and x2 control for the differences in the teachers’ answers regarding teachers’ gender, specialty, and years of service. The results showed that all teachers agree that there are forms of aggression during play and sports activity in the elementary school yard and these are distinguished into physical (pushing, kicking, pulling), verbal (swearing, mocking performance), emotional (social exclusion) and some are repetitive and deliberate. We have a significant difference between the teachers in terms of the methods they suggest and the actions they take to deal with the phenomenon. The teachers have done relevant training but this is not enough. They need even more to deal with the phenomenon on their part more effectively.

Over the last 20 years special education teachers have emerged as a distinct but heterogeneous occupational group in Greece. This paper looks at how special education teachers perceive their job and their role. I explore how teachers give meaning to their experiences and how these experiences influence their practice. The different discourses and ambiguities over inclusion, integration and special education indicate the complexity of this area and of teachers’ roles. The uncertainty over their role, the tensions with other professionals and the changing policy context and policy shifts create significant inconsistencies. This paper reveals that teachers are part of a network of professionals with contested interests in the field, and that there are numerous controversies and paradoxes in special education in Greek primary schools. I argue that teachers’ voices can contribute to the current debate about inclusion, and that it could possibly facilitate a change in the nature of debate in Greece.

The phenomenon of migration has transformed the Greek school into a multiethnic environment, reshaping the issues raised about good practices and the role the teacher plays in the smooth integration of diverse cultures, not only in the school but also in the wider Greek society. This paper examines how cultural diversity is managed in Greek primary schools by focusing on the content of teachers’ personal theories, which guide their actions, although those actions to a large extent show lack of consciousness. The study investigated the personal theories of five female primary school teachers in the Regional Unit of Pella in Central Macedonia, Greece, using qualitative research methods, through a variety of tools, such as teaching observation, in-depth interviews, and text analysis. These teachers, although teaching in mainstream schools, have students from other ethnic backgrounds in their classes. The findings show that teachers’ personal theories on which they base how they manage cultural diversity are largely still determined by an assimilative approach.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of life worldwide, including medical education. Offline learning is being replaced by online to reduce the spread of disease through direct contact between the academic community. Along with technological developments, online learning is likely to continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Therefore, students must be able to adapt and prepare for the next online learning. The preparation can be started by self-assessing the online learning that has been followed so far and finding things that must be improved in future online learning.Objective To explore the student’s performance during online learning.Methods This research was qualitative research using the reflection writings of 156 students regarding their performance during online learning, which would be analyzed according to the depth and content of the reflection.Results Internal factors that support (strengths) and internal factors that inhibit online learning (weaknesses) through student reflection during online learning were found in this study. Internal factors such as maintaining health, self-management, adapting, and maintaining motivation can be maintained to support online learning. Internal factors such as anxiety, avoiding interaction, laziness, failure in time management, and inappropriate learning methods hindered online learning.Conclusion Students can strengthen internal factors that support online learning and reduce internal factors that hinder online learning to optimize online learning in the future.

This paper examines the current education policy for achieving digital education in European Union overall and in Greece specifically. By using a theoretical framework of policy enactment, this study explored different factors which could predict technology integration and digital education. A survey was conducted with 205 classroom teachers across 32 primary schools in Greece. The analysis tracked the progress towards achieving digital education. The results of this study confirmed that current policies are accurately targeted on significant areas which are predictors of technology integration. This paper recommends strategies for achieving, scaling, and sustaining school system improvement for digital education.

The paper presents an experimental study aiming to explore primary school students’ response to Mobile Seamless Learning activities. The educational intervention and the consequent investigation were conducted in a suburban primary school in Greece, with second grade pupils, in the context of a learning subject entitled “Studying our Living Environment”. The participant students (n = 14) engaged in both face-to-face (in-class, outdoor) and online (home) collaborative and individualistic activities supported by a variety of digital applications. Primary research data were gathered upon completion of the intervention via 5 group interviews and 12 individual interviews. The findings have shown that Mobile Seamless Learning can facilitate pupils’ active engagement and improve their attitudes toward collaboration. Moreover, this approach can lead to the development of a learning community that promotes learners’ motivation, enables them to construct new knowledge, and develop essential skills.

School bullying is a type of bullying that occurs in an educational setting. In the present study, we examine the differences in strategy towards parents followed by principals of public experimental and non-experimental primary schools in Greece in their effort to deal with bullying regarding issues related to the proper treatment of the phenomenon. A sample of 11 school principals was the focus of this research. In particular, the population examined were the principals of the three public experimental primary schools of the prefecture of Thessaloniki and eight randomly selected principals of non-experimental public primary schools of the same prefecture. In the prefecture of Thessaloniki, the problem of bullying seems to exist and concern to a great extent the principals of primary education who constitute the sample of this research and pursue their strategy to find appropriate solutions for its immediate and effective coping. At the same time, these principals follow, to a significant degree, common practices in dealing with the phenomenon in their effort to reduce it or even eliminate it, revealing however significant shortcomings on their part.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the life cycle assessment (LCA) of training services and compare the environmental impacts of online and on-site training. Design/methodology/approach: The research uses a life cycle assessment methodology to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of online and on-site training across various categories. The analysis focuses on key areas such as acidification, climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity, resource depletion, and ozone layer depletion. Findings: The study found that online training generates a lower environmental impact across all analyzed categories. For acidification, online training shows a 23% lower impact compared to on-site training, where 63% of emissions originate from energy production and 15% from participant transportation. Regarding climate change, online training results in 21% fewer greenhouse gas emissions due to the absence of transport and catering-related impacts. Freshwater ecotoxicity for online training is 60% lower, primarily due to the lack of emissions related to food preparation. Resource depletion for online training accounts for 73% of the impact of on-site training, with electricity being the main contributor. For ozone layer depletion, online training generates only 19% of the impact compared to on-site training. Research limitations/implications: The study highlights the need for further research into the environmental impact of meals consumed during online training and standardizing perspectives for both training models. Practical implications: The findings demonstrate the importance of online training as a more sustainable option, particularly in reducing the environmental impact associated with transportation and catering. Organizations can implement online training to minimize their environmental footprint. However, it is essential to consider specific quantitative assumptions and varying parameters resulting from the particular training practices, which may differ from those described in this study. Social implications: This research contributes to the estimation of an organization's carbon footprint, particularly in Scope 3, within the category of purchased goods and services. It highlights the need for further studies to enhance understanding and provide detailed insights into this aspect. Originality/value: This paper provides a novel comparison of the environmental impacts of online versus on-site training, offering valuable insights for organizations, policymakers, and educators seeking to implement more sustainable training practices. Keywords: life cycle assessment, on-line training, on-site training, environmental impact, sustainable. Category of the paper: Research paper, case study.

Collaborative writing is a specific form of cooperative learning aimed at transforming a text by several students into a collaborative text. Indeed, in creative writing activities, students playfully and, most importantly, imaginatively focus on a common goal, communicate and collaborate to create a shared text. This paper includes a survey conducted during the academic year 2023-2024 in primary schools in Greece in which 1020 students and 71 teachers participated. The students were divided into two groups: an intervention group with students who implemented collaborative creative writing exercises for approximately four months and a control group with students who only followed the school's curriculum. The degree of improvement in students' interpersonal relationships was assessed through two questionnaires completed by the teachers participating in the research program. The results of the research, which showed a positive correlation between collaborative creative writing and interpersonal relationship skills are presented and analyzed in this article.

This paper explores teachers’ and head teachers’ perceptions of the nature of intercultural education within the thirteen intercultural primary schools in Greece. The research methodology adopted is a mixed-method approach which has been employed in order to achieve a better understanding of the issue examined. The research methods used include questionnaires administered and interviews undertaken with teachers and head teachers. The results indicate that although teachers may be aware of the main principles of the theoretical background of intercultural education, most of them agree that they are not implemented in the classroom, especially as regards the principle that foreign pupils’ mother tongue should be taken into account in the curriculum and they provide a number of reasons for that. The contribution of this study to the topic examined is significant since there has been no previous research conducted in all 13 intercultural primary schools in Greece. Article visualizations:

Personal development is related to ways of improving the self, as it enables us to understand our abilities and achieve our goals. It thus includes those activities that help us to realise our identity, develop talents, improve the quality of our lives and fulfil our dreams. On the other hand, creative reading and writing activities promote self-awareness and self-improvement as a means of self-expression, empathy and connection with others. The above is confirmed by a survey conducted in the academic year 2023-2024 in primary schools in Greece, in which 1020 students and 71 teachers participated. The students were divided into two groups: an intervention group including students who participated in creative reading and writing activities and a control group with students who followed the school curriculum. The duration of the creative activities was for about four months, and the evaluation of the students' personal development skills and the effectiveness of the activities were assessed through two questionnaires. The results, which showed a positive correlation between the enhancement of personal development and creative reading and writing skills, are presented and analyzed in this article.

The present study aims to explore the attitudes and opinions of active Greek teachers regarding the implementation of Differentiated Instruction (DI) as a student - centred form of teaching in Primary Education. In particular, it is investigated whether during the planning and implementation of teaching teachers proceed to specific teaching actions that have as their focus the student, such as collecting information before the beginning of the teaching process about the students' learning readiness, learning profile and interests, adapting the teaching of a teaching unit to areas that were not understood by the students, using a variety of ways and means in the presentation of the new content of the learning unit, using a variety of methods and media in the presentation of the new content of the learning unit, and using a variety of methods and media in order to improve the learning process. The research was conducted with a sample of two hundred and ten teachers who taught in primary schools in Greece. A structured questionnaire was used as a research tool. The main conclusions that emerged in the research are as follows: a) A high percentage of the research participants report that before the beginning of the teaching process they collect information about the students' learning readiness, learning profile and interests, b) A high percentage of the research participants report that they use the students' ideas and experiences to design activities in the classroom, that in designing activities they take into account the different ways in which each student.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of the use of educational videos in online learning which can attract students and help students understand the topic of learning more effectively. A quantitative design with a survey method was used in this study. The respondents of the study consisted of 43 teachers of Basic Computer Science subjects in the state of Perak who were selected by random sampling. A questionnaire form instrument was used to collect data based on a five-point Likert Scale. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis where the mean amount was determined based on a predetermined level. The results show that the use of educational videos can help students understand the topics of learning effectively with an average mean value = of 4.40. In addition, educational videos also help attract students to learning topics with an average mean value = of 4.30. The implications of this study indicate that the use of educational videos in online learning is proven to have a positive impact on students.