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

Course

A dynamic 3-day workshop that blended creativity, technology, and social impact! The participants dived into the world of Design Thinking and discovered how to use the innovative eShadow platform to craft powerful digital stories that go beyond the screen.

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

All training materials used and recordings of the training sessions are available in this activity space. Whether you're an educator looking to enrich your teaching or a student eager to tell meaningful stories in new ways, the training materials will inspire, challenge, and empower you.

The workshop was 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).

For more information about the workshop, please see the workshop syllabus here. You can also find information and photos from the workshop on the corresponding page of the project website.

When: 17-19 September 2025

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

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

Keywords

shadow theatre digital storytelling design thinking stories4all eShadow Coursevo

Instructor

Maria Hatzigianni

Assistant Professor

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

Computer Scientist (Πληροφορικός)

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.

Marios Christoulakis

Software Engineer

Christoulakis Marios graduated from the School of Electronic and Computer Engineering of the Technical University of Crete in 2008. He has a master's degree from the same department and is a PhD candidate at the School of Architectural Engineering. The research subject of his doctoral thesis is "Intelligent responsive system platforms for the augmentation of spatial impact" while since 2013 he has also been a researcher at the Laboratory of Changing Intelligent Environments of the School of Architectural Engineering.

Christos Ioannidis

Research Software Engineer

(Greece) - Christos Ioannidis is a Research Software Engineer based in Athens, Greece. He holds a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, complemented by substantial experience in architecting and developing scalable software solutions. His professional expertise includes AI-powered systems, Human-Computer Interaction, and User Experience (UX) design, emphasizing the practical translation of innovative research into intuitive applications. Christos actively engages in the development of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) projects, focusing on rapid prototyping, integration of AI-enhanced features, and seamless user experiences. Christos is particularly dedicated to bridging academic research and practical software development, utilizing his interdisciplinary skill set to deliver meaningful and innovative technological solutions.

Program - Category

Events

Digital Stories

Course Syllabus

Download file

STORIES4ALL – Exploring the Power of Digital Storytelling with eShadow: STEM, Empathy and Inclusion CRS799