Rebooting the Greek Language project team presents community update on new approach to teaching Greek in the diaspora

VANCOUVER - The Rebooting the Greek Language Project team started off the new year in the local community with a workshop with local teachers and members from both the St. George and St. Nicholas Greek Language schools.

The Rebooting the Greek Language project was made possible by a $2M grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The two-year project brings together revolutionary pedagogy with cutting-edge technologies, such as machine learning, natural language processing, and mixed reality, to Greek language education in the Diaspora.  

The workshop opened with remarks from the Acting Director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, Dr. Dimitris Krallis who spoke about the importance of the project and the role that SFU has played since 2003 in Greek Language education in the Diaspora. Participants were then introduced to the project coordinator, Costa Dedegikas and the academic coordinator, Dionysios Arkadianos who both presented on the Rebooting Approach. This approach is supported by new mobile technologies and features revolutionary developments in pedagogy, including competence-based learning, gamification, and the use of storytelling.

Workshop participants were given a chance get some hands-on time with a demo of the Rebooting app and treated to a video sample from the new Heroes of the Disk animated series that is included in the curriculum. Participants were also able to review the positive results of the pilot recently held at St. George Greek school and St. Nicholas Greek school in Vancouver, as well as at Odyssey Charter School in Delaware, US. This was followed by a group discussion on integration of the Rebooting Approach in the classroom.

Meaningful community involvement is critical for the success of the Rebooting the Greek Language project and the SNF New Media Lab looks forward to holding more of these workshops in the community as the project progresses.

For more information about Rebooting the Greek Language, please visit the project website.

For more information about the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies, please visit our Media page.