The group of students and teachers from the 5th GEL Byron won an international award in a space competition, but the Ministry of Education continues to ignore it
In 2023 the students of the v-space team of the 5th GEL Byron distinguished themselves in the Greek and European space competition CanSat in Europe. They won the first Technical Award among all European countries, Canada and Japan. This is something you may or may not have heard.
The v-space group is a creation of the hackerspace of the 5th GEL Byron. It is an open technology space equipped with tools, computers and software. A meeting point where people passionate about technology share knowledge and build things.
The hackerspace of the 5th GEL Byron has existed since 2011. It was created by the IT teachers of the school. The aim then was to simply cover the deficiencies that the children had in IT. Today it has evolved into a journey of knowledge, discovery and creation. As the children’s IT teacher Eleni Robola explains to Documento: “The IT lab opens every Sunday afternoon and is the hangout for students interested in IT and robotics. All students are welcome and are often encouraged to bring friends from other schools. Everyone is treated equally. There is no such thing as an authority or a professor who knows everything. The functioning of the school hackerspace is democratic. Our goal is for students to overcome the fear of the unknown and get into the logic of hacking, that is, to try to learn how a new technology works. They will test, cooperate and help each other. It’s an altruistic give and take that turns you into a creator from a simple user of technology. This is what we want to inspire in the children and from what is seen all these years, it is something that finds a response in them”.
Students decide what to build: from robotic arms to artificial intelligence toys, from encryption systems to tiny satellites. They form working groups and explore the ways in which they can create what they desire. The v-space team of the 5th GEL Byron has the main goal of maximizing the internal motivation of children. In contrast to everyday school life, through the group they decide freely and explore how to succeed, without grades or exams. “The topics the students are dealing with are real-world challenges,” Ms. Robola tells us.
“This is called authentic learning”
“Our kids,” he emphasizes, “are implementing an idea that will work in real-world conditions and solve a real-world problem. This is called authentic learning.”
This year’s v-space team will participate in the CanSat in Greece 2024 space competition. The goal is to build a miniature satellite, cansat, that will perform all the basic functions of a satellite for a specific mission. We asked the IT teacher of the 5th GEL what difficulties such an original initiative faces, which continues to exist thanks to the efforts of teachers and children.
“A big problem is the students’ lack of free time,” he points out, “as well as the lack of resources to get the materials we need. We have never had the support of people who hold institutional positions in education. We survive because there are still people in our society.”
The former mayor helped them
After the team won the national competition the money was not enough for all the children to travel to Spain where the European competition was held. An amount was collected through some small companies with the help of the then mayor Byron Grigoris Katopodis, but in the end the solution was given by Nikos Hardalias, who was then Deputy Minister of Defense and managed to find a fund that covered the travel expenses for all the children . In fact, the current regional governor, who has been the mayor of Byron for three four years, invited the children before and after their trip to Spain to tour the facilities of the Ministry of National Defense.
A year later everything remains the same, despite the team’s international distinction. Absolutely no interest in our award winning kids, no support for the IT teachers who lead the team. It is recalled that IT, like gymnastics and art, belongs to the subjects which the government of “excellence” considers unnecessary and have odd hours in the school program, even though they help children’s skills flourish.
“We want more hours, as well as new and appropriate equipment for our laboratories. Since 2019, our lesson has been one hour, while we only have ten to twelve computers for 27 children” describes the situation that prevails today, El. Robola.
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