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The Inspiring Science Education Conference 2016 will be held in Athens at the premises of Ellinogermnaiki Agogi between 22 and 24 of April 2016.

Educators, scientists, future teachers, policy makers, outreach organisations and interested stakeholders are cordially invited to participate in this 3-day event of reflection and celebration of inspiring science teaching.

The official launching of the European Science Education Academy (ESEA) will also take place at the ISE conference. ESEA is a common effort of the European Physical Society, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, NUCLIO, the University of Bayreuth and the Cardiff University to support the modernization and continuous development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and training. ESEA provides numerous training activities, tools and resources that will enable teachers in STEM to maximize their efforts in the design of inquiry based learning activities as well as to create motivating and engaging lessons that inspire young pupils and students to take up a career in STEM. ESEA experts believe that by supporting educators in their professional development we can slowly introduce in classrooms across the world the necessary changes to improve the uptake of science careers. We believe that by modernizing science education and by providing the necessary professional development support we can better prepare students for the world of work, a world that will certainly be very demanding on the necessary skills and competences of future generations. You may find more info on ESEA here

Inspiring Science Education is a pan-European project bringing together partners in 15 countries, including many experts in the field of Science Education.

Inspiring Science Education’ mission is to provide digital resources and opportunities for teachers to help them make science education more attractive and relevant to students’ lives.

Pilot activities are taking place in 5000 primary and secondary schools in more than 20 European countries. During these pilots, teachers are accessing interactive simulations, educational games and eScience applications and integrating them with extra-curricular activities, such as field trips to science centers and discovery parks, and virtual visits to research centers.

Through the Inspiring Science Education website and the activities organized by the partners, teachers can help students make their own scientific discoveries, witness and understand natural and scientific phenomena and access the latest, interactive tools and digital resources from within their classrooms.

Teachers are also offered the opportunity to access remote and online labs, and relevant scenarios for their use in the school classroom. Pilot teachers will furthermore help adapt and localize cutting edge science education scenarios to national curricula in all 15 partner countries.

In short, here is what the project provides:

• - access to online, interactive tools and digital resources from all over the world that can be used for science teaching
• - templates, scenarios and methodologies to support science teachers and teacher trainers in their drive to make their teaching more exciting, fun and relevant for students
• - a platform that can be used by students and teachers alike to take science teaching beyond the classroom and into the realms of extra-curricular learning
• - ways in which students themselves can be involved in scientific research activities,
• - A strong support network for teachers available 24/7

The Inspiring Science Education project has been funded with support from the European Commission in the context of the Seventh Framework Program (FP7).

You may find more info here.