BUSINESS: 477 PRACTICES
Vodafone Greece is a leading telecommunications provider of mobile and fixed telephony, internet and TV services. Investing in digital infrastructure, Vodafone is recognised as a partner that credibly supports the needs of businesses and consumers.
Read more: www.vodafone.gr
The Vodafone Foundation has been active in Greece since 2002, and with the message "Connecting for Good" summarizing its philosophy, it connects telecommunications technologies with social contribution and the common good. Having already developed partnerships with more than 90 Organizations, and always using technology as a vehicle, it implements programs for Health, Education and Society.
Recognizing, therefore, the power of technology in the field of Education and the need to develop digital and technological skills for the future, the Vodafone Foundation implements Generation Next. An educational program for developing skills through STEM with free access for all in new technologies.
Starting the program in 2017, and having as data in Greece, the low understanding of science by the students, the limited educational resources, the difficulty for innovation to reach remote areas, the youth unemployment rate reaching 39.7% but also the 7 million jobs that will require STEM skills in the EU by 2025, the Vodafone Foundation saw the need to undertake an initiative that would highlight scientific literacy, through the use of technology.
At the same time, a series of indicators indicate that Greece is behind in promoting knowledge and the use of new technologies, while the performance of students in mathematics and science ranks our country in low positions among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Thus, trying to contribute to addressing the problem of lack of basic technological skills and critical thinking, the Vodafone Foundation collaborated with the Educational NGO SciCo - Science Communication and Hellenic German Education, initially implementing out-of-school STEM workshops in remote areas of the country.
Along the way, and specifically in 2019, the program evolved and grew, so that it managed to reach every corner of Greece, contributing to the equal participation of the new generation in the digital society of tomorrow. Thus, with the innovative digital platform generationnext.vodafone.gr as its central vehicle, the program now offers young people a unique educational experience and motivates them to create the society of tomorrow they dream of.
High School and High School students, 12-18 years old, teachers, from any corner of Greece, but also the general public interested in STEM sciences, can easily and for free browse the platform, get inspired and acquire digital skills.
The program started to be implemented in 2017 and continues until now, with the digital platform generationnext.vodafone.gr as the main vehicle.
The main pillars of the program are the following:
- The Generation Next platform, generationnext.vodafone.gr. Users, through various thematic sections (Discover, Learn, Create), have the opportunity to be inspired, to experiment, to be informed, in order to expand their knowledge in the scientific fields of STEM. Then, using the knowledge they have received from the course content of the platform, the students can form their own team and participate in the Panhellenic Competition, creating a project that will provide a solution to a problem of everyday life or of their local society .
- The extracurricular STEM Workshops (lasting 10 weeks), organized free of charge for students and teachers from remote areas of the country.
- The Virtual Classrooms, for teachers from all over Greece that cover the topics of the platform. At the end of the training, a Generation Next Coach certification is given.
- The STEM kits, which are provided in the framework of the Panhellenic Competition and which cover the needs of the teams for the creation of their constructions.
In this way, for the first time, a digital platform, with free access to all, brings together rich educational material for students, educational guides for teachers, inspirational videos from previous projects of the program, as well as DIY videos, and introduces those interested in the world of STEM, cultivating necessary skills of the future. Meanwhile, they are given the opportunity to put their ideas into practice, to create their own constructions, utilizing the power of expository technologies – sensors, AR/VR, mobile apps, taking part in the pan-Hellenic educational competition.
In addition, in the context of the GR-ECO initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Generation Next was also found in Halki. There the Vodafone Foundation created the model Generation Next STEM lab, which offers extracurricular training opportunities to the island's youth and which was also visited by the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Already last summer, during the Generation Next Summer Camp implemented by the Vodafone Foundation on the island, a Mobile app was created for the island's tourists.
Overall, the positive response of stakeholders and the enthusiasm of students and teachers for their participation seal the success of the program. Thus, it is confirmed that the partnership of different interested parties with a common goal, bring results with a substantial impact, which in the case of Generation Next is reflected in a total of 92,000 beneficiaries, 535 innovative projects, from 119 regions of the country, from the start of the program until today.
Through the program:
- The work of teachers is strengthened, shaping this new generation and directing them to the rapidly evolving professions of the future, while at the same time educating themselves in STEM subjects.
- Students, through experiential learning, cultivate their critical thinking, learn to work in groups, come closer to the needs of modern society, connecting theoretical knowledge with practical application. At the same time, they prepare for problem management and enter into a process of investigation, trying different methods to solve them. They mobilize all their creativity and are called upon to provide a solution to a local problem themselves.
In a rapidly changing world, the place of STEM education, which supports a modern way of teaching, encourages experimental design and innovation and opens children's horizons to digital skills, is crucial. That is why Generation Next is moving in this direction, it puts education with the use of technology and experiential learning at the center of its action and creates new opportunities, with multiple benefits for students, teachers and schools.
In addition, through the partnership with Tipping Point, more than 50 live sessions were held, with the participation of 28 teachers and almost 400 students.
Generation Next is offered free of charge to students, teachers and the general public, from end to end throughout Greece.
Strategic partners of the program are SciCo and Hellenic German Education, who with their experience and expertise contribute to the successful implementation of the program and with whom the Vodafone Foundation shares the belief that the cooperation of public, private schools and local communities leads to open schools and contributes to the flexible enrichment of the program.
The Educational Non-Profit Organization SciCo - Science Communication operates as a social enterprise, founded in 2008 and staffed by scientists, academics, educators and people interested in the science behind everyday life. SciCo undertakes the preparation of the educational material & the training of the teachers, the distribution of the Educational Packages (STEM kits), but also the collection of the projects of the groups at the end of each cycle of workshops. Also, members of the Organization, together with executives of the Vodafone Foundation, participate in the evaluation process of the projects and the selection of the winners.
Hellenic German Education is a modern European school, which was founded in 1961 and is firmly in the educational vanguard. In the program, Hellenic German Education participates in the training of the teachers, in the planning of the study guide (curriculum), while students of the school are the first to test new course units, in order to draw conclusions that are helpful for the program.
Thus, the combination of specialized knowledge and the essential communication between the partners were elements necessary for the implementation of the program, in order to start an open dialogue and connect the private initiative, with private and public bodies, the local communities and the school community.
At the same time, within the framework of the program, the Vodafone Foundation, in collaboration with the Non-Profit Organization "The Tipping Point", carried out the action "Meet the world of STEM", which was implemented in schools from all over Greece and aimed at familiarizing the students with STEM.
In particular, the Vodafone Foundation and The Tipping Point – an NGO that helps students, even in the most remote parts of the country, to get in touch with role models – have collaborated to enable secondary school students to experience STEM education but also to meet mentors, from the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Sciences, Space and beyond, and to chat with them, through digital group sessions.
For the implementation of the program, the Vodafone Foundation collaborated with other departments of the Vodafone Group, for the combined use of all the company's communication channels - for the internal as well as the external audience - in order to create a targeted 360ᵒ communication, to strengthen the reach of the message the universal participation of students in new technologies and to make clear the importance of STEM education for all. The communication of Generation Next, through the different channels, was harmoniously combined and thus the respective audience was approached, combining modern and traditional communication tools, in order to achieve the maximum possible penetration of the message of Generation Next.
Results such as the steep increase in the Social Contribution index, the increase in emotional connection and the positive opinion of Vodafone, demonstrate that the public recognizes it as an innovative, socially responsible and beloved company. In fact, according to research carried out in November 2021, it was shown that the Vodafone Foundation is inextricably linked to STEM education and the Generation Next program.
At the same time, according to the same research, education-upskilling is a primary area for society, on which private initiatives should focus, confirming the Vodafone Group's strong commitment to prepare young people for their equal participation in the digital society, for a more exciting future. And this very commitment is confirmed, through the investment of 20 million euros by the Vodafone Foundation - which is expected to benefit 16 million students by 2025 - for the expansion of the Foundation's digital skills and training programs, in Greece and in 13 more countries.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the program has also won the top award Sustainable Succes Award, at the European Mariano Gago Ecsite Awards 2019, as it stood out as an inspiring tool for empowering young people, perfectly in line with the principles of sustainable development. The program was unanimously applauded by the Commission, as a result of a long-term sustainable partnership, through its substantial impact.
While the fact that the Vodafone Foundation of Albania started to implement the program in 12 schools of the country could not be omitted, sealing its great impact on the empowerment of the new generation.
