This important distinction in the category “Digital Education” was awarded for an interactive digital application for the Ancient Theater of Philippi.

The Open University of Cyprus (OUC) won a gold award at the Cyprus Education Leaders Awards 2021 for innovative applications of digital technology in education for a third consecutive year. This important distinction in the category “Digital Education” was awarded for an interactive digital application for the Ancient Theater of Philippi and highlights OUC’s know-how and specialization in open and distance education, and its commitment to providing a multifaceted academic experience with the development of new tools that effectively support the digital education of the future.

Specifically, the project is a 3D virtual tour of the Ancient Theatre of Philippi and an interactive learning application for students to learn and experience the ancient Greek theater. The application will be used by students of the Undergraduate Programme “Studies in Hellenic Culture” and the Postgraduate Programme “Theatre Studies”. Using the application, students will be able to browse a virtual but realistic archaeological site, enhance the learning process using audio-visual means, answer questions and test their knowledge in real-time.

The application was designed and jointly developed by George Pappas, Officer of the OUC Laboratory of Educational Material and Methodology, and academic staff of the two aforementioned Programmes (Associate Professor Antonis Petrides and Professor Vaios Liapis). Dimitris Vogiatzis (DIVO Graphics) constructed the 3D Theatre model and delivered it to the OUC, which has secured all necessary licenses and rights for the use of the 3D model for educational purposes by relevant authorities in Greece, i.e. Ephorates of Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The Cyprus Education Leaders Awards ceremony took place on the 28th of September 2021. The award was received on behalf of OUC by the Rector, Professor Petros Pasiardis.