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, in a period that because of the covid-19 pandemic the educational landscape has changed dramatically.
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". 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 Open University of Cyprus is the only University in the Republic of Cyprus that offers distance learning tertiary education, and in its 15 years of academic operation has succeeded in attracting students from all over the world. Important distinctions, such as this gold award, are supporting OUC’s vision and promote its efforts to combine effective use of technology and distance teaching and learning methods to allow its students to study whenever and wherever they wish, adjusting their study programme to fit in with job, family and any other commitments.
The Cyprus Education Leaders Awards ceremony took place on the 28th of September 2021.
