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EDUCATION
MS Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
June 2003.
Grassroots Invention Group, Media Laboratory. MS Thesis Title: “Coloring
Time with CodaChrome”.
BS in Computer Engineering (5-year program), University of Patras,
Greece, February 1997.
BS Thesis Title: "Advanced
Applications of Geographical Information Systems and Multimedia:
The Archaeology Paradigm”.
EXPERIENCE
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Laboratory, Cambridge,
MA, 2003-2006
Lifelong Kindergarten
Group
Software Engineer: Designed (in a team of 5 people) and developed
(team of 2) a new graphical programming language, called Scratch
that enables kids and teenagers to create their own games, animations
and interactive art. Scratch is based on the Smalltalk open source
platform Squeak.
Research Associate: Planned and participated in observations of
children using Scratch in a variety of settings and applications
(mini-games, story-telling, animations etc.) Designed and ran workshops
with additional technological tools like the PicoCrickets
(PicoCricket is a small toy-microcontroller that can be connected
to and control lights, sensors, motors and other such devices plugged
into it).
User Interface Designer: Designed parts of the Scratch UI (paint
editor, file dialogs, interactive tools, dynamic highlight of running
scripts) and participated in design reviews on all aspects of the
Scratch UI.
Support Materials developer: Designed support materials for Scratch
including help screens with illustrative scripts for every available
command block. Created additional documentation in the form of tutorials,
how-to guides, example Scratch projects etc.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Laboratory, Cambridge,
MA, 2001-2003
Grassroots Invention
Group
Research Assistant: Designed and developed the CodaChrome
system, a software and hardware tool for programming the colors
and color transitions on tricolor LEDs by novices and children.
(CodaChrome’s hardware core is a microcontroller, the Tower,
and small tricolor LEDs that can be programmed to transition among
different colors.) Designed and developed the java-based software
programming environment for creating the animated colored light
patterns. Used CodaChrome with children to create new forms of interactive
jewelry and wearable art. Organized and developed activities mainly
for children’s workshops lasting from one day to two weeks
involving participants ranging from 6 to 60 years of age. Led a
multidisciplinary team of software and electrical engineers as well
as artists, teachers and undergraduate students throughout the project.
Teaching assistant: Led class sessions and prepared materials and
presentations for “The Nature of Constructionist Learning”
class at MIT Media Laboratory.
Courseware at MIT involved projects implemented with technological
tools developed by engineering groups at MIT, like a hypercube network
switch modeled with Tower microcontrollers, and multiple projects
based on the iPaq platform running Linux and utilizing technologies
from Project
Oxygen (pervasive computing).
Media
Lab Europe, Dublin, Ireland, Summer 2002
Everyday
Learning Group, Group director/Supervisor: Dr. Carol Strohecker
Visiting Graduate Fellow: Co-organized two week-long workshops
each with 20 children and adult participants, called Electo-Jewels,
using computationally enhanced materials (including CodaChrome)
with traditional craft materials to create electronic jewelry and
wearable art. Collaborated with professional jewelry designers,
the Ark (a cultural
center for children in Dublin) and researchers at Media Lab Europe.
Developed a prototype of CodaChrome’s programming environment
on the PocketPC platform using Embedded Visual Tools.
Computer Technology Institute, Patras, Greece, 1997 - 2001
R&D Unit 3: Applied Information Systems, Director: Dr. Manolis
Koutlis
Computer Engineer: Led the architectural design and implementation
of a number of European Union and Greek R&D projects applying
innovative technologies in the areas of learning research, math
and science education, and foreign language learning. Led a team
of 3 software developers and 5 teachers in developing production-quality
educational software (Xenios)
for the subject of foreign language learning in Greek high schools
using the E-slate platform (component-oriented
software platform for authoring educational software) and a hybrid
system architecture designed by me. Authored educational software
and developed educational activities for foreign language learning
with a team of teachers using a variety of custom software tools
in addition to commercial software such as Lotus Learning Space
(Project Mentor, predecessor to
Xenios). Designed and was responsible for the purchase of all the
equipment used in Project C3
(differential GPS, walkie-talkies, PDA, wireless GSM card, mobile
phone). Supervised the software developed in all the above platforms
to wirelessly transmit the real time GPS data to map generation
software. Conducted feasibility studies and evaluated existing technologies
for the creation of an architectural framework for the wireless
interoperability of embedded and mobile devices (Project
e-Gadgets). Designed and developed an information system (SATEP)
for the archaeological documentation and excavation practice in
Dispilio, Greece. Developed java-based software components for the
educational software platform E-Slate.
Used tools such as Java Development Kit, Java Media Framework and
QuickTime for Java to develop components for music education software
(Project YDEES). Defined project
deliverables and presented results to representatives of the Greek
Ministry of Development.
Researcher: Designed and implemented educational activities like
map construction and treasure hunt to evaluate young children’s
spatial awareness and understanding (Project
C3). Collaborated with researchers from CTI’s
research partner, the Educational
Technology Lab of the University of Athens on a number of projects
to provide customizations on the E-Slate platform to facilitate
classroom observations.
Support Materials Developer: Co-wrote and was the editor of the
Xenios software support materials handbook (foreign language learning).
The book is published by CTI Press and is now part of the curriculum
at the Greek Open University. Prepared support materials and held
training sessions for archaeologists (Project
SATEP).
Coordinator/Supervisor: Coordinated the Greek team in the European
project Mentor (Collaborative Framework for Foreign Language Learning
in High School using the Emerging Multimedia Capabilities of the
Internet). Defined project deliverables and presented progress reports
at the EU headquarters. Defined and co-supervised a BS thesis titled
“Organization of multimedia data from an archaeological excavation
into a semi-structured database” (2001) which structured sample
archaeological data using XML tools.
On-site Coordinator: Supervised the installation and maintenance
of the on-site computer laboratory of the archaeological excavation
of SATEP at Dispilio in Kastoria,
Greece.
Consultant: Acted as technical and administrative liaison between
CTI and Greek company-university consortia developing educational
software (Project Seirines.)
Evaluated project proposals. Consulted with consortia on both technical
and educational content issues. Oversaw their software and support
materials deliverables.
AWARDS
I was awarded a Media Lab Europe Fellowship as an MIT Media Lab
graduate student and I was re-elected for a second consecutive year,
2001-2003.
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS AND RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Laboratory
Scratch is a new programming
language that enables youth at after school centers (Computer Clubhouses)
to create their own animations, games, and interactive art.
2003-2006, Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Kafai, Y., Rusk, N., Silverman,
B., Dekoli, M., et al. Funding: National Science Foundation (Grant
No. 0325828), Intel Foundation, MIT Media Laboratory's Digital Life
and Things That Think consortia.
CodaChrome is a system comprised
of hardware and java-based software used by children to create and
program electronic jewelry and wearable art, while researchers focus
on the implications on such new media on the children’s grasp
of temporal concepts.
2001-2003, Dekoli, M., Mikhak, B., Gorton, T., Lyon, C., Bender,
W., Strohecker, C.
Computer Technology Institute, Patras, Greece
Project C3 (Children in Choros
and Chronos) developed a GPS enabled system transmitting wirelessly
real-time data to E-Slate for map generation by 6-year olds communicating
through walkie-talkies. C3 focused on the spatio-temporal
cognition of small children evaluated in activities like map reading,
model constructing and navigating.
1998-2000, Dekoli, M., Koutlis, M., Vasiliou, G., Birbilis, G.,
Kynigos, C., Dimitrakopoulou, A., Giannoutsou, N. Funding: Esprit
LTR i3, Experimental School Environments.
Project YDEES aimed at developing
exploratory learning environments for mathematics, geography, physics
and music based on E-Slate, a component-oriented software architecture,
with concurrent exploratory cultured classrooms in five primary
schools.
1995-1998, CTI (project coordination), University of Athens, National
Pedagogical Institute, Psychico College, Center of Contemporary
Music Research, European Children’s Television Center, et.al.
Funding: Operational Programme for R&D (EPET II), Community
Support Framework II 1994-99. Greek Ministry of Industry Energy
and Technology, General secretariat for Research and Development.
E-Slate is an exploratory learning
environment, where everyone can create highly dynamic software with
rich functionality (microworlds) by visually manipulating pre-fabricated,
interoperable software components. Both the software components
and the microworld can be enhanced by programming in a Logo-based
scripting language. E-Slate is based on the Java platform and related
technologies.
1993-2003 Koutlis, M., Hadzilacos, T., Kyrimis, K., Renieri, N.,
Kourouniotis, P., Oikonomou, A., Tsironis, G., Vasiliou, G., Kynigos,
C., Dekoli, M., Birbilis, G., Drossos, N., Karagianni, E., Glezou,
K., Dimopoulou, C., Mavrommati, E., Kameas, A., Psaltou, S.
Project e-Gadgets (Extrovert
Gadgets) developed a conceptual framework called Gadgetware Architectural
Style (GAS), to construct gadgetworlds (configuration of GAS-aware
artifacts), which exhibits collective behavior that exceeds the
sum of the individual capabilities of its artifacts.
2000-2002 CTI, University of Essex, Intelligent Inhabited Environments
Research Group, U.K., National Microelectronics Research Center
(NMRC-UCC), Ireland. Funding: FET Proactive 2000 The Disappearing
Computer Action line: IST-2000-6.2.1.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND SYSTEMS
Computer Technology Institute, Patras, Greece
Project MENTOR involved the
design and development of multimedia educational software for foreign
language learning through the utilization of the internet with high
school teachers as part of the development teams. In Greece, Mentor
was implemented on the Odysseas school-network.
1998-2000, Partners: University of Hull (CDU) - UK, CTI - Greece,
Limburgs Universitair Centrum (EDM) – Belgium. Funding: ??1017,
EU Joint Call for Multimedia Educational Software, 1998-’99.
XENIOS is the continuation of
the Mentor project where the greek software and materials were repurposed
and extended, and a new hybrid system was developed for their delivery.
Xenios has an ever increasing amount of users today in many Greek
high schools.
2000-2001 Dekoli, M., Pasisi, K., Kokkas, N., Gipari, M., Gavriilidou,
M., Dimopoulou, C., Zervou, M., Papaioannou, P., Karageorgiou, S.,
Kosmopoulou, E., Kouroukli, M., Koutlis, M., Tsironis, G., Vasiliou,
G., Kynigos, C., Psaltou, S., Lukoudi, K.
Projects Odysseas, Seirines, Nafsika:
Action Odysseia was a cluster of 19 projects aiming at the incorporation
of computers and network technologies in everyday school practise
for all disciplines in more than 300 high-schools in Greece. It
built the school labs’ infrastructure, developed educational
software, educated 100 teacher trainers and educated around 6.000
school teachers. Odysseas was a pilot project for the first 30 schools.
Seirines and Nausika were the pilot projects for the educational
software development and their successful outcomes were produced
in large scale.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOOLS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Computer Technology Institute, Patras & Prehistoric Excavation
in Dispilio in Kastoria, Greece
Project SATEP involved the design
and development of the information system SATEP for the archaeological
excavation and documentation in the prehistoric excavation in Dispilio,
Greece. The system consists of a database (photographs and documents)
linked to a GIS system (ESRI/Arcview) for spatial information processing
and retrieval.
1998-2001 Dekoli, M., Damianidis, D., Hadzilacos, T., Varelas, G.,
Hadzilacos, G. (CTI), Hourmouziadis, G., Sofronidou, M., Almatzi,
A (University of Thessaloniki, Greece).
Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University
of Patras & Computer Technology Institute, Patras, Greece
BS thesis project, focused
on the porting of a system for the archaeological excavation documentation
of the Toumba excavation in Thessaloniki in Greece, previously developed
on a Sparc Sun Station in UNIX with heavy-weight software packages.
It was reimplemented for the PC platform using more lightweight
software packages that could run on a laptop and thus be useful
for the capture of documentation information on-site rather than
later in the day transcribed from notes. I designed the hyperlinked
excavation archive as a web site that pulls data from the database
and the GIS system.
1996-1997, Dekoli, M., Stoumbou M., Tsironis, G., Hadzilacos, T.
TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS
Multiple presentations of the CodaChrome
and Scratch projects at consortia
meetings and open houses at the MIT Media Laboratory, 2001-2006.
Talk at the 1st Conference for the Utilization of Educational Technology
in the didactic practice: Educational Software – Internet,
organized by the Secretariat of Secondary Education of the Cyclades
and the Greek Pedagogical Institute. Paper presented: Dekoli, M.
“Xenios: Educational software
and activities for the support of foreign language teaching in schools”.
Syros, May 2001.
Presentation at the Goethe Institut Athen at the Conference of
teachers of the German language in Greece (Griechischer Deutschlehrerverband).
Paper: Pasisi, K. & Dekoli, M. “Teaching German in the
programme MENTOR in the schools
of the Odysseas network”. Athens, April 2000.
Multiple presentations and training on the software and educational
activities produced for the field of Foreign Language Learning (Project
Mentor) to: teachers of foreign languages in secondary education
in Greece, foreign language teachers' trainers of the Odysseia project,
the "Linguaphone" company, computer scientists & developers
for the E-Slate platform, 1998-2000.
Multiple presentations, poster presentations and demos for the
annual review conferences of the C3
project, in Sieges - Spain, Jönköping - Sweden and
Athens - Greece.
"The GPS goes to primary school: The example of a GPS system
in co-operation with educational software for primary education",
presentation of the hardware configuration for the wireless transmission
of GPS data to educational mapping software, Meeting of GPS users,
Athens, February 2000.
"Software components for music based on the E-Slate
platform", demonstration at the "New Tools in Education:
New practices?" workshop organized by Computer Technology Institute,
Athens, September 1998.
"A GIS- and hypertext-based system
for excavation documentation", paper presented at the 25th
International Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative
Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Birmingham, April 1997.
"A GIS- and hypertext-based system
for the excavation documentation", presentation of the
application of GIS in the documentation of an archaeological excavation,
Meeting of Arc/Info users, Athens, November 1996.
PAPERS, DEMOS AND PUBLICATIONS
Dekoli, M., Mikhak, B. 2004. “CodaChrome:
a system for creating interactive electronic jewelry for children”,
demo at Interactive Design and Children, University of Maryland,
College Park, Maryland.
Hadzilacos, Th., Dekoli, M. 2002. “The
Utilization of Computing Technology for Excavation Documentation:
Dispilio 1998-2000”, Proceedings of International Symposium
in the Memory of D.R.Theocharis, Thessaloniki-Kastoria, 26-28 November
1998, 421-430.
Dekoli, M. (editor). 2001. “Xenios:
Educational activities and software for Foreign Language Learning
in school 2.2” CTI Press, Athens, Greece. Authors: Dekoli,
M., Gavrielidou, M., Dimopoulou, C., Gupari, M., Kokkas, N., Pasisi,
K.
Dekoli, M. May 2001. “Xenios:
Educational software and activities for the support of foreign language
teaching in schools”. 1st Conference for the Utilization
of Educational Technology in the didactic practise: Educational
Software – Internet, organized by the Secretariat of Secondary
Education of the Cyclades and the Greek Pedagogical Institute. Syros.
Pasisi, K., Dekoli, M. April 2000. “Teaching
German in the programme MENTOR in the schools of the Odysseas network”,
Conference of teachers of the German language in Greece (Griechischer
Deutschlehrerverband), Goethe Institut Athen. Athens.
Koutlis, M., Dekoli, M., et al. July 1999. "E-Slate:
a kit of educational components", International Conference
on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AI-ED) '99 (poster presentation),
Le Mans, France.
Dekoli, M., Hadzilacos, Th. April 1997. "A
GIS- and hypertext-based system for excavation documentation",
25th International Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative
Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Birmingham, UK.
THESES
Dekoli, M. 2003. “Coloring
Time with CodaChrome”. Master’s thesis, Grassroots
Inventions Group, Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dekoli, M. 1997. "Advanced
Applications of Geographical Information Systems and Multimedia:
The Archaeology Paradigm”. Bachelor’s thesis, School
of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras, Greece.
OTHER
Mentor on Scratch projects,
Computer
Clubhouses in the Boston area, Boys and Girls Clubs of Charlestown
& Chelsea, MA, 2003-2006.
Reviewer, Educational Software Packages, Project
Nafsika, Action Odysseia, Athens, Greece, 2001.
Reviewer, Educational Software Development project proposals, Project
Seirines, Action Odysseia, Athens, Greece, 1999. |
