Simplifying the Complex Education System
Greece is a nation that has been gripped by a crippling economic crisis since 2009.
What started out as financial turmoil soon spilled over into political and social crises as
well. Among the struggling areas, public education is suffering from lack of funding for
resources, teachers, and wages.
Ourania Vasiliki Doula is a primary
school teacher in Greece who was
feeling the effects of the situation in her
classroom. “In every crisis, there are
opportunities that emerge that can
change our living conditions. I strongly
believe that education is the best
opportunity we have.” But with only one
course book for each lesson, she
sensed a need to expand upon the
provided material.
“I grew up in a family of teachers, where discussions regarding education and how it’s
best practiced happened every day. When I finally got my degree in Pedagogics and
started to work I remember being so confused. How could I transform theory into
practice?” After a few years working in the field, it became apparent that the existing
curriculum was simply not enough. Then she began to produce her own teaching
materials.
Reaching Students through Shared Documents
Ourania wanted to bring technology into her
lessons and create custom educational material
that would allow her to teach in a way that best fit
her style and needs. She produced her own
classroom materials for five years before publishing
them online at a site she created called ‘Anoixtes
Taxeis’ or ‘Open Classrooms’.
“I wanted to be able to distribute my resources [for] free, but I also wanted a template
which was user-friendly, had customized restrictions and presented my materials in a
more elegant fashion. That’s why I picked edocr among other platforms.” - Ourania
Vasiliki Doula, founder of Anoixtes Taxeis
Ourania began sharing her material with students and educators on edocr. Her lesson
plans began receiving hundreds of views. Of all the materials she produced, her guided
and creative writing materials were the most popular in her own classroom and online.
edocr allowed Ourania to easily grow her online presence with the lessons she already
created.
But, she didn’t stop there. Ourania began utilizing more of the edocr features to suit her
needs. Through her premium account, she created multiple collections so that her
lessons could be organized by subject. Then, she took it a step further with edocr’s lead
generation feature. By gating her content by collection, she was able to see who was
looking at her content. With edocr’s email validation, she could rest assured that the
email address provided was a real.
Ourania continues to develop and share new materials every month. After seeing the
initial results from using edocr, Ourania Vasiliki Doula has integrated edocr into her
ongoing lesson sharing so that she can continue to share her love of education with the
world.
Ourania's edocr profile is here, but she requires your email address to access her
various collections of documents: https://www.edocr.com/user/anoixtestaxeis
And a sample document behind the 'provide email' wall:
https://www.edocr.com/v/ewraz4e6/anoixtestaxeis/Plano-perigrafhs-antikeimenwn
And do note that edocr provides educators with free premium account if they just ask!