In the Lab of Tomorrow

Detailed description of project

Project objectives:
The project “In the Lab of Tomorrow” (InLot) aimed at investigating the feasibility of a business case as a service for a successful and innovative science teaching and learning. The purpose of the InLot services was to deepen the students’ understanding of scientific concepts by effectively associate every day activities with scientific enquiry and experimentation and strengthen their appreciation of scientific processes. Finally it supported the provision of key skills to the future citizens and scientists like collaborative work and intercultural communication. The InLot service saw the informal science education as an opportunity to transcend from traditional classroom based teaching, to a “feel and interact” user experience. The main aim of the project was to implement data of wearable sensor shirts into sports, physics and other subjects in schools.

Target group:
The project tends to address target groups of students and teachers, science education experts and the wider public in the framework of a long series of trials.
For the market validation of the service the pilot sites in at least 60 schools in Greece, Austria and UK, were appropriately trained and prepared for integrating the continuously improved usage scenarios.
Project implementation:

The project ‘InLoT’ can be divided into 7 steps:

• The first step was the market positioning step that provided the foundations with an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the position of the InLot Service in the contemporary e-learning market in Europe. Within the same project phase, also, an initial assessment of the potential of the InLot Service for market deployment was performed, and an initial plan for the trans-European validation and deployment of the InLot Service was made.
• The service customisation step focused on the customisation of the InLot Service, contributing towards the alignment of the existing service prototype with the users’ needs and contemporary market tendencies.
• The validation and demonstration activities formed the core of the project. In this work package the consortium validated the InLot Service and continuously adjusted it to real-life user feedback, by demonstrating its use to a large number and diverse groups of target users across Europe, in real-life environments.
• The aim of the feasibility study step was to assess the feasibility and establish the prerequisites for, the deployment of the InLot Service in the European market, through the collection and analysis of information originating directly from the target users as well as through further document analysis.
• Deployment planning took account of all the previous processes of validation and demonstration and their findings, so as to finally plan deployment of the service in the market beyond the end of the project itself.
• In addition there were also two cross-cutting work packages for dissemination and project management.

Project results:
This project contributes to the development of a new generation of citizens who are scientifically literate and thus better prepared to work in a world that is increasingly influenced by science and technology. The project’s ambition is on one hand to inspire and motivate young people to pursue careers in science, but also to engage the young participants in sharing the experience of exploration and discovery. It envisions to enhance awareness and understanding of the scientific and technological advances of our times, and to link them to the history and evolution of the human mind and society.