The conference was aimed at IT and programming teachers, with a special focus on object-oriented programming. Participants had the opportunity to learn about innovations in programming education, exchange experiences, and take part in a demonstration of an interactive programming lesson.
The conference was opened by Prof. Dr. Sandra Jednak, Vice Dean for International Cooperation, and Assistant Professor Dr. Aleksandar Jović, Assistant Minister for International Cooperation and European Integration at the Ministry of Education. Professor Sandra Jednak welcomed all participants on behalf of the Faculty’s Deanery and, in her speech, emphasized the importance of Erasmus+ projects in the development of education and international cooperation, expressing the hope that there will be even more such projects in the future.
Assistant Professor Dr. Aleksandar Jović, in his address, emphasized that the strategic commitment of the Ministry of Education, in line with the Education Development Strategy of Serbia until 2030, is the further digitalization of education. This includes supporting teachers in the application of modern technologies in the educational process, with a particular focus on enhancing IT education in Serbia. Highlighting the importance of innovations in programming education, he stated that the Ministry strongly supports projects like OOP4FUN, which contribute to empowering teachers through professional development and the implementation of modern methods in the classroom. He also pointed out the significance of systemic support and strategic initiatives undertaken by the Ministry to ensure high-quality education aligned with current technological trends.
Prof. Dr. Dušan Savić, Vice Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, and the project leader of OOP4FUN for the University of Belgrade, presented the results and activities of the “OOP4FUN” project under the Erasmus+ program. He also conducted a class on object-oriented programming for IT teachers from high schools, demonstrating an example and model of how they can work with their students.
A guest of the event was Ms. Ljiljana Krkić from Oracle Serbia and Montenegro, who, together with the director of the Computer Science High School in Belgrade, Professor Duša Vuković, presented the support that Oracle provides to educational programs. Among other things, Oracle supports the Greenfoot programming environment, which was used in the OOP4FUN project. Additionally, courses offered to teachers and students through the Oracle Academy program were showcased. These courses are completely free for educational institutions. It was also highlighted that an additional option is the use of services within the Oracle Cloud computing platform.
The event concluded with an informal networking lunch, where participants had another opportunity to get to know each other better, connect, exchange knowledge and experiences, and set guidelines for future collaborative activities.
The Erasmus+ project “Object-Oriented Programming for FUN” (OOP4FUN) started in January 2022. This project aims to address the need for innovations in IT education in secondary schools. The project is coordinated by the Faculty of Management and Informatics, University of Žilina, Slovakia. Project partners include the University of Zagreb – Faculty of Organization and Informatics, Croatia; Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft, Germany; University of Belgrade – Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia; University of Pardubice, Czech Republic; Business Academy Považská Bystrica, Slovakia; Ivanec Secondary School, Croatia; Dresden-Plauen Gymnasium, Germany; Ivanjica Gymnasium, Serbia; and Dašička Gymnasium, Pardubice, Czech Republic. The project will conclude in November 2024.
For more information about the project, you can visit: https://oop4fun.eu/.
