This paper interprets the theories of Vygotsky through the lenses of creativity in education and learning design using technology. It is important to address the role of the teacher in today’s technology-enhanced classrooms. This initiative has not been addressed, and it may lead to new ways of thinking about creativity in today’s teaching profession. Teachers’ roles have shifted from instructors to designers of effective scenarios for technology-enhanced learning. In this context, teachers need to be able to creatively connect pedagogy, content, and technology in learning design. The work of Vygotsky emphasizes the role of the teacher when assessing the learner’s developmental level, by tailoring the teaching so that it falls within the zone of proximal development. The procedure leads to new knowledge, indicating a creative process. Language as a tool now has new means to be transmitted—new technologies. Considering these connections, questions need to be re-addressed: What is the connection between creativity and the zone of proximal development? How has the learning design field shifted the role of the teacher and how does this relate to (1) the theory of cognitive development from a constructivist perspective and (2) the theory of the zone of proximal development? What are the connections between the new role of the teacher as a designer with creativity and technology in the zone of proximal development? In this paper, we synthesize the knowledge between creativity in learning design using technology and Vygotsky’s theories, concluding with an interpretation of how the teacher can be assisted by his theories and synchronous technologies in creative learning design.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way organizations face decision-making issues. One of these crucial elements is the implementation of organizational changes. There has been a wide-spread adoption of AI techniques in the private sector, whereas in the public sector their use has been recently extended. One of the greatest challenges that European governments have to face is the implementation of a wide variety of European Union (EU) funding programs which have evolved in the context of the EU long-term budget. In the current study, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are intertwined with forecasting the outcomes of a co-financed EU program by means of its impact on the non-financial measures of the government body that materialized it. The predictive accuracy of the present model advanced in this research study takes into account all the complexities of the business environment, within which the provided dataset is produced. The outcomes of the study showed that the measures taken to enhance customer satisfaction allows for further improvement. The utilization of the proposed model could facilitate the decision-making process and initiate changes to the administrational issues of the available funding programs.

Today, the Vocational Education and Training (VET) curriculum in Greece is state-regulated, combining school-based and work-based learning, and it is offered at upper-secondary and post-secondary levels. There is a need to prepare a new agenda for VET in Greece that follows the rapid technological developments of today. Our paper aims to enrich, redefine, and expand the current curricula and educational practices while proposing a complete plan for the overall reformation of VET’s learning conditions from the point of view of teaching and learning analytics. Through the evaluation of the existing changing institutional framework, the updated bibliographic references, and the experiential data of the educational reality, we can understand the expected needs of technological educators and decide how to address the priorities that must be determined. We focus on the preparation of the trainers and the overall redefinition of the role of education in preparing graduates. This paper’s main conclusions offer interpretations for the cognitive orientation of the existing curricula, as well as direction for the thinking and teaching skills of teachers, to build confidence in the prospects of technical education in Greece.

Resource allocation of the availability of certain departments for dealing with emergency recovery is of high importance in municipalities. Efficient planning for facing possible disasters in the coverage area of a municipality provides reassurance for citizens. Citizens can assist with such malfunctions by acting as human sensors at the edge of an infrastructure to provide instant feedback to the appropriate departments fixing the problems. However, municipalities have limited department resources to handle upcoming emergency events. In this study, we propose a smartphone crowdsensing system that is based on citizens’ reactions as human sensors at the edge of a municipality infrastructure to supplement malfunctions exploiting environmental crowdsourcing location-allocation capabilities. A long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network is incorporated to learn the occurrence of such emergencies. The LSTM is able to stochastically predict future emergency situations, acting as an early warning component of the system. Such a mechanism may be used to provide adequate department resource allocation to treat future emergencies.

In this article, we present a hybrid optimization methodology using the whale optimization algorithm and Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling technique in a teachers’ training development program regarding creativity in technology-enhanced learning design. Finding the best possible training for creativity in learning design with technology is a complex task, as many dynamic and multi-model variables need to be taken into consideration. When designing the best possible training, the whale optimization algorithm helped us in determining the right methods, resources, content, and assessment. A further Markov Chain Monte Carlo-based approach helped us in deciding with accuracy that these were the correct parameters of our training. In this article, we show that metaheuristic algorithms like the whale optimization algorithm, validated by a Markov chain technique like Markov Chain Monte Carlo, can help not only in areas like machine learning but also in fields without structured data, like creativity in technology-enhanced learning design. The best possible training for a teacher’s professional development in creative learning design is collaborative, hands-on, and utilizes creativity definitions for the product along with technology integration learning design models.

Although the 4th Industrial Revolution has already progressed, traditional manufacturing, factoring plants, and repetitive tasks affect production schedules and increase final costs. Augmented Reality technology through mobile devices, with the display of Three-dimensional, designs in combination with the exploitation of the capabilities of Augmented Reality software scanning, measurement, but also interactions of virtual objects with notes that convey data and information about the real world and spatialization of a location. This paper explores the innovative use of Augmented Reality technology and the Matterport platform in Vocational Education and Training. The Vocational Education and Training laboratories employ Matterport's Augmented Reality capabilities, to train students in scanning and creating Augmented Reality applications, enabling them to develop industry-specific mobile applications for various sectors. In many specializations of Vocational Education and Training laboratories are utilized to create immersive virtual environments that students can explore and interact with using their mobile devices. The research focuses on the integration of the Matterport platform into the Vocational Education and Training curriculum, emphasizing its potential for enhancing vocational training. In our paper, we present the strategic planning for the enrichment of the application in the new Vocational Education and Training curricula and the first reporting elements from this development.