Teams

Dr. Hayriye ULAŞ TARAF
presently works as a language instructor at Necmettin Erbakan University, the School of Foreign Languages in Konya/Türkiye. She holds her MA and PhD in ELT. With her 16 years of accumulated teaching experience, she has expertise in educational program design and curriculum development, educational technology, and materials development and adaptation. Her research interests include inclusive teaching, gifted education, teaching through critical pedagogies, language teacher education, and AI & computer-assisted language learning. She has several articles and book chapters on these relevant educational issues. She is also part of Erasmus+ projects related to language education through educational technology, teaching STEM, and 21st-century learning skills and competences.

Prof. Dr. Derya YILDIZ
works in Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Education, Department of Turkish Education. She holds her PhD, BA and MA degrees in Turkish education.She worked on the analysis of stories in her master’s degree; her doctorate focused on the development of speaking skills. She has studies on creative writing-speaking, curriculum creation and digital skills. She gave lectures on teaching Turkish as a secondary language to international students. She teaches courses on the development of language skills, assessment and evaluation at undergraduate and graduate levels.She worked on important issues such as “development of language skills”, “development of assessment-evaluation tools”, “creation of digital stories”, “preparation of education programs” in many projects supported by TUBITAK, Erasmus, University and different institutions. Her research interests focus on comprehension and expression skills and higher order thinking skills.

Dr. Ayten BÜLBÜL
has been working as a lecturer at Necmettin Erbakan University, Department of Linguistics, since 2012. She graduated from linguistics at Dokuz Eylül University (2007) and did her MA degree in Turkish as a foreign language (2010). Between 2009 and 2016, she gave general Turkish and academic Turkish lectures to international students at Ankara University and Necmettin Erbakan University. She earned her Ph.D. in linguistics through appraisal language at Ankara University in 2023. Her research interests include reading skills and grammar teaching in teaching Turkish as a foreign language, morphology-semantics interface studies, discourse-semantics, and text linguistics.

Dr. Teslime Gokgol
is the vice-coordinator of the International Relations Office at Konya Technical University (KTUN). She received her PhD degree in Translation and Cultural Studies from Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University. Her recent studies focus on audiovisual translation, language teaching (English as a second Language and Turkish for Foreigners) and culture. Also, she is a book translator and audiobook narrator.

Mustafa TARI
is graduated from Selçuk University, Department of Computer Systems Teaching and Computer Engineering. He completed his master’s degree in Computer Engineering at Konya Technical University. He has studies in both education and engineering fields. He currently works as a lecturer in the Information Technologies department at Konya Technical University. He provides consultancy services in the software industry.

Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner
is chair professor of the chair Business and Human Resource Education II at the university Paderborn. He is an expert in Higher Education, VET and diversity education, on Teacher Education in Germany as well as on eLearning and digitisation. He is currently director of the teacher training Center – PLAZ – of the University Paderborn. His work crosses several domains including VET, economy, entrepreneurship, didactics, teacher training, curriculum theory and development, new teaching and learning methods including e-learning, MOOC design and situated learning. A special focus of his work is on pedagogy and didactics, Higher Education settings, special approaches for heterogeneous groups, and instructional designs. Also the topics od internships, work placements, European Citizenship and experiences in the world of labour can be identified in his research and student teaching activities. All of his university modules include the focus on higher education issues, VET and diversity education, media didactics and digitisation. He is working in international context for more than 20 years. See his list of publications: http://www.marc-beutner.de

Helene M. Lindenthal
is a PhD student and currently works as a research assistant at the Chair of Business and Human Resource Education II at Paderborn University.
She holds a degree in both Business Education as well as in Higher Education and focuses on e-learning, internationalisation and game-based learning in her studies.
As part of her work as a research assistant at Paderborn University, she is the project manager of several Erasmus+ projects and conducts research in the areas of e-learning, game-based learning, internationalisation, diversity, learning disabilities, adult education, STEM education and sustainability.
During her Master´s degree, she spent a semester at a university of applied sciences in Finland. She is therefore familiar with the life of a foreign student and can contribute this knowledge and experience to the “E-Stories” project.

Eleni Katsarou
is a Professor of Curriculum theories and Instruction, in the
Department of Primary Education of the University of Crete. Her current research focuses on AI literacy. She is a member of Talos Center – AI for Humanities and Social Sciences (website: https://talos-ai4ssh.uoc.gr/)

Irini Kassotaki
has been teaching Greek as a Foreign Language to International undergraduate/postgraduate students and researchers at the University of Crete, for 30 years. Initially, she taught in Rethymno and later in Heraklion in the International Relations Department. She studied at the Department of Philology of the University of Crete, focusing on teaching Modern Greek as a first and second/foreign language. Irini has participated in programs for teaching Modern Greek as a foreign language, such as the Institute of Adult Continuing Education (IDEKE) and Leonardo da Vinci. She also took part in writing groups for educational materials and teaching scenarios, including EDIAMME (University of Crete), Proteas, and Europeana. Irini teaches in the Hellenic Open University’s Postgraduate Programme “Language Education for refugees and migrants” and in Model General Lyceum of Heraklion. Additionally, she is a teacher-trainer.

Panagiota Samioti
graduated from the Department of Philology of the University of Crete in 1995 and from the Department of English Language and Literature of the (Kapodistrian) University of Athens in 2022. She completed her MA studies in Linguistics (University of Crete, 2002-2004) and in Applied Linguistics (English and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, 2004-2005) followed by her PhD in Linguistics/Applied Linguistics (University of Crete, 2015). From 2005 to 2020, she worked as a full-time Philology teacher in Secondary Education. At the same time, she worked in Higher Education in the UK (University of Roehampton Online, Education Department, 2017-2020) and in University programmes in the USA (Boston Emmanuel College, 2016-2018) teaching Greek as a Foreign Language. She has also taught in pre-sessional courses in the UK as an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Tutor. Since September 2020, she has been a permanent Laboratory and Teaching Staff (EDIP) at the University of Crete administering and teaching supportive courses in Academic Writing at the Writing Centre of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Crete (Director of the Writing Center: A. Kastrinaki).

Dr. Julio Ruiz-Palmero
holds a PhD in Educational Technology from the University of Malaga (Extraordinary Award), a Master’s Degree in New Technologies Applied to Education, a University Expert in Virtual Training Environments and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics. He teaches as a Lecturer at the University of Malaga in the Department of Didactics and School Organisation. He has two research periods and seven three-year teaching periods.
He is the editor of the Innoeduca Journal -International Journal of Technology and Educational Innovation- and has been directing the Innoeduca Research Group -SEJ533- of the University of Malaga for years, with the commitment to investigate the teaching-learning processes with technology.
He is the evaluator of the National Agency for Evaluation and Foresight (ANEP) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation. He is a member of Scientific Committees and is a reviewer of different scientific journals specialised in Educational Technology.
In relation to university management, he has been Director of the Secretariat of the Technological Headquarters of the International University of Andalusia in Malaga and is currently Vice-Rector of Educational Innovation and Virtual Campus of the same institution.

Dr. María Rubio-Gragera
holds a PhD in Literature, Linguistics and Translation by the University of Málaga (Spain). She has worked as a foreign language teacher (Spanish, English, and French) since 2013. First, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (United States) where she also worked as a research assistant for the Department of Languages and Culture Studies. Later, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Didactics Research Group of the University of Seville (GID HUM 390) where she has taught at the Department of Didactics of School Organization. Currently, she is teaching as a civil servant for the Andalusian Government in the public secondary education system. She is also an active member of the research group on Educational Innovation and Technology (Innoeduca) at the University of Malaga. In addition, she has a large international professional experience, especially in European projects management in the field of Education, mainly in Erasmus+ programs.

Giovanny Durán-Eyzaguirre
holds a Vocational Higher Education Diploma in Marketing and Sales Management. For more than ten years, he has been working as an event planner specialist. He has a large professional experience organizing national and international events, as well as a solid background in graphic design and talent recruitment. More recently, his professional career has been focused on internationalization within the field of Education and Training, as international student advisor in and international school in Málaga (Spain), guiding and supporting international students to achieve their educational goals in a foreign context. His ability to connect with people from different cultures and his commitment to diversity and inclusion make him a highly valued collaborator for this project, contributing to tackle every potential challenge withing the lifetime of the project and make significant contributions to its success.

Sanja Kovačević
is the Head of the Projects Unit at WEBIN, with a Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature. She brings years of experience across the education sector, ranging from early childhood to higher education, and excels as an adult trainer in project management. Sanja is skilled in utilizing Project Quality Architecture (PQA) methodology for evaluations and has a strong background in developing research methodologies and conducting studies for various ongoing and completed projects. Her expertise extends to creating curricula for higher education and training materials for non-formal adult education. Involved in policy analysis, she prepares socio-economic overviews and assesses projects and programs. Since 2018, she has served as an external evaluator for the Foundation Tempus (National Erasmus Office), assessing KA1 and KA2 projects, and has been a regular CEEPUS evaluator since 2019. Previously, she spent nearly a decade as an English teacher and International Office coordinator at the Teacher Training College, focusing on mobility and safety. Sanja is also a published author, advocating for innovative, student-centered language learning approaches that emphasize lifelong and problem-based learning.

Jelena Nastić
is the founder and CEO of the Western Balkans Institute (WEBIN), a Belgrade-based NGO dedicated to development cooperation in the Western Balkans. With a decade of experience, she has led various projects funded by the EU, BMZ, and UN in Eastern Europe, focusing on socio-economic development. Her career began at the EU Delegation of the European Commission to Serbia, followed by roles at HD European Consulting Group and World Vision foundation in Serbia, where she specialized in EU development assistance projects. Jelena is a PMI certified project manager, with extensive experience in project development, research, evaluation, and training, particularly in enhancing young adults’ project management skills and bridging education-employment gaps. She holds an MA in European Studies from Maastricht University, with a focus on European international politics and foreign aid. Since 2017, she has also worked as an external assessor for EU and other donor grant projects.

Marko Stojanović
is the director of the WEBIN Training Academy (WETA), specializing in eLearning material development and dissemination to various user groups. Since 2021, he has offered training and lectures at African and European universities, managing WEBIN’s training sessions and blending learning opportunities in the Western Balkans, focusing on project development and intercultural learning, including hackathons. With over 15 years in project management, he has worked on international projects with higher education institutions, focusing on engagement, outreach, and training tools for quality stakeholder support, especially those in vulnerable positions. Marko is also skilled in policy dialogue, citizens’ initiatives for policy improvement, and has coordinated interagency policy analytics, advocacy, and reporting meetings. His work includes evaluating policies, ensuring legal compliance, and consulting with stakeholders for policy development. He has founded networks like the Anti-poverty Network Serbia and the Serbian Youth Umbrella Organisation. His academic background is in economics.

Dragana Jovanović
is an expert in media, communication, and digital content with extensive experience in EU-funded communication projects. She is skilled in both conventional and creative content creation, including website maintenance, blogging, article writing, photography, videography, and managing social media. Dragana excels in producing diverse digital content for educational, communication, marketing, and e-commerce purposes, using effective text, images, audio, video, animations, and interactive features. She coordinates WEBIN’s production of e-books, blogs, newsletters, podcasts, videos, short films, and manages live streaming events. Versatile in various apps and software for project dissemination, she also develops and manages Dissemination and Communication Plans for complex, multi-beneficiary international projects, adapting strategies to meet changing needs and stakeholder requirements. Dragana’s expertise extends to media and discourse analysis, and she has received training in international investigative journalism from the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). She holds an MA in Journalism from the University of Belgrade.

Jasmina Radoičić
serves as the Head of Internal Operations at WEBIN, also representing employees on the Board. With a background in economics, she oversees financial matters and procurement, bringing expertise in both national legislation and EU PRAG rules for External Actions. Jasmina excels in classical procurement, negotiating supplier deals, analyzing spending for savings opportunities, and collaborating with suppliers to enhance performance and competitive advantage. Her responsibilities include maintaining accurate financial records, preparing financial statements, processing invoices, managing payables and receivables, updating financial data, conducting audits, tracking banking activities, assisting in budgeting, and implementing financial policies. She plays a key role in encouraging internal compliance with procurement initiatives, securing senior management support for procurement strategies, and leading international project teams towards success. Additionally, Jasmina contributes to WEBIN’s Project Quality Architecture (PQA) team, focusing on project management quality.