Dr Stavros Nikou
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Education
Personal statement
Stavros Nikou is Senior Lecturer in Digital Education at the Strathclyde Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems focusing on Learning Technologies from the University of Macedonia - Greece, a M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Houston (CL) and a B.Sc. in Physics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Stavros has many years of experience in ICT and STEM education. His research interests include technology-enhanced teaching and learning, context-aware mobile learning and assessment, instructional design, online and blended learning, AR/VR/MR, teacher education, computational thinking and innovative emerging technologies to support STEM education. Stavros is Course Leader of the Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning (Digital Education), he teaches Learning Technologies and supervises postgraduate students within the Institute of Education.
Stavros has served as UNESCO consultant for the development of the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers and ambassador for Scientix - The Community for Science Education in Europe. He is also member of the Smart Mobile and Interactive Learning Environments (SMILE) Lab. Stavros is Chair of the IEEE Technical Community on Learning Technology (TCLT) SIG “Augmented Reality and Virtual Worlds in Education and Training (ARVWET)”. He is Associate Editor for the "IEEE Transactions on Education" journal, Section Editor for the "International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM)", and scientific committee member in several top ranking international conferences. He has published in highly cited international journals and refereed conference proceedings and he is included in the Stanford's list of the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists.
Stavros is a member of the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA), the European Association of Technology-Enhanced Learning (EATEL), the Association for Smart Learning Ecosystems and Regional Development (ASLERD), the International Association of Smart Learning Environments (IASLE), and the Hellenic Physics Society. He is also Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Senior member of IEEE (SMIEEE).
Area of Expertise
- Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning
- Smart Learning Environments
- Immersive technologies
- Artificial Intelligence
- Instructional Design
- Technology Acceptance
- Physics Education
- Digital Competency Frameworks
Prize And Awards
- Stavros Nikou is included in the University of Stanford’s and Elsevier's list with the "World's Top 2%" most-cited scientists for 2025 .
- Recipient
- 2025
- Stavros Nikou is included in the University of Stanford’s and Elsevier's list with the "World's Top 2%" most-cited scientists for 2024.
- Recipient
- 2024
- Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
- Recipient
- 2022
- IEEE Senior Membership
- Recipient
- 2021
- Article nomination for Best Full Paper Award in 21st IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (IEEE ICALT)
- Recipient
- 2021
Publications
- Why do primary school pupils engage in Augmented Reality educational activities? : A uses and gratification theory perspective
- Nikou Stavros A
- Immersive Learning Research Network iLRN 2025: 11th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network Communications in Computer and Information Science, pp. 66–79 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98080-0_5
- A Comparative Study of AI-Driven and Human Tutoring Models for Coding Instruction in Initial Teacher Education
- Nikou Stavros, Perifanou Maria, Economides Anastasios A
- 16th International Conference on Intelligent Multimodal Communication and Learning Technologies (2025)
- AI²LM-HE panel session : advancing interactive & immersive learning media in higher education – insights from a systematic expert review
- Economou Daphne, Mitelpunkt Daniel, McKenna Helen, MacDowell Paula, Nikou Stavros, Doumanis Ioannis
- Practitioner Proceedings of 2025 11th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) iLRN 2025: 11th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network, pp. 45-47 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.56198/vk36vh54
- Exploiting the TARC framework : the relations between educators’ attitudes towards AR, innovativeness, digital skills, and AR skills in education
- Nikou Stavros A, Perifanou Maria, Economides Anastasios A
- Immersive Learning Research Network - 10th International Conference on Immersive Learning, iLRN 2024, Revised Selected Papers 10th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network Communications in Computer and Information Science Vol 2271, pp. 130-141 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-80475-5_9
- Augmented reality and educators
- Nikou Stavros A, Perifanou Maria, Economides Anastasios A
- (2024)
- Development and validation of the teachers' augmented reality competences (TARC) scale
- Nikou Stavros A, Perifanou Maria, Economides Anastasios A
- Journal of Computers in Education Vol 11, pp. 1041-1060 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-023-00288-6
Research Interests
Main research areas: learning technologies, digital education, mobile & ubiquitous learning, immersive learning environments, artificial intelligence, instructional design and technology integration, STEM education, teachers' digital competencies.
Main area of focus: the role of cognitive, metacognitive, affective and motivational processes during technology-enhanced teaching and learning.
Professional Activities
- iLRN2026: 12th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network
- Chair
- 27/6/2026
- 11th Conference on Smart Learning Ecosystems and Regional Development
- Chair
- 18/6/2026
- 25th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (IEEE ICALT 2025) - Track 12. Augmented Reality and Virtual Worlds in Education and Training (ARVWET)
- Chair
- 14/7/2025
- 10th conference on Smart Learning Ecosystems and Regional Development
- Chair
- 12/6/2025
- Strategic Themes: Applied AI Workshop
- Participant
- 17/1/2025
- 2024 4th Asia Education Technology Symposium
- Invited speaker
- 8/11/2024
Projects
- Developing teaching professionals’ knowledge and skills in AI technologies for inclusive and equitable education
- Wang, Yuchen (Principal Investigator) Abel, Andrew (Co-investigator) Jia, Laibing (Co-investigator) Noor Ul Ain, N (Researcher) Mevawalla, Zinnia (Co-investigator) Catlin, Jane (Co-investigator) Devasya, Ashwitha (Researcher) Tripathy, Aditi (Researcher) Nikou, Stavros (Co-investigator) Roxburgh, David (Co-investigator) Robinson, Deborah (Co-investigator)
- This project is to co-design a professional learning programme on AI and inclusive education with teachers and student teachers, funded by EPSRC (£9,961).
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
- Cultures of Collaborative Research in a Socially Progressive Technological University / R230557-214
- Nikou, Stavros (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
- Leveraging Conversational Artificial Intelligence for teaching and learning in Higher Education Institutions
- Nikou, Stavros (Principal Investigator) McLeod, Debbie (Fellow) Payne, Orlaith (Fellow)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
- Exploring Augmented Reality teaching in primary schools
- Nikou, Stavros (Principal Investigator) Greechan, David (Co-investigator) Hendry, Martyn (Co-investigator)
- 15-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2024
Contact
Dr
Stavros
Nikou
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Education
Email: stavros.nikou@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 444 8198