ALPER-EU Project Launches to Advance Programming in EU Primary Schools by Integrating Agile Methodology and Educational Robotics

A consortium of eight organizations from five different countries across Europe has officially launched ALPER-EU K12 Agile Learning of Programming with Educational Robotics, an ambitious Erasmus+ KA220SCH initiative designed to transform how primary school pupils learn programming. The partners convened on 26 November 2025 for the project’s first full meeting, marking the operational start of a 27-month programme running from November 2025 to January 2028, with a total budget of €400,000.

Coordinated by Professor Antonios Konstantaras of the Department of Electronic Engineering the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Greece, ALPER-EU seeks to bring agile teamwork, problem-solving, and programmable educational robotics into the classrooms of children aged six to twelve. The consortium comprises of a further seven additional partners:

• the University of Malta,
• the Institute of Educational Policy – Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs & Sports (Greece),
• the Directorate for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills of the Ministry for Education, Sports, Youths, Research and Innovation (Malta),
• the 47th Primary School of Heraklion (Greece),
• Osnovna Škola Pećine (Croatia),
• Agrupamento de Escolas Terras do Ave (Portugal) and
• Šiaulių “Dermės” Mokykla Special-Needs school (Lithuania).

Together, they represent a proactive mix of national education authorities, universities, and innovative schools ensuring that policy, research, and classroom practice are tightly connected throughout the project.

At its core, ALPER-EU introduces a child-adapted version of agile methodology, widely used in Industry 4.0. Instead of traditional, linear teaching sequences, children shall learn programming by working through iterative “agile sprints”: short cycles of planning, building, testing, evaluating and improving. These agile sprints will be centred around educational robotics, using optical programming platforms and programmable kits that make coding tangible, playful, and collaborative. Over the next two years, the partners will design a full Agile Programming Curriculum consisting of 60 robotics sprints, each including 3D robot-building instructions, sensor- and actuator-based system designs, and step-by-step Scratch programming exercises. The aim is to help children understand programming as a creative, problem-solving activity that extends beyond the computer screen and into the physical world.

A key innovation of the project is a new student engagement assessment tool using computer-vision techniques. The tool will monitor students’ gaze, facial orientation, and attention patterns during programming activities, offering teachers objective indicators of student engagement—an area that is notoriously difficult to measure in primary education. The system aims to support more inclusive teaching approaches while fully adhering to EU data-protection standards.

ALPER-EU will also deliver a structured teacher-training programme, combining online modules with in-person workshops. Teachers across Greece, Malta, Croatia, Lithuania, and Portugal will pilot the agile methodology, test the engagement tool, and contribute to evaluating the curriculum’s impact. Results will be disseminated widely through the SCIENTIX network, reaching STEM educators in over 50 countries, and through local multiplier events, school visits, and open-access digital platforms.

As Europe seeks to strengthen digital skills from a very early age, the ALPER-EU project represents a bold step toward classrooms that mirror real-world teamwork, creativity, and technological innovation. With its launch now underway, the consortium begins work on what it hopes will become a new European model for primary-level programming education.