The SUTEE – Showcasing Urban Trees for Environmental Education with IoT Technology project participated in the 21st European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2026), one of the leading international conferences dedicated to research and innovation in technology-enhanced education.
During the conference, the SUTEE team presented a poster entitled “Plantagotchi: Learning with Living Systems through a Gamified Digital Twin”, showcasing an innovative educational approach that combines Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, gamification, and inquiry-based learning to promote environmental awareness and digital competences.
The Plantagotchi ecosystem connects a real hydroponic cultivation system with an interactive virtual plant avatar through IoT sensors and a mobile application. By monitoring environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and lighting, learners can observe how real-world conditions influence plant development. The virtual avatar reflects these changes, providing visual feedback that helps students understand the consequences of their decisions and explore the relationships between technology, living systems, and sustainability.
The educational approach builds on the SUTEEComp framework, which integrates the European DigComp and GreenComp competence models. Through inquiry-based learning activities, students are encouraged to investigate environmental challenges, interpret real-time data, develop solutions, and reflect on their impact. Preliminary experiences in agricultural and computer engineering education suggest that this combination of real-world experimentation and gamified interaction can foster engagement, systems thinking, and environmentally responsible decision-making.
The poster represents a collaborative effort involving several institutions participating in the SUTEE project: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Doukas School, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Pädagogische Hochschule Wien. Their contributions reflect the interdisciplinary and international nature of the project, bringing together expertise in educational technology, engineering, sustainability, and innovative pedagogical approaches.
Participation in EC-TEL 2026 provided an excellent opportunity to disseminate the final outcomes of SUTEE, share the educational innovations developed throughout the project, and engage with the international Technology-Enhanced Learning community. The poster session also offered a valuable setting for exchanging ideas, receiving feedback, and exploring potential collaborations that could extend the impact of SUTEE beyond its formal project duration.
We are delighted to have contributed to this international research forum and look forward to building on the connections established during the conference.
