The Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche has developed AIR (Apprendere Insieme in Rete - Learning together online), a blended course addressed to expert teachers.
The course lasted four months and involved 240 participants from different school levels selected through a questionnaire whose criteria matched the European pioneer teacher profile: it is being delivered in 10 parallel editions, in two Italian regions. In each edition 20/25 participants were organized in a virtual group co-ordinated by an online tutor. The course uses a blended learning strategy. It is composed of three online modules and three face-to-face meetings.
In each module, participants are involved in online collaborative activities. The face-to- face meetings are used to reflect critically on the activities performed online and to create and reinforce a climate of friendship among participants. In order to perform online activities, participants interact in a CMC environment (First Class Centrinity(TM)).
The interface uses a school metaphor that comprises classrooms in which participants perform tasks, a library that contains articles and documents, a lab which gives technical assistanc, and a café in which participants may socialise.
The overwhelming success of the courses is confirmed by the statistical results: the very low rate of drop out (22%), the high number of communicative interactions during the course (23000 messages in total, 107 messages on average for each participant) and the elevated rates of participant satisfaction that emerged from a final questionnaire. At the end of the courses 188 participants obtained the certification, testifying to their development of competencies concerning:
o working together in a Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) environment;
o using the Internet to find information, share knowledge and cooperate in designing collaborative work projects;
o designing ICT-based collaborative learning environments for their students;
o coordinating collaborative learning activities among students and/or teachers.
http://ulearn.itd.cnr.it/documents/booklet2.pdf
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