E' universalmente riconosciuto che il rendimento scolastico dei ragazzi, oltre ad essere fortemente influenzato da una serie di fattori comportamentali e socioculturali, è strettamente collegato ad alcune abilità di base che sono 'trasversali' all'apprendimento delle varie discipline; tra queste un ruolo speciale è quello delle abilità di ragionamento logico, collegate al pensiero strategico ed alla risoluzione di problemi. L'idea chiave Nel corso degli anni, un gruppo di ricercatori di ITD ...

Share.TEC, the European project coordinated by ITD-CNR (Genova), is currently nearing conclusion. The project has yielded significant results for the adoption of innovative technologies in Teacher Education (TE ) processes. These outcomes impact both on Initial Teacher Education and on more informal processes of self-guided in-service training. Technology-driven innovation in TE is conducive to the development of transnational, multilingual and multicultural approaches capable of overcoming ...

Digital networks are an interesting context lending itself very well to implement learning processes based on socio-constructivist theories. In fact, online learning means building and sharing new knowledge based on peers interactions from a distance and this approach can be applied to all major learning contexts, i.e. school, university, adult education and informal learning. In formal education, a rather frequent setting entails that students interact through a Computer Mediated ...

La discalculia evolutiva è un disturbo di apprendimento della matematica che si manifesta nella lettura e scrittura dei numeri e nell'automatizzazione delle competenze del calcolo aritmetico, in bambini di intelligenza normale. La discalculia evolutiva colpisce una percentuale significativa di studenti stimata tra il 3% e il 5% della popolazione scolastica. Il disturbo dello sviluppo in campo aritmetico determina gravi difficoltà e ostacoli anche nei successivi apprendimenti in campo ...

Per una migliore integrazione degli ipovedenti nelle attività lavorative è essenziale potenziare le opportunità di apprendimento che consentano loro di acquisire conoscenze e abilità indispensabili per svolgere specifici compiti. In particolare, le Tecnologie Informatiche per la Comunicazione (ICT) possono contribuire al miglioramento dell'integrazione scolastica, lavorativa e sociale delle persone portatrici di handicap fisici e psichici, fornendo validi strumenti per l'autonomia personale. ...

Il problema della sicurezza dei cittadini di fronte a calamità naturali, rischi ambientali e agli incidenti causati dagli uomini è un tema fortemente sentito a livello politico e sociale; in questi ultimi anni si sono moltiplicate le azioni volte a promuovere una cultura della sicurezza, con l'obiettivo di accrescere la consapevolezza e il senso di responsabilità dei cittadini. Come sottolineato dall' art. 19 della Risoluzione del Parlamento Europeo del 4 settembre 2007 sulle catastrofi ...

L'obiettivo principale di questa attività è la definizione e sviluppo di giochi di supporto all'apprendimento, basati sulle tecnologie mobili (smartphone, palmari e tablet PC). Infatti, con la crescente diffusione degli shartphone e delle piattaforme ludiche si moltiplicano le iniziative di ricerca che cercano di definire modelli d'apprendimento basati sui di essi, in grado di sfruttarne le potenzialità a fini pedagogici. Oggi il cellulare, oggetto utilizzato dalla maggior parte dei ragazzi ...

The project developed along the lines of a long-lasting collaboration between ITD-CNR and the "Don Milani-Colombo" lower secondary school of Genoa, whose teaching staff has been experimenting the use of educational technology since the eighties. The TIC@School project aimed at designing and managing activities and initiatives related to the introduction and use of ICT both in classroom teaching and teacher training. The major objective was the development and implementation of an innovative ...

L'Italia, come molti altri paesi si trova ad affrontare la sfida di fornire un'istruzione adeguata agli studenti stranieri e l'acquisizione della lingua italiana, non solo a fini comunicativi ma soprattutto come lingua per lo studio, diventa il primo passo per raggiungere questo obiettivo. Secondo gli ultimi dati diffusi dal Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, in Italia la presenza di studenti stranieri tra i banchi di scuola è cresciuta ad un ad un ritmo abbastanza costante negli ultimi ...

La diffusione delle tecnologie mobili in tutti i paesi dell'Unione Europea offre un'opportunità per sviluppare politiche mirate alla partecipazione e all'inclusione sociale, poiché l'uso dei dispositivi mobili è trasversale all'età, allo status sociale, al sesso e alle origini etniche. Sebbene la comunità scientifica abbia messo in evidenza che il mobile learning possa essere una metodologia adeguata per supportare l'apprendimento permanente, le politiche nazionali non hanno ancora ...

Teacher Education (TE) is a strategic field for Europe's knowledge society and is undergoing rapid evolution. Share.TEC supports this process by creating a digital environment that fosters access, retrieval and reuse of resources for TE across Europe. The underlying vision is that digital resources are vehicles of educational innovation which can help build bridges among the different cultures of the member states. The Share.TEC system will be an extendible federated aggregation of resources, ...

The Mathemiamo project, carried out by the Institute for Educational Technologies of the National Research Council as part of the CORFAD Project, aims to improve the process of translating the texts of maths problems with respect to two main aspects; the linguistic aspect, that is the comprehension of the meaning of expressions used in maths problems, and the semantic aspect, which regards the ability to infer the implications of a particular expression. Mathemiamo can be used both by teachers ...

Gym2Learn is a system aimed to support the training of metacognitive strategies for students' on-line text comprehension. In particular, the features of the system are used in two different phases: training about the metacognition tools (training phase) and using them during learning activities (executive phase). So, as may happen in a gym, the "gymnastics for learning" consists of following a series of practical exercises to use and control cognitive strategies for text comprehension and then ...

Information society might be held responsible in the case it excluded and rejected those citizens that due to historical-geographical, situational, economic reasons as well as to disabilities, could not access standard technology. The actual answer to special needs of these categories pertains the concept of "universal access" and "design for all" referred to computer applications. Hence, ICT tools accessibility is a major issue today and involves all environments where they are increasingly ...

Le tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione, e segnatamente Internet, sono divenuti in questi anni strumenti mediatori sempre più pervasivi delle attività di accesso all'informazione, aprendo così ampie e nuove opportunità per pratiche di apprendimento autonomo. Allo stesso tempo il loro uso muta, in maniera ancora poco esplorata, la natura di tali pratiche nonché, per certi aspetti, gli ingredienti e la struttura stessa della conoscenza. Esemplare da questo punto di vista ...

In the summer of 2007 the minister of Education highlighted that mathematical teaching is an emergency in the Italian mainstream education system and “it risks to prevent Italian students to compete with their peers in Europe”. Moreover, the PISA international test has revealed that Italian students lack in mathematics skills: among all OECD countries that participated in PISA, Italy comes in the bottom places. It is known that to teach and learn mathematics deep changes and new ...

Although digital literacy is considered one of the key competences that all individuals need for fully participating in the information society, a large part of the European population still seems to lack the basic e-skills which underpin that competence. The 2005 Eurostat survey on a sample of 200.000 European people aged 17 to 74, shows that 37% has no computer skills at all and 15% has a low level of competence. These values vary remarkably according to the country of origin, level of ...

ITD has been engaged in research projects on computer games for a long time now; in particular, it takes into consideration the use of mind games, puzzles, brainteasers etc. to support the development of logical reasoning and problem solving skills. In this context ITD has designed a set of longitudinal experimentations in primary schools for the use of computer games both as a means to understand and highlight reasoning difficulties of individual pupils and as tools to support the ...

Il progetto MEDcGAME si inquadra nel più ampio progetto Mediterranean Myths and Sea (MEDMYSEA) nato nell'ambito dell'azione comunitaria INTERREG. MEDMYSEA è un progetto finanziato dall’Unione Europea (UE) attraverso i Fondi di Sviluppo Regionali (ERDF) nell’ambito dell’iniziativa comunitaria Archimed per stimolare la cooperazione interregionale Italia-Grecia nel periodo 2000-06. MMS nasce per promuovere lo sviluppo sostenibile del turismo mediante la ...

Mentre nel mondo ci sono ancora vaste aree di diffuso analfabetismo, nei paesi economicamente più sviluppati si parla di un nuovo tipo di alfabetizzazione (in Inglese literacy), più rispondente alla cosiddetta società della conoscenza: l'alfabetizzazione digitale (digital literacy). Chiarire il senso di questa locuzione non è un esercizio linguistico, ma è importante per comprendere e descrivere una nuova missione dei nostri sistemi educativi e formativi e conseguentemente le azioni ...

The OECD 2007 Report "Giving knowledge for free: the emergence of open education resources" highlights the importance of "open educational resources" for education and training. The term "open" refers to free resources for education. Moreover, the concept of "open" includes the possibility for professionals to modify and shape resources according to the context to make them pedagogically effective. Finally this concept refers to the adoption of ad hoc mechanisms for the protection of ...

Tale Focus è promosso da un gruppo di ricerca dell'Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche, impegnato nello studio di soluzioni informatiche che utilizzano la navigazione sul web per la didattica in rete; uno dei nostri recenti obiettivi è mettere a punto un sistema in grado di arricchire le potenzialità di un browser tradizionale con nuove funzionalità. In particolare, esse sono state progettate e realizzate con l'intento di supportare lo studente durante la navigazione di contenuti ...

The use of network-based technology in long-term patients’ education is not that fresh either in Italy or abroad. In fact many projects have been started for many years now to experiment ICT potential in hospitalized patients’ education. Though such projects contributed to a general interpretation on the ways technology-supported special education is effectively practiced, each of them has focused on specific situations and/or issues and tended to privilege either technological ...

The use of technology in the classroom suggests that teachers rethink their teaching strategies keeping into account new resources, their potential and changes they induce in contents, objectives and ways of learning and teaching, as well as in the organization of school work. The introduction of computers and in-service teacher training is not enough for this complex process to take place. In fact, permanent actions to support teachers involved in innovation process are desirable. The Teachers ...

In the last few years we have witnessed an increased use of mobile technologies within educational contexts. An analysis of the literature reveals an evolution over time. In fact, early studies focused on technological aspects and especially on the use of mobile devices in the classroom, while later research has concentrated on pedagogical aspects. The most recent studies consider the use of mobile technologies from the wider point of view of learning experiences, which are often based on ...

ReMath: Representing Mathematics with Digital Media (IST-4-26751) The ReMath project explores European-level integration of theoretical frameworks regarding mathematics teaching and learning with digital technologies, taking a 'learning through representing' approach and focusing on the didactical functionality of digital media. The work will be based on evidence from experience involving a cyclical process of: * developing six state-of-the-art dynamic digital artefacts for representing ...

Teachers can be key players in the adaptation of European school systems to the knowledge society, provided that they are able to make effective and relevant use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the Internet in their practice. The uteacher project aims to understand and define the professional profile of a teacher who is faced with the issues that the knowledge society poses to schools. This profile is captured in a "Common European Framework" which can be seen as a means ...

During the mid 90s this issue was not highly developed. Existing researches in this field highlighted that it was important to anticipate proof with an argumentation activity that could support students to overcome some difficulties involving the construction of proof. The hypothesis of these researches was that there would usually be a continuity, named "cognitive unity", between these two processes. Nevertheless, the theoretical framework of reference did not provide tools to validate this. ...

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 ...

The istituto Tecnologie Didattiche (ITD) has recently started a survey, technical evaluation, analysis and cataloguing of Open Source educational software. An Open Source educational software is characterized by the free access to its souorce codes and can therefore be modified by all those who wish and can do it. In this way teachers have an opportunity to afford functional and personalized technological tools. Most available Open educational software packages run under Linux operative system ...

The ULEARN Project aims to contribute to the dissemination of school innovation, reinforcing the role of pioneer teachers in their institutions. Herein "pioneer teachers" are defined as those who are keen to use ICT in their classroom and professional activities and already have some experience; these are teachers who can be seen as the early adopters of ICT innovation in education. They play a key role in the diffusion of innovation since the majority of teachers learn about new ideas from ...

"Learning from children" is a dictionary of the Italian language in which definitions of words come from children. Words (nearly 1,000) have been selected by children themselves. Each word can feature more than one definition coming from different children and each definition may come with examples of use to help understand the meaning. But with so many dictionaries, do we really need one written by children? Who is interested in consulting it? Though it may often appear inaccurate and even ...

Difficulties in math learning are frequently reported. Often the ability of understanding or not understanding math is a key factor in school success. At ITD innovative ICT- based learning environments are being studied. They aim at improving learning quality both from the standpoint of acquired abilities and of motivational levels, in various subject areas and with a special attention to math. This applied research activity requires contributions from different disciplines: math, education, ...

Playing with robots might not be that new. The innovative aspect is the possibility for kids to build and program their robots. What is the educational value of robot programming? Let's consider a group of kids and adults engaged in building cybernetic constructions by assembling wheels, sensors, engines, etc, and using a special programmable component. The group discusses behaviours of robots such as movements, reaction to obstacles, light and temperature variations, etc..). By doing so it ...