Hands-On Math in Kindergarten

The purpose of this contribution is to describe innovative proto-mathematical educational activities at kindergarten level (K) in the context of semiotic mediation. As a result of preliminary analysis of the major difficulties in writing numbers and recognizing the semantic value of the decimal position system found in primary school children, it was decided that the teaching of the different numbering systems would be brought into K, with the help of specific games. The goal is to demonstrate the importance of the natural and simple nature of “mathematical” language for the child, to stress the role of tools in the mathematical learning processes, and to highlight the role of the teacher in the collective mathematical discussion.

E-Learning at Politecnico di Torino

Politecnico di Torino has been actively experimenting distance education scenarios since 1992, through the development of innovative methodologies and tools. The real challenge today, however, is to move from small settings to a large-scale system able to suit the needs of a broad number of users belonging to different categories, from traditional students to part-time or full-time workers, from students living far from Torino to people with participation restriction due to disability. The emphasis then, is not only on the innovation of methodologies and technologies, but on their effective and economically sustainable use in a complex and multi-faceted setting. This chapter describes the services introduced in this direction and gives a preliminary evaluation after the first year of delivery.

Discussion Board Assignments and Their Impact on Creating Engaged Learning Environments in Art History Online Courses

The adaptation of traditional, face-to-face courses to the online format presents both challenges and opportunities. Many pedagogical practices need to be rethought when designing online courses. A successful online course needs to be intellectually stimulating and engaging. The chapter demonstrates how to create an engaging learning environment without any additional budget. The author describes approaches that she has developed, experimented with, and found to be effective in asynchronous online art history courses, as well as learner engagement strategies she has implemented in the eLearning environment. Advantages of scenario-based discussions board assignments and the effects of role playing in discussion forums are discussed. The author shares examples of personalized discussion board assignments aimed to motivate online learners, create a collaborative learning environment, improve peer-to-peer interaction, and prevent plagiarism.

Blended Learning towards Social Capital in Higher Education

This chapter focuses on blended learning towards social capital by showing the experience of Methodology of Social Research II, the blended learning training course held at the Faculty of Education of the University of Genoa (A.Y. 2010/2011). Blended learning engages disciplinary, technical, and relational skills so that human capital and social capital are empowered. The evidence is that in higher education blended learning empowers teaching/learning processes and student achievement providing active student engagement into participatory processes promoted in educational and evaluation activities, involving students in balanced relationships with peers and teacher facilitated by new technologies and tutorship.

New Knowledge - New Learning?

The landscape of university undergraduate and postgraduate education in Ireland has undergone a significant change within the broader context of the Bologna Process in Europe. In recent years, a range of national steering initiatives have sought to promote curriculum reform, enhancement of teaching and learning, use of new learning technology, new forms of student support, and professional development of academic staff. The aim of this chapter is to analyse both underlying challenges and some significant achievements. The latter include examples of collaborative initiatives between academics and centres for academic practice and student learning in universities and joint projects across an alliance involving eight institutions of higher education. The authors also talk about the drivers of curriculum reform in higher education and illustrate how these are translated in practice through the introduction of a major curriculum reform initiative, the Academic Framework for Innovation (AFI) in one university.

Territorial Knowledge, National Identities, Social Media, a Case Study

“150DIGIT – Italy of schools” is a research project intended to test the model of generative communication in schools (www.comunicazionegenerativa.org). First introduced on the occasion of the celebration for the 150 years of united Italy, the project foresees the involvement of teachers and students within an innovative social network that provides the activation of a “dialogue” allowing generating and gathering of stories and tales that reposition the “institutional portrait” of the country. Through the architecture of a communication platform organized in different working environments, the system allows users to consult official and local materials, create new contents, make their voices heard and, last but not least, reflect and discuss on the procedures and languages that new technologies call into question.

Does the One Who Asks the Question Lead the Way?

Teachers often tend to give answers to questions their students have not asked yet due to curricular requirements. In reflecting this practice, an experiment is documented where adult students were faced with enormously difficult questions. Their previous careers and education provided them with little experience in answering these questions. The vocational school where they were trained showed little commitment in assisting them. The outcome of the experiment was astonishing: the extremely complex tasks were excellently solved by all students. The findings might be interpreted in the light of the teacher’s didactic gifts. Yet another explanation seems to be worth investigating. This chapter focuses on empathy and other impacts on learning success which have different effects in different contexts of relationship. Charisma, too, is not a phenomenon of monologues, but bound to a certain type of acting together. For these reasons, the chapter takes a closer look at confidence building between teacher and students.

Music Composition for Creative Thinking

Music composition may be used as a tool for the development of creative thinking; it can be considered an “exercise of imagination,” and it can offer new operative ways to develop interdisciplinary processes and to promote communicative, cognitive, cultural, aesthetic, and emotional functions. The author of this chapter introduces a report of educational experiences of music composition with pupils in Primary School where, through socio-constructivist learning, the students acquire new ways of reading and writing music and begin to elaborate a different score for new and original musical compositions, written, composed, and performed directly by children. This musical experience has the goal of using a “creative” teaching/learning process that contributes to the individual’s global education. This musical work on music composition is considered an appealing open project because of its formative nature and various applications: it develops a creative pedagogy which doesn’t transmit a static culture, but rather provides new thinking processes and new interaction modalities.

Storytelling in Intercultural Education

Storytelling is often employed as a teaching method. If storytelling is not used properly, however, teachers run the risk of banality and of delivering meaning-poor content. The author believes that storytelling in an intercultural context must privilege the aspects of relations and creativity. As a consequence, she started a narration practice entitled “Creative Writing Relay.” Schools and public bodies collaborated in this project; this spanned different country and continents, allowed for the creation of coexistence (a sort of conviviality) of differences workshops and for the forging of significant relations between children from different places. The site of the exchange was virtual, thanks to a purpose-built virtual environment. The results were positive: the children developed an ability to appreciate the relativity of different and distant points of view, acquired an interest in other cultures, and discovered new alphabets; in fact, they started to appreciate that differences can be an opportunity for enrichment.

I Learn this Way!

The chapter presents a review of a series of workshops, called “I learn this way!” that was directed at children at the primary stage of education (ages 6 to 10) with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) to carry out the assignments using teaching tools suitable for their learning style, and at first grade secondary school children (age: 11 to 13) to help them structure a good method of study aimed to help them to learn more easily and effectively. Many children arrive at secondary school without having their own method of study, and the authors’ experience with those children with dyslexia can certainly provide educational ideas useful for all. The focus of this chapter will be mainly on the workshop aimed at first grade secondary school children.