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The debate on whether and how to structure collaboration in online learning environments is quite active. In this paper the authors identify Task, Team and Time as the main components of an online collaborative activity, through which the overall structure of the activity can be determined to scaffold learners’ interactions. Based on five examples of real-life online learning activities featuring different degrees of structure as to Task, Team and Time, the authors reflect on the extent to which the way these three dimensions are structured may affect the overall learning process. Method of the study is interaction analysis of the students messages, exchanged in asynchronous mode during the activity. The analysis was carried out according to a quantitative and qualitative model that distinguishes among the participative, social, cognitive and teaching dimensions. The results of the study seem to support the hypothesis that the three Ts well represent the structure of CSCL activities and that, in many cases, it is the lack of structure in one or more of them that is associated to a higher frequency of some indicators, as if the missing guidance causes an enhanced effort on the side of the learners to compensate the deficit

Interaction analysis is increasingly used to study learning dynamics within online communities. This paper aims to investigate whether Interaction Analysis can help understand the practice and development of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs). To this end, a set of SRL indicators is proposed to spot clues of self-regulated events within students' messages. Such clues have been identified and classified according to Zimmerman's SRL model and some subsequent studies concerning SRL in Technology Enhanced Learning Environments (TELEs). They have been tested on the online component of a blended course for trainee teachers, by analyzing the messages exchanged by a group of learners in two modules of the course. The results of this analysis have been compared with those of a previous study carried out, with more traditional methods, on the same course. The similarity of the results obtained by the two approaches suggests that Interaction Analysis is an effective, though rather labor-intensive, methodology to study SRL in online learning communities.

This paper illustrates a 5-year case study (from 2001 to 2005) regarding a course in educational technology that involved from 100 to 150 student teachers per year for a total of more than 500 trainees. Since the first version of the course, which was entirely based on a face-to-face approach, computer mediated collaborative learning techniques have gradually been introduced into the training program. The paper outlines the main problems faced in the various versions of the course, where different combinations were experimented with, and discusses the solutions adopted. The difficulties concern the demands of a large, diversified population and the methodological problems related to the non-neutrality of the introduction of online learning in the socio-cultural and organizational context of the study. The solutions include a highly flexible course design and a good balance and strict integration between traditional and online training techniques in the delivery of the course and in the assessment of trainees. Finally, we suggest possible directions for further research aimed at facilitating the infusion of online techniques in initial teacher training.

This chapter draws a picture of the variety of representations that have been proposed to support the learning design life cycle. The intent is to show that such representations have different features and serve different purposes and that designers may find it useful to adopt one or the other according to their objectives and/or at different stages of their work. The argument is sustained throughout this chapter based on an example, concerning a learning activity, which is represented through several types of representations. The conclusion is that the quest for a single representation serving all purposes is vain, while the efforts of researchers should better be directed toward the aim of building tools that allow for interoperability of these representations and integration of the tools that make use of them, so to facilitate sharing and reuse of the half-fabricates of the learning design life cycle, as well as implementation of existing designs in different virtual learning environments (VLEs).

This paper explores the relationship between practice and learning in the workplace, by focusing on the case of teachers. It is widely acknowledged that (teacher's) professional learning is heavily informed by practice, and that an individual's capacity to self-regulate their learning can improve the quality of learning. However less is known about the precise interplay between practice and self-regulated-learning. This paper integrates existing literature in three areas: professional learning,self-regulated learning and teacher professional development, drawing on recent work describing learning behaviors in informal workplace settings and on Teacher Professional Development. The paper develops a hypothesis on how teachers’ work practice stimulates their learning processesand, at the same time, is informed by their capacity to self-regulate their learning.

One of the core activities teachers perform as part of their professional practice is conceptual preparation of educational interventions of whatever type and at whatever level of granularity: single learning opportunities and activities, sequences, lessons, units, modules, courses or even whole programmes. A longstanding pillar in the constant quest for didactical efficacy, this preparation and planning is a field of study in its own right that is attracting renewed attention. This is thanks in large part to innovation brought about by the use of digital technologies throughout the educational sphere. The field is known by various names but perhaps the most commonly adopted, at least in Europe, is learning design (LD). This fast evolving field has become quite broad in scope and is now characterised by considerable diversity and complexity. For many, this rapid development is disorienting, making the field somewhat difficult to get to grips with. In an effort to address these challenges, and to contribute to a more systematic view of the field and its multitude of facets, this contribution illustrates and explains learning design in terms of one of its central tenants, namely design representations and tools. The chapter illustrates a set of different representation types and tools and proposes a multidimensional framework for positioning different approaches to learning design.

Lo sviluppo professionale dei docenti è il principale fattore abilitante per l'innovazione dei sistemi formativi. Nel contributo viene introdotto il concetto di Learning Design e vengono illustrate le sue promesse in termini di innovazione educativa; inoltre viene proposto un approccio per lo sviluppo professionale dei docenti e viene descritta una prima esperienza di applicazione di tale modello. Grazie ai risultati ottenuti nel contesto descritto, il contributo propone anche alcune indicazioni per i decision makers: criteri per le politiche in merito allo sviluppo professionale dei docenti, alle politiche scolastiche in generale e alla ricerca.

This study analyses the benefits and drawbacks of the Peer Review (PR) technique as a way to structure student interactions during an online collaborative activity. The interactions that took place during a real-life PR activity were analysed according to an evaluation model, based on both quantitative and qualitative data. The results show that the PR is able to stimulate a rich and balanced collaborative process from the cognitive point of view, fostering people to express personal opinions and views, but also helping to share, exchange and negotiate them with others. Among the downsides, this technique confirms itself as demanding in terms of teaching effort required to manage it. The two main phases of the PR are also analysed and compared, and the results show that there are significant differences concerning some indicators in the three dimensions.

This paper aims at proposing a founding manifesto for the International Symposia on Innovation and Sustainability in Education (InSuEdu). We analyze two possible interpretations of Innovation and Sustainability in Education: (1) sustainability of methodological and technological innovation processes in education, and (2) creation and implementation of innovation processes that can make education a key driver in sustainable development. After a discussion of these two interpretations we briefly visit the ten contributions to the 1st International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability in Education and show how the solutions they propose address one or both of these interpretations.

Preface of the book "Information Technology and Open Source: Applications for Education, Innovation, and Sustainability"

Self-regulated learning (SRL) takes place when individuals plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning experiences. Learning assessment plays a crucial role in this process because it provides an excellent basis for the above three phases of SRL; however, the identification, design and implementation of meaningful assessment activities is not easy and some technological affordances for an SRL-sensitive assessment design still need to be explored. Although Digital Badges are already considered an instrument that could provide good answers to the complex problem of assessment for learning, their potential for SRL support is rather under-explored. This paper puts forward a proposal on the role that Digital Badges can play in supporting SRL. The proposal consists in a “badge ecosystem”, developed for a course on “Scientific Information for Biomedical Research”, aimed at differentiating among different levels of competence to facilitate learners in making better informed decisions on how to go about in their learning process. The conclusions discuss the expected advantages and shortcomings of the proposed ecosystem.

The need for higher educational systems to undergo a radical process of innovation is recognized worldwide, but how such a process has to be triggered, managed and sustained is far from being fixed. The paper illustrates the case study of a small Italian online university where a number of actions i.e. a preliminary analysis of the existing system, the development of a new platform, a training course addressed to teachers and staff, a pilot test of the new system were carried out to make technological and methodological innovation proceed hand in hand and to drive innovation towards a higher quality of teaching and learning experience. The paper describes context, method and outcomes of the approach adopted and then discusses its strengths and weaknesses.

This volume contains the proceedings of the three satellite events of the 10th International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2012), which was held during October 1-5, 2012, in Thessaloniki, Greece: InSuEdu 2012 First International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability in Education, held on October 1, 2012; MoKMaSD 2012 First International Symposium on Modelling and Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development, held on October 2, 2012; OpenCert 2012 6th International Workshop on Foundations and Techniques for Open Source Software Certification, held on October 2, 2012; The SEFM Conference and its three satellite events were hosted by the University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College, and the South East Research Centre (SEERC), under the auspices of the Macedonia Thrace Chapter of the Greek Computer Society. The title of this volume, Information Technology and Open Source: Applications for Education, Innovation, and Sustainability, reflects the theme shared by the three events: the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and open source software (OSS) as tools to foster and support education, innovation, and sustainability. The First International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability in Education aimed to bring together educators, researchers, and policy-makers who are interested in investigating innovative and sustainable models, methodologies, and tools for any level of education.

This paper describes an experience where the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been adapted for use in the evaluation of methodological and technological innovations determined by the introduction of a new e-learning system in an Italian online university. While the original TAM allows one to assess acceptance and adoption of a new technology, in this case there was also a need to consider all the phases of use of the system (course design, running and evaluation), all the users of the system (students, teachers and e-learning management), and all the system's components (the e-learning platform, the learning resources and mostly the underlying pedagogical approach). The resulting model, which is an extension of the original TAM, is a three-dimensional one, with three aspects to be considered on each axis (phases of use, users and components). For each of the 27 combinations of these aspects, indicators of usefulness and ease-of-use have been identified. When available, data concerning actual use (derived from the tracking functions of the platform) and effectiveness (based on teachers' adoption of new tools and students' learning outcomes) have also been used to complement the data.

This paper presents and compares a variety of approaches that have been developed to guide the decision-making process in learning design. Together with the companion Learning Design Rashomon II (Prieto et al., 2013), devoted to existing tools to support the same process, it aims to provide a view on relevant research results in this field. The common thread followed in these two contributions is inspired by Kurosawa'1s Rashomon film, which takes multiple perspectives on the same action. Similarly, in this paper, Rashomon I, a lesson on “Healthy Eating” is analysed according to five different approaches, while the Rashomon II paper is used to exemplify the affordances of different tools. For this reason, this paper does not follow the conventional structure of research papers (research question, method, results and discussion), but rather it moves from an introduction providing the rationale for the paper, to a description of the five different approaches to learning design (the 4SPPIces Model, the 4Ts, the e-Design Template, the Design Principles Database and the Design Narrative) and then to a discussion of their similarities and differences to inform the choice of potential users. This work has been partially supported by the Learning Design Theme Team funded by the European Union through the STELLAR Network of Excellence for Technology Enhanced Learning (FP7-IST-231913) and by the METIS project (“Meeting teachers co-design needs by means of integrated learning environments”), funded under the Lifelong Learning Programme (Transversal programme: KA3 – ICT Multilateral projects).

This paper tackles the issue of learning design and pedagogical planning in the context of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). In this sector, we witness the same variety of approaches and tools that we find in the technology-enhanced learning (TEL) research field. In particular, in the CSCL context, notions such as “Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns” (CLFP) or “collaborative scripts” have been used to describe and/or run online collaborative learning activities and, consequently, tools have been implemented to reify these concepts and visualise the designs. Despite the differences, most of the existing tools support the representation of learning designs that are already “in the designer’s mind”, while fewer tools specifically aim to provide guidance and support to CSCL designers in the early phases of the design process, that is, when they have to make critical decisions concerning the educational approach, the tools to be used, and the ways to engage the target population. This paper, while focusing on this gap in CSCL research, proposes a unifying model, aimed at supporting pedagogical planning and decision making in the CSCL design process based on the interplay of four model components: Task, Teams, Time and Technology.Keywords: computer-supported collaborative learning; design process; 4Ts model; learning design(Published: 16 September 2013)Citation: Research in Learning Technology Supplement 2013, 21: 17585 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.17585

Questo contributo analizza il caso dei Theme Team, uno degli strumenti usati dalla Rete di Eccellenza STELLAR per raggiungere i suoi obiettivi, che includono in particolare il superamento della frammentazione del settore del Technology Enhanced Learning, l'identificazione delle principali sfide e la prefigurazione di percorsi per la ricerca futura.

Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is the process through which individuals control their own learning, from the cognitive, meta-cognitive, behavioral, emotional and motivational points of view. Through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) it is an important interdisciplinary competence which has increasingly gained attention in the past couple of decades because it leads to improved learning and it helps people to cope with the challenges of life-long-learning in the knowledge society. Fostering Self-Regulated Learning through ICTs presents the relationship between SRL and ICTs from several standpoints, addressing both theoretical and applicative issues, providing examples from a range of disciplinary fields and educational settings. This book includes 24 chapters by a total of 57 authors from 28 different institutions in 13 countries.

This chapter analyses Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in a virtual community interacting through asynchronous textual communication. The community consisted of trainee teachers of a post-graduate blended course in Educational Technology. The online component of this course was based on a socio-constructivist approach. The study aims to compare SRL practice in different types of collaborative activities carried out online. The investigation method is based on interaction analysis, an approach allowing a systematic study of the content of the messages exchanged by the community members. The results of the study consist of quantitative data on SRL-related events that took place during the learning process, allowing the comparison of activities according to the degree and type of self-regulation displayed by the learners. The results of the study suggest that the nature of the task influences the way students self-regulate. The difference, however, does not lie in the total amount of detected SRL indicators but in their type, therefore suggesting that different types of tasks might induce different kinds of SRL actions. These findings can inform the design of online activities by providing suggestions for the choice of tasks, according to SRL-related pedagogical purposes.

This chapter advocates the idea that the structuring techniques generally used to support students in online collaborative activities can be described in terms of three main dimensions, that we call the “three Ts”: Task, Teams and Time. The chapter presents an explorative study, aiming to investigate the differences between the behavior of three groups of students performing activities based on three techniques which differ as to the levels of structuredness of Task, Teams and Time. While the first group was not given instructions on how to structure the work, the second group was given some hints about the need to use some kind of structure and the third group had precise instructions as to how to proceed along the Task, Teams and Time dimensions. The chapter presents the authors’ reflections about the effects of these techniques based on qualitative analysis of students’ reactions to the way the three activities were structured.

This book presents the relationship between SRL and ICTs from several standpoints, addressing both theoretical and applicative issues, providing examples from a range of disciplinary fields and educational settings - Provided by publisher.

(English) Monitoring the learning process in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a key element for supporting the efficacy of tutor actions. This article proposes an approach for analysing learning processes in a CSCL environment to support tutors in their monitoring tasks. The approach entails tracking the interactions within the communication platform to identify cues of the participative, social, cognitive, and teaching dimensions of the learning process. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators are employed to achieve a complete and thorough picture of the learning dynamics. A set of methodological and technological tools based on this approach has been tried out in the context of the online component of a blended course in educational technology addressing trainee teachers. The results of the study support the applicability of the proposed approach to content domains where discussion and reflective practice are the most effective learning strategy.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) can be fostered by teachers' behaviour and feedback and by the creation of suitable learning environments. This paper tackles the problem of how to develop attitudes and competences enabling teachers to act in support of their students' SRL. To this end, teachers should be aware of their own self-regulation of both learning and teaching behaviour, so as to cope flexibly with the needs of their students. This paper analyses the features and the rationale behind some of the online collaborative activities proposed to trainee teachers, in the context of a course on Educational Technology and investigates their effects in terms of SRL practice during the course. The investigation was based on the analysis of the interactions among the trainees, searching for indicators of self-regulated actions and distinguishing among SRL phases (planning, monitored execution and evaluation), SRL components (cognitive/metacognitive and emotional/motivational), and working mode (individual and social). The outcomes of the interaction analysis show that self-regulated actions were repeatedly carried out during the course, confirming the expectations of the instructional designers. The study distinguishes between the different types of SRL actions carried out by the trainees, shedding light on the relationship between tasks and effects of SRL practice.

By referring to existing prototypes and systems, in this paper the advantages and disadvantages of computer and multimedia technologies in the development of reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopaedias are discussed. Some positive aspects of multimedia reference works are the possibility of accessing the same entry through a number of keys and research mechanisms, the possibility of ‘navigating’ through the semantic structure of the work itself, and even crossing the borders between different underlying structures. Some systems permit users to select the type of information they desire regarding a certain entry. This characteristic is particularly valuable in educational systems since it relieves users of the not so trivial task of autonomously extracting the information they need from a text which, because of the need for both conciseness and thoroughness, can be cryptic. In addition, some of these systems not only include texts and illustrations but also audiovisual material, tutorials, and ...

Una de las grandes revoluciones de los ultimos tres anos en la informatica ha sido la generacion de hipertextos o de contenidos informaticos (en cualquier codigo, no forzosamente escritos) estructurados de manera no lineal, de modo que se pueden recorrer, navegar o utilizar personal o creativamente por cada usuario. La incorporacion de las tecnologias y la informacion audiovisuales (e incluso gestual, tactil, etc.) Amplia enormemente las posibilidades del ordenador, que de hecho se convierte en el medio integrador de todos los medios e informaciones, en el gestor "multimedia" de un nuevo modelo comunicativo con enormes posibilidades en la educacion.

Some collaborative learning strategies widely used in face-to-face settings can also be adapted to online contexts. They allow us to master the complex relations between members of large, heterogeneous online learning communities. The authors build on their experience in the application of some of the most well-known strategies and techniques used in online courses, such as jigsaw, peer review, role-play, case study, and brainstorming. The use of these strategies in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments and the related models describing the social structure of the learning community is discussed in the attempt to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and investigate the conditions for their applicability. The aim is to inform the design and the management of online learning communities.

Questo lavoro illustra un metodo innovativo, basato sulla analisi dei contenuti, per indagare se i partecipanti ad eventi formativi online riescono ad autoregolare il proprio processo di apprendimento. Vengono presentati gli indicatori elaborati a questo scopo e i principali risultati ottenuti applicando il metodo in uno studio esplorativo.

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are being increasingly used to investigate the learning dynamics that take place within CSCL environments. Since such practices are a crucial aspect of the CSCL field, Design Patterns (DPs) can be used for capitalizing on experience and sharing know-how among practitioners. This paper describes three DP instances that have been developed and fine tuned by a community of practice consisting of researchers, instructional designers and tutors with the aim of supporting monitoring and evaluation of CSCL interactions. The DP solutions are based on a set of indicators, some of quantitative and some of qualitative nature, as well as on the methods to gauge these indicators, starting from data tracked by the e-learning system. The process of development of these DPs is described and examples of use are reported and discussed in order to advance the instructional design field and inform the development of CSCL systems. The proposed DPs belong to a Language, aimed at describing tracking problems in different types of e-learning systems and at capturing in their solutions the know-how developed by communities of experts in the different fields.

This paper investigates Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in a virtual community interacting through asynchronous textual communication. The community consisted of the trainee teachers and the tutors of a post-graduate course in Educational Technology, adopting a socio-constructivist approach to favour the development of SRL competence besides the acquisition of content knowledge.

In the educational field, evaluation is a very complex activity due to the intrinsically multidimensional nature of the processes to be evaluated. Several variables must be taken into consideration, and they interact and influence one another: the object and the goal of the evaluation determines the criteria, the methods, and the data to be used for the evaluation. In this chapter, we will focus on evaluation in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). In this field, a primary role is played by the monitoring process, which allows us to gather important information about the learning process while it takes place. Indeed, monitoring serves three purposes: it provides real-time data about group dynamics so that they can be used by tutors to facilitate learning and stimulate collaboration among trainees; it provides designers and evaluators with data about learning system usage that are needed to evaluate its effectiveness; finally, it supplies information about the learning process and its outcomes, thereby informing assessment. Hence, monitoring can be seen as a sort of common denominator between the methods used to foster collaborative learning and those that allow the gathering of data for the two types of evaluation.

Technology has been speeding up the pace of change in our lives, forcing us to quickly come to terms with new knowledge and new tools in both formal and informal learning contexts. In the past two decades, this phenomenon has increased interest in Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), a cross-curricular competence which supports lifelong learning by helping people become independent learners and by favouring the transfer of learning strategies and problem solving methods to different learning situations. SRL is also seen as a way to avoid "inert knowledge" (Whitehead, 1967), that is, knowledge that students have acquired but are unable to apply. Research has shown that students who lack SRL competence not only have poor academic results but also behavioural problems and difficulties in expressing their thoughts and feelings and in understanding those of others (Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga et al., 2003). Therefore, it is not surprising that developing students' self-regulatory competence, in addition to teaching them content knowledge, is increasingly considered a major goal of education and an important field of educational research. In this paper we investigate whether ICT tools can support the practice and development of SRL and, if so, under what conditions. More specifically, we discuss what features of such environments are likely to favour SRL.

This chapter assumes the importance of developing Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) competences in students in order to cope with the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s society. To achieve this, it is claimed that it is crucial to train teachers who are aware of what SRL is and are able to support their students in developing these abilities. This chapter proposes examples drawn from a course in Educational Technology where SRL competence has been promoted through reflection on cognitive, meta-cognitive, emotional and motivational aspects of learning, as well as through modelling teaching practices that tend to shift the locus of control from trainers to trainees.

Aim of this paper is to analyse whether Interaction Analysis can help investigate the practice and development of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in Virtual Learning Communities (VLC). Interaction analysis is increasingly used to study learning dynamics within online activities. It proceeds by searching expressions that reveal the aspects under study in the written messages exchanged by the learners. To this end, we devised and classified a number of indicators suggesting the existence of self-regulated events, and tested this approach on the online component of a blended course for trainee teachers. We analysed the messages exchanged by a group of learners in two modules of the course and compared the results with those of a previous study carried out with more traditional methods. The similarity of the results obtained by the two approaches suggests that Interaction Analysis is an effective, though rather labour-intensive, way to study SRL in VLCs. (http://www.ectel07.org/ec-tel-2007-proceedings-addendum)

Recent surveys point to the need to enhance digital literacy competences among adults. Still, digital literacy courses addressing adults usually face a number of problems due to the lack of common backgrounds and purposes among learners. This paper illustrates NIC (Nucleo Informatico Concettuale - Conceptual Informatics Nucleus), an approach to adult digital literacy that focuses on few key concepts and skills and adopts a problem-based approach. NIC, which was developed and widely tested in Italy, has been recently transferred to a European context by the EuNIC project. The main results of this process are reported together with some reflections about strong points and weaknesses of the suggested approach and, more in general, about critical aspects of adult digital literacy actions.

This paper describes a research project aimed at investigating the formative value (if any) of logic programming with high school students. Previous experience at the Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche (ITD), both in the specific field of teaching logic programming and in the more general one of teaching information science, formed the idea of developing TESEO. This is a software environment which makes it easier for the student to practise those aspects of logic programming (such as knowledge representation and deduction methods) which we consider are more likely to be formative, while hiding other aspects of the Prolog language which may be considered more technical. TESEO's features are described together with some examples of possible exercises.

This paper describes a method for analysing the learning processes that take place in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. The approach is based on tracking the interactions between learners and tutors. Keeping track of meaningful events serves three main purposes: evaluation of the quality of the process, monitoring students’ performance in real time and the assessment of individual learning performances. The results can be of benefit to course designers, tutors/instructors and researchers involved in collaborative learning experiences. The method is based on a five-dimensional model that includes a participative, an interactive,a social, a cognitive and a teaching dimension. Each dimension can be analysed through a set of indicators obtained by tracking course participants’ behaviour within the learning environment. Examples of significant indicators, drawn from the literature and the authors’ field experience, are discussed for each dimension. The paper also proposes a taxonomy of the data needed to obtain the described indicators. Finally, possible directions for further research are outlined.

This paper tackles the problem of understanding whether Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is taking place and whether students are developing SRL abilities in a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment. To this end, the authors propose a taxonomy of indicators based on Zimmerman's learning cycle model, with several adaptations derived from subsequent research on SRL in Technology Enhanced Learning Environments. These indicators support the identification of SRL-related events in CSCL processes and have been tested in an experimental setting (the online component of a blended course for teachers) to analyse the messages exchanged by the learners. Content analysis was carried out manually by two coders on a sample of messages. The results of this descriptive, exploratory study are illustrated and compared with those previously obtained with different methods.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relation between self-regulated learning and online collaborative environments. Based on the study of a blended course for trainee teachers, the paper explores the potential of the online collaborative component of the course for the practice and development of Self-Regulated Learning. The study made use of two questionnaires, developed within the TELEPEERS European project to evaluate the potential support to SRL provided by technology-enhanced learning environments. The results provide information about the aspects of SRL practised in our environment. These include social competences, such as communication and negotiation with tutors and peers, emotional and motivational aspects, such as keeping up motivation and maintaining and restoring a positive working attitude, and cognitive and metacognitive skills such as management of time and learning environment and reflection on learning outcomes. The study also suggests the need to consider not only the SRL of the individuals involved in the learning process, but also the SRL of the whole community, that is, the result of the mediation between individual autonomy and group collaboration.

Teachers, trainers, and educational designers often face the problem of choosing the most suitable media for achieving their educational purposes. To solve this problem, they need to take into account both the variables at play in the educational setting and the characteristics and potentialities of the media available. This chapter discusses the criteria for media choice, with particular attention to the point of view of the individual teacher who makes decisions on the basis of the educational strategies he or she deems most appropriate and, given that schools usually have limited resources, must favor techniques for material retrieval and reuse rather than new development.

This paper focuses on the relationship between online collaborative environments and the development of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) abilities. To investigate the support provided to SRL by Technology Enhanced Learning Environments (TELE), the TELEPEERS European Project has developed an evaluation tool whose structure derives from previous research on SRL. This tool was employed to analyse an online course for trainee teachers based on a configuration of a commercial Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) system. From this experience, some general conclusions are drawn concerning how Computer Supported Collaborative Learning can favour the development of SRL abilities.

This paper focuses on the acquisition of abilities of self-regulated learning (SRL) within online collaborative environments. We analyse one of such environments, prepared and used for a teacher training course, and evaluate a priori its SRL potentialities by using an evaluation tool worked out within the TELEPEERS European project. This analysis lead us to understand that with online collaborative environments it is necessary to distinguish which aspects depend on the underlying software platform and which depend on the configuration and learning activities built on top of it. Then we evaluate if trainees working in this environment actually acquired SRL abilities, by performing an a posteriori qualitative analysis of the interactions among the subjects involved in the course. The evidence reported shows that good results were achieved as concerns all aspects of SRL, considering that the software platform mostly contributes to results related to social aspects, while the specific configuration adopted, course design and implementation strongly influence the achievement of positive outcomes in terms of meta-cognitive, emotional and motivational aspects.

In this paper we analyze self-regulated learning in computer-supported collaborative environments, which are the natural workspace of virtual learning communities of practice. the discussion is based on the case study of an online course.

The main attitudes, expectations and misconceptions of adult novices towards online learning have been investigated through a survey carried out within two different web-based courses. The data emerged from the two contexts showed several similarities: the reasons for the choice of the online approach, a positive perception of the method, a negative perception of the heavy commitment required, some resistance due to logistic and cultural difficulties. The main misconceptions include the tendency to overestimate the time flexibility offered by the collaborative approach and the inclination to underestimate the commitment required and the educational potential of written communication.

FADxPMI is a project aimed at supporting the evolution from a training system firmly based on the face-to-face approach into one where Open and Distance Learning (ODL) techniques are widely used, especially to reach the staff of SMEs at their workplace. Within this project, the development of know-how among course designers and trainers in the design of distance training events was achieved through a course called Design of Distance Training. This paper focuses on this course and discusses its design principles as well as the problems related to the development and implementation of courses of this kind. The Design of Distance Training course covered a wide range of ODL techniques and, since participants themselves were mostly SMEs staff members, it provided an interesting picture of the kind of problems that may be faced in developing distance training for SMEs. Among these, the most important issue concerns the compatibility of training and job commitments. The low degree of acquaintance with the new methods can also be a problem, especially at the beginning. In spite of these problems, the course managed to boost the desired process of introducing ODL techniques in SME training and to raise awareness among participants about the main positive and negative features of these methods.

The author draws on her practical experience in courseware development as well as her research experience in the development of authoring systems to suggest that, in spite of the significant changes currently taking place in this field, some of the old models proposed for courseware development maintain their validity from a methodological point of view. The paper analyses the common denominator among several models for courseware development (the methodological constants) and discusses in detail both the design and the validation phases.

This paper discusses methods used and problems faced in the validation study of Logiclandia, a courseware package for the learning and teaching of predicates logic in Italian upper secondary schools. The courseware underwent a medium scale evaluation process that involved about three hundred students. Logiclandia's validation consisted of three main phases: subjective evaluation, in-house evaluation and field test. The study produced a number of indications of revision of the courseware material, as well as information about effectiveness of the educational approach and satisfaction of students. But rather than going into the details of the results of Logiclandia’s evaluation, the paper focusses on problems encountered and adopted solutions that can be generalised to similar cases.