Giuliana Dettori

Fostering self-regulated learning through ICT

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.

Self-Regulated Learning in Virtual Communities

This paper investigates self‐regulated learning (SRL) in a virtual learning community of adults interacting through asynchronous textual communication. The investigation method chosen is interaction analysis, a qualitative/quantitative approach allowing a systematic study of the contents of the messages exchanged within online communities. The results of this study consist of data on SRL‐related events that took place during two subsequent learning activities, aiming to understand if any facet of SRL was privileged over the others. These events were coded according to an original taxonomy of SRL indicators distinguishing between the three cyclical phases of SRL (planning, monitoring and evaluation), between cognitive and metacognitive versus motivational and emotional aspects, as well as between actions carried out at individual or social level. This approach provides data which reflect the evolution in time of the investigated aspects.

A Pedagogical Approach to the Design of Learning Objects for Complex Domains

In this article we describe an appr oach to the design of learning objects (LOs) suitable to sup -port learning in complex domains. W e briesy discuss, from an educational point of view , the methodological choices underlying the design of LOs to be used as didactical materials in a distributed W eb-based envir onment, pr esently under development , devoted to robotics education at the university level. W e show how our pedagogical appr oach to knowledge acquisition and to the use of technological tools is realised by means of didactical units which can be imple -mented as LOs with various aims and corr espondingly differ ent structur es. W e also addr ess the issue of supporting studentsO learning in ways that differ accor ding to the requir ements of each situation and illustrate how such support can be implemented by means of our pedagogically oriented LOs.K eyw ords: e-learning; instructional m aterial; telelearning; technology enhanced learning

Accessing knowledge through narrative context

In this paper we discuss how narrative may contribute to create meaningful learning contexts. Starting from a socio-constructivist and situated learning perspective, we acknowledge the crucial role of context in accessing knowledge. Then we point out the potential of narrative in education and discuss the positive role it can play in the creation of meaningful learning contexts. To this end, we focus on different examples of narrative contexts within technology-enhanced learning environments, drawn from the literature. We analyze what kind of contexts raise from different ways to set up narrative activities. Our study points out that narrative can be a powerful tool for the creation of a variety of contexts suitable for different learning situations, by stimulating learners’ direct involvement and offering a concrete starting point for reflection.

Promoting teachers' collaborative re-use of educational materials

In this paper we describe the main lines of a teacher preparation model aiming to promote a culture of sharing and re-use of educational resources. Our methodology is based on the analysis of conceptions of trainee teachers as concerns the production and re-use of educational modules and on the use of a collaborative environment, especially designed to support the construction and development of a community of practice of teachers working on Learning Objects. This approach is meant as a means to support in a collaborative way the construction and diffusion of pedagogical innovation.

Developing Computational Thinking in Compulsory Education - Implications for policy and practice

In the past decade, Computational Thinking (CT) and related concepts (e.g. coding, programing, algorithmic thinking) have received increasing attention in the educational field. This has given rise to a large amount of academic and grey literature, and also numerous public and private implementation initiatives. Despite this widespread interest, successful CT integration in compulsory education still faces unresolved issues and challenges. This report provides a comprehensive overview of CT skills for schoolchildren, encompassing recent research findings and initiatives at grassroots and policy levels. It also offers a better understanding of the core concepts and attributes of CT and its potential for compulsory education. The study adopts a mostly qualitative approach that comprises extensive desk research, a survey of Ministries of Education and semi-structured interviews, which provide insights from experts, practitioners and policy makers. The report discusses the most significant CT developments for compulsory education in Europe and provides a comprehensive synthesis of evidence, including implications for policy and practice.

Using a narrative blog to support reflection in a blended course

Despite many potential benefits, hybrid learning is not yet very diffused, because of the issues entailed by a thorough institutional change in this direction. In this paper, we suggest that changes at activity or course level, on the other hand, is not very difficult and onerous to implement, even in absence of a thorough institutional change. To this end, we present the case of a face-to-face course run in a very traditional school setting, that was turned by the teacher into a hybrid one, using as only resources a careful methodological planning and free blog space. The positive outcomes of this experience encourage the application of a similar approach in other situations, thus helping to prepare the ground for a wider transformation in the educational system.

Using Interaction Analysis to Reveal Self-Regulated Learning in Virtual Communities

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.

Looking Beyond the Performance of Grave Underachievers in Mathematics

The authors present the cases of two pupils who both show very serious, apparently similar learning difficulties, mainly in mathematics. An analysis beyond appearance of their learning activities revealed remarkable differences between them, in terms of both weaknesses and strengths. The authors point out that when teachers are planning remedial interventions for pupils with severe learning difficulties, they must evaluate individual differences carefully, paying attention not only to difficulties but also to potentialities and points of strength.

Self-Observation and Shared Reflection to Improve Pronunciation in L2

This study concerns the use of audio technology and metacognition to improve pronunciation in the learning of a second language (L2). It describes a methodological approach to guide L2 learners to observe their utterances and become aware of their pronunciation errors, with the support of peer collaboration and metacognitive prompts. Identifying pronunciation errors is not easy because it requires good self-observation, evaluation and reflection skills. A meaningful episode from a pilot test of our methodological approach is presented, together with some reflections on the potential implications of our work.