Serena Alvino

A general and flexible model for the pedagogical description of learning objects

We illustrate a pedagogical metadata model (IMATI-ITD pedagogical metadata model) that captures didactic features of LOs according to the view of the education world. This model allows to describe a variety of contexts and can be effectively instantiated in many specific educational situations, thus combining generality with flexibility features.

Supporting the Reuse of Effective CSCL Learning Designs through Social Structure Representations

Distance and blended collaborative learning settings are usually characterized by different social structures defined in terms of groups’ number, dimension, and composition; these structures are variable and can change within the same activity. This variability poses additional complexity to instructional designers, when they are trying to develop successful experiences from existing designs. This complexity is greatly associated with the fact that learning designs do not render explicit how social structures influenced the decisions of the original designer, and thus whether the social structures of the new setting could preclude the effectiveness of the reused design. This article proposes the usage of new representations (social structure representations, SSRs) able to support unskilled designers in reusing existing learning designs, through the explicit characterization of the social structures and constraints embedded either by the original designers or the reusing teachers, according to well‐known principles of good collaborative learning practice. The article also describes an evaluation process that involved university professors, as well as the main findings derived from it. This process supported the initial assumptions about the effectiveness of SSRs, with significant evidence from both qualitative and qualitative data.

The Pedagogical Dimension of Metadata for Learning Resources: The POEM Model

This paper focuses on the pedagogical dimension of metadata for learning objects (LO). Devising a pedagogical metadata proposal suitable for different target users is still a hard challenge. In order to contribute towards this endeavour, we designed and evaluated an extensible model where alternative sets of metadata descriptors can be chosen, depending on the pedagogical role of the LO. We called it Pedagogy Oriented Educational Metadata (POEM) model. This paper presents the main lines of the POEM model, discussing the results of its latest validation with 120 pre-service teachers attending the Specialisation School for Upper Secondary School Teachers of the University of Genoa during the a. y. 2007-2008.

E-Learning Design Tools

Analisi degli strumenti di supporto disponibile per facilitare e potenziare la progettazione di attivita didattiche (Learning Design). Tali strumenti forniscono rappresentazioni multiple e consentano punti di vista diversi sui processi in atto.

Sharing of educational resources in teacher training

Presentation of the draft Community Share.TEC, to develop a multilingual system for sharing digital content-specific teacher training. This system integrates an ontological approach to top-down, taken to capture and share knowledge, to a bottom-up (folksonomies), adopted to capture and share experiences Ie user.

Social Structures Representations as Aid for Effective Creation and Reuse of CSCL Scripts According to a Problem-Solving Approach to ID

In line with the suggestions deriving from the new problem-solving approaches to ID, this paper points out the need of integrating formalized descriptions of good practices, such as collaborative learning flow patterns (CLFP) with other representations able to support unskilled designers in selecting and instantiating scripts, setting up effective collaborative groups and their ldquosocial structuresrdquo. Based on these premises, the paper analyzes a real course designed with the backing of a CLFP-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts and describes the support offered by the Social Structures Representations (SSRs) in selecting and reusing scripts.

Learning Objects, strategie e mediazione didattica

Any structured educational initiative is based on a function of didactic mediation that teachers, tutors, community, materials etc. perform in filling the gap between learners and new knowledge. In this perspective, learning objects (LOs) can be considered just one component of the mix of agents that play this mediation role: LOs are resources the designer of a learning environment can rely on. Far from being the only source of learning, LOs can constitute part of a wider learning strategy, together and in synergy with other resources. Starting from these premises, our contribution explores a variety of aspects of the relationship between LOs and collaborative learning; more specifically, the following questions are addressed: what design strategies can be adopted to properly integrate LOs in Constructivistic-type learning processes? How can the formal characterization of LOs be extended to encompass such elements as the instructional function performed, the granularity of the material, etc.?