Stefano Renzi

Scalable, multidisciplinary learning objects: technology and pedagogy

Learning requires a dialogue between abstract knowledge, such as theory, and application in specific contexts. A learning object (LO) for learning about network technology, scalable for level of complexity, and usable for abstractions in both business and engineering contexts, was developed through the application of two principles: separation of application from abstraction, and instructor-guided abstraction. The LO, design principles, and design and evaluation strategies, are described in this paper.

Approaching TEL in university teaching: the faculty training need

The introduction of ICT in university teaching is a long process and is strongly conditioned by many variables, first of all the level of knowledge the faculty members possess about the educational uses of ICT and the related instructional design approaches. This is the key issue on the basis of which the two specific training projects referred in this paper have been launched. After describing the related training approaches, some considerations will be made on the different role and status of those teachers who no longer restrict themselves to classroom teaching but who intend to complement or replace it with online education activities.

The challenge of becoming virtual

On a cold and damp late autumn afternoon, Peter Fischer looked out from his sixth floor window to the city a few kilometers to the south. He was thinking about what he had just heard. A research group had just presented him with their preliminary observations on the preparedness of his organization to deal with the challenges of working as a virtual organization. Two months earlier, Fischer had shared his vision of the organization as a “Global Network Organization (GNO)” with his staff:

The Forensics of a Challenged Initiative

In this chapter, we analyze Unit 2’s virtualization initiative, drawing on information gathered throughout the research study and from the perspective of all the points of view that our research team brought together. We begin with the overview of the initiative that we sent to Louise Kjaer at the end of the study. The rest of the chapter describes the method and results of a workshop in which the research team sought to explain the observations described in the overview.

Differences in university teaching after learning management system adoption: an explanatory model based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (by Stefano Renzi with Danielle H. Lee as Coordinator)

Current literature about university teaching argues that online teaching requires online social learning based on social interaction to be effective. This implies a shift in pedagogy based on engagement and collaboration, instead of trying to reproduce face-toface teaching, in online environments. There are several benefits that such change can bring in higher education which include: productive environments for students based on learning engagement and collaboration [Kimball 2002; Rudestam & Schoenholtz-Read 2002], interactive use of educational technology [Biggs 2003], encouragement of reflective learning [Palloff & Pratt 1999], and support for effective discourse learning methods [Kirschner 2004; Laurillard 2002]. However, when a university adopts an elearning platform (or Learning Management System, LMS), most teachers tend to reproduce their traditional teaching, delivering, through the LMS, educational material.

Adoption of technologies for virtual work

A prerequisite for the success of a virtual organization is use of the technology that enables people to communicate and collaborate with one another across time, distance and organizational boundaries. In this chapter, we examine factors that motivate and enable members of the organization to use the information and communications technology (ICT) that underpins the virtual organization. The research was guided by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior [1] which, when applied to technology use, enables us to distinguish between four different sets of influences: beliefs about outcomes of use, social influences on use, perceived control of use and external factors that facilitate or obstruct use (see Fig. 8.1.).

The sustainability of e-learning Educational Courses

Recensione del libro “La sostenibilita didattico-formativa dell’e-learning” di Guglielmo Trentin.