Programma della conferenza

During the Covid19 pandemic, many authors have described the Community of Practice as a possible environment, for teachers of all levels, where they can give voice and share their feelings and experiences regarding the practice of distance and online teaching during the 2019 pandemic (Ulla, Perales, 2021; McLaughland, 2021; Bolisani, Fedeli, Bierema, De Marchi, 2020).

Also in our research the Community of Practice can be an environment for teachers to reflect in a transformative way (Rosa, 2020) on their teaching and their practices.

The community of practice must respect the key of simultaneity of contact (Wenger, 2006). In our opinion an online community of practice is characterized in terms of accessibility, contemporaneity and sharing of contents.

This project is addressed to primary school mathematics teachers.

What we will investigate through this study will be emotions, as well as anxiety. “Mathematical thinking is not only the result of pure logical reasoning, but also affective” (Hannula, 2020: 32).

In particular, the concept of identity finds large space in this research. Thanks to the use of the explicitation interview (Vermersch, 2019) both as a methodology and as a tool, we want to explore the identity of the teachers, through the explicitation of their action in mathematics teaching.

About the methodology, we would like to use the mixed one, quantitative and qualitative, in order to "illustrate quantitative results" with "qualitative results", "to better understand the phenomenon studied, and compare multiple levels within a system" (Creswell, Clark , 2011: 77).

The integration of robotics in early childhood education holds promise for transforming teaching methods into more exploratory and engaging experiences (Sjoberg & Brooks, 2023).

This transformative approach can be realized by considering toy robots as didactic mediators (Damiano, 1993) operating within interactive contexts that feature enjoyable and adaptable environments (Bers, 2012), guided by adults and tailored to children's perspectives, utilizing various types of robots (Bozzi & Zecca, 2021; Belland et al., 2019; Angeli & Georgiou, 2023; Terroba et al., 2023).

This project focuses on developing an observational tool to study how children aged 3-6 interact with Ozobots, aiming to understand the cognitive, social, and learning dynamics involved in robot play.

Drawing from sociocultural and ecological perspectives on children's learning, we conducted observations in natural settings using a quasi-experimental research design. Video recordings were analyzed to identify specific actions and problem-solving approaches employed by children during interactions with Ozobots (Gaudiello & Zibetti, 2013; Gabriele et al., 2017). The analysis resulted in defining the grid categories using a bottom-up approach.

Unlike traditional performance-focused assessments (Bakala, 2021), our analysis prioritizes understanding the cognitive processes underlying children's engagement with robotics. The goal is to create an observational tool that can enhance the design of educational activities and support teacher training, empowering educators to develop learning experiences that leverage children's cognitive abilities and motivations. This project bridges research and practice, seeking to enhance early childhood education through robotics by providing insights into effective pedagogical strategies and fostering meaningful learning experiences for young learners

We present a research based on the data matrix started in 2023, which aims to explore, through the emotions of a sample of around 90 nursery school teachers, an ecological approach to Artificial Intelligence - AI that can contribute to the implementation of good practices for lifelong digital learning and education.

The survey was carried out through the use of a questionnaire which aims to probe:

a) the emotional behaviors of teachers;

b) the emotions that teachers activate in educational contexts;

c) the attitude towards technologies in the training course.

The choice to explore emotions is determined by the desire to analyze the media interaction that is established within the educational relationship which allows us to spread responsible attitudes to be attentive to significant connections to lifelong education.

Online Continuing Medical Education (CME) offers an appealing and effective learning avenue, thanks to its accessibility and flexibility, allowing learners to engage from anywhere, at any time. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), with their diverse content offerings including video lectures, interactive modules, assignments, and online discussions, have garnered significant interest in the health and medicine domain. As a result, reputable institutions increasingly offer MOOCs through various online platforms, both commercial and non-commercial. The University of Turin has been providing CME since 2013, offering a wide range of training programs hosted on the Moodle platform. In 2021, the University launched a MOOC "The Six Pillars of the UN Decade Against Malnutrition", developed by the e-learning team. This course, conducted in Italian, comprised eight modules with progressive access. Learners were required to complete a self-assessment test at the end of each module to advance to the next stage. To enhance course engagement, video animations and interactive activities were integrated as learning props. The MOOC commenced in November 2021 and concluded in November 2022, attracting 54,462 learners with a retention rate of approximately 77%. A Likert survey was used to gauge learner satisfaction, revealing overwhelmingly positive responses regarding the relevance of the topics, the quality of course instruction, and the value for lifelong learning.