THE EVOLUTION OF THE PROJECT FORTUTOR LOMBARDIA.

ANALYSIS AND PERSPECTIVES

Alberto Barbieri1, Paolo Maria Ferri2
1
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (ITALY)
2
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (ITALY)
a.barbieri13@campus.unimib.it, paolo.ferri@unimib.it

Abstract
The diffusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools raises a widespread
need for training. Such a request is constantly being urged by those who work daily in schools and it
regards not only school staff, but also managers and trainers. In answer to this need, a partnership
between school administration and academic research has accomplished a complex action on the
school system in Italy’s largest region, Lombardy. The major component of this action is the second-
level training project (training of trainers) called “Fortutor Lombardia”. The project was aimed to
establish an appropriate figure of tutor for e-learning (e-tutor) in schools, giving support and granting
professional qualification. The project was also seen as a step toward the goal of providing trained e-
tutors to each of the 1,300 schools in Lombardy.
The project was carried out from 2006 to 2010. A blended e-learning course in three modules (basic,
intermediate, expert), lasting about six months, was taught in three different editions to 450 e-tutors
who were part of teaching and supporting staff.
The course methodology was firmly built on a constructivist perspective. However, as the ICT scenario
is quickly evolving, the contents were continuously updated according to the state of the art.
In more detail, these skills were developed:
• familiarity with the use of ITCs and Communication Mediated by Computer (CMC) in education

• knowledge of new media culture and new Web 2.0 environments

• training in order to manage online interaction and cooperative work

• studying of moderation techniques in e-learning environments.

Participants were asked to write an individual paper at the end of each of the three modules. There
were constant monitoring of online activities and assessment of outcomes. A research on the long-
term professional development of trainees-trainers is currently being launched.
The partners agree that future developments of the project should involve more school managers and
be more targeted towards newly recruited teachers.

Key words: training, school, teachers, support staff, e-learning, e-tutor, Information and
Communication Technology

1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

More than twelve years ago, Papert [1] drew attention to the learning behaviors of digital natives. He
pointed out that the Digital Kids were increasingly characterized by a "disinterested love for
technology", and that their "augmented learning" style [2] and technological and multicode literacy
were beginning to depart radically from the practices of the "Gutenberg native". This discrepancy,
according to Papert, could lead to significant social and educational problems. More recently, Marc
Prensky [3] has claimed that the "digital natives" are learning more and more through the digital media
(computers, videogames, online encyclopedias, etc.) which have become their natural learning
environment [4] [5]. This phenomenon is currently growing even more strongly due to the spread of
network technology and social networking [6] and it is borne out by the most recent research findings.
A recent US study by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) shows that the number of hours
children spend at the computer is now equal to the time spent watching TV and that much of the time
at the PC is spent on learning activities such as "studying" or "creating and sharing contents".
According to the NSBA data, 59% of the American children and teenagers interviewed use the Internet
to search for and download educational texts and contents, in order to obtain information or news
relevant to their school curriculum. 50% use the Internet "to do their homework". According to the most
up-to-date literature, this phenomenon has already impacted on the relationship between generations
and especially the styles, processes and behaviors characterizing classroom learning. As happened
with the advent of previous major technological/cognitive revolutions - e.g. the development of writing,
the invention of the printing press [7] - a new co-evolution between man and technologies is underway,
leading to the emergence of new cognitive and learning styles [8]. Wim Veen [9] [10] for instance
claims that the generation that has found in the mouse, the PC and the screen, a privileged window
onto the world, displays distinctive learning behaviors, such as learning through screens, icons,
sounds, games, virtual "surfing the Net", while remaining in constant telematic contact with their peer
group. In turn, Veen believes that these behaviors are characterized by expression of the self,
personalization, information sharing and constant reference to peers.
Digital natives can now avail of a vast range of learning tools provided by Web 2.0. But what are the
positive and negative aspects of this radical transition? And to what extent are Italian school teachers
aware of, and prepared to respond adequately and effectively to, the new learning behaviors of digital
natives? The "positive" effects of ICT in schools have been borne out by OECD/CERI research. For
instance, the study New Millennium Learner [11] shows that ICT has a positive impact on children's
academic performance. 92% of the students (who had access to or owned a computer) scored an
average of 506 PISA points, while the remaining 8% who did not own or have access to a computer
from home scored 478 points [11].
The diffusion of ICT has deeply impacted on Italian school personnel, involving various aspects and
raising new needs for training. From one hand, members of school staff are requested to make a
continuous effort to "keep up" with the pressure of technological innovation. On the other hand, the
introduction into schools of computers and other devices, such as whiteboards, of all kinds of software
and of the Internet cannot be reduced to a mere technological improvement. We assume that it is not
the quantity of technology available at school that makes the difference, but the degree to which it
relates to the fields of experience already explored by the pupils and the extent to which it is used to
encourage active and creative learning on their part. An academic environment "enriched by
technology", reconfigured and extended by integrating a virtual classroom into the real classroom,
cannot alone be more in keeping with the current learning strategies of digital natives, but can also
improve learning and the development of cognitive and social skills. In particular, the new Web 2.0
environments, which offer the opportunity to create and share knowledge, greatly increase the
potential for both pupils and teachers, to co-construct the teaching-learning tools. However,
intervening from the outside by endowing schools with significantly more technology, is not enough to
raise the quality of instruction [13]. Updating the educational system does not only require teachers to
acquire new knowledge or support staff to rearrange structural and organizational opportunities: to be
effective, it also requires the radical rethinking of methods and contents of traditional education and
teaching [4].

2 A NATIONAL SCENARIO: THE MODEL “PUNTOEDU”

The way itself in which school staff training is carried out has been deeply changed by the
technological context (Internet, e-learning, social networks) where it is played. In Italy, in the last ten
years, the most extensive and ambitious projects to train school staff in service involving the use of the
ICT have been committed by the Ministry of Education to the National Agency for the Development of
Education (ANSAS, formerly INDIRE, located in Florence).
Over the years, ANSAS’s actions have focused on:
– training of newly recruited teachers. This project has been proposed every year for 9 years
– dissemination of ICT skills among teachers. The action took place in the years around 2005:
extensive goals of spreading technological literacy were coupled with a more focused program
to disseminate new teaching strategies and methodologies with ICT
 – refresher courses for headmasters, administrative and technical staff
– innovative training courses, targeted to teachers of specific subjects such as mathematics,
science, languages.
In this context, ANSAS has developed a new e-learning training model: namely it is a blended method,
which includes face-to-face and online interactions. Over the years, it has been proposed to several
hundreds of thousands of players in the world of schools, providing a unique e-learning experience in
Italy and among the most relevant in the international scene - at least in terms of the figures involved.
The model includes face-to-face meetings, moderated by e-tutors selected at the local level,
alternating with further investigation and distance learning activities that take place in an online
environment called “PuntoEdu” [14]. All training courses are designed to accompany and support
school personnel in developing their professional profile, thus forming a place of permanent research
for innovation.
The online part is designed according to the logic of learning by doing, i.e. by creating training courses
focused on the activity of participants. Each user has a dedicated learning environment, within which
he has to perform specific tasks. In this activity training groups are accompanied by e-tutors, and they
may rely on rich and selected study materials that form the course reference frame [15].
This “PuntoEdu” model has always favored a constructivist approach that encourages the social
component of learning. Learning opportunities offered within the online environment are structured to
allow participants to bring out and share professional and emotional experiences, as well as to
encourage peer and customized learning.

The strongest ambition of ANSAS was to give life, through PuntoEdu, to the first national training
environment, i.e. an opportunity for lifelong learning for all players in Italian schools. It is a virtual place
where new ideas for cultural enrichment can be found, where people meet, exchange experiences and
materials and share a collective process of knowledge building [15].
Participants, namely the professionals who work in the schools, play a leading role in this process.
However, within PuntoEdu there are actors with a role of mediation: experts, who provide content and
materials; moderators, who stimulate and regulate discussion in national and local forums; the most
crucial of all are e-tutors, who have the task to facilitate the acquisition of technological skills, to
moderate social interaction and to make possible the improvement of the professional practice of
participants.
Above all, e-tutors were given the crucial task of guiding participants in a context of professional action
that did not exist until a few years ago. One must admit that many obstacles were present: the
mistrust, the embarrassment, the lack of desire to play the old game using new tools and instruments.
It is important to note the high average age of players of the Italian school system, especially among
teachers. And yet the overall rating of PuntoEdu courses was high.
The e-tutor is also responsible for a) determining and deciding how to consolidate the interaction
practices in the virtual classroom, b) helping participants to grasp the significance and potential of
communicative action mediated by the computer for their professional development, c) making sure
that participants will definitely shift their attention and work towards a network culture. These elements
are completely new professionalism, which have indeed clarified and developed over time. Initially it
was considered a success to have large numbers of teachers and staff members to carry out certain
practices - install and use programs, download files, write and receive e-mails, retrieve information
from the Internet: these actions mainly asked the e-tutor to assume the role of facilitator. At a later
stage, primary targets for participants have become social networking development and teachers’
communities of practice, in order to share and collectively construct knowledge through the network,
giving e-tutors a mediating and a coaching [16] role. This was the moment where training trainers
became crucial.
National PuntoEdu courses involved a few thousand e-tutors, which were recruited locally. A project to
create a national register of e-tutors in Italy is now being implemented, while a national training plan
for e-tutors was never provided, as this task was left to the various regional school authorities, with a
central coordination.
3 THE PROJECT FORTUTOR LOMBARDIA
3.1 Ge ne s is
In 2006, a research project carried out by the Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Lombardia among
PuntoEdu e-tutors of Lombardy showed a strong demand for training. Players confirmed the need for
transition from the "technological" e-tutor to a figure able to play a real role in the management of
interactions in a collaborative group of professionals.
In answer to this need, a partnership between school administration and academic research was
made for the school system in Lombardy, the “Fortutor Lombardia” project, namely a second-level
training project (training of trainers). It originated from the partnership between the Ufficio Scolastico
Regionale per la Lombardia (USRL below), Catholic University of Milan (UCM) and the University of
Milano-Bicocca (UMB), along with the objective of providing each of the 1300 schools in the Lombardy
region with a trained e-tutor. The authors of this paper participated on the scientific committee of the
Fortutor Lombardia project. They also participated on the project with the roles of expert and e-tutor.
Fortutor Lombardia had three editions, in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The course was funded by USRL and
by contributions from the participants themselves.
The course was aimed not only for teachers, but also for support staff, i.e. administrative operators
and technical assistants, in schools of all types and levels. Trainee participants were not required to
have a prior experience as e-tutors. Their initial skills were identified through a placement test. In the
first two editions, the first module covered basic topics and experts trainees were allowed to begin the
course from the second module. In the third edition, the less experienced trainees were asked to learn
a a module 0 in self-instruction before starting the course itself. Table 1 below shows the trend in
registrations in the three editions of Fortutor Lombardia.

Fortutor Teachers Support staff Total

2007 209 183 392

2008 179 185 364

2009 158 124 282

Total 542 410 952

Table 1 Trainees of the three Fortutor Lombardia editions

The request for participation was high, especially among the support staff, but could not be fully met.
The numbers of participants are presented in Table 2. Table 2 shows the distribution of participants
between teachers and the support staff. The participation of teachers was given preference, in order to
balance their presence.
Table 2 also shows the number of certificates issued. In order to receive the certificate, the
participants had to pass all the modules. Passing a module was subject to participation of at least 80%
of the face-to-face and distant activities, as well as the drafting of the final project work. The very high
success rate in all three editions needs to be underlined.

Fortutor Teachers Support Staff Total Certificates

2007 77 83 160 156

2008 102 48 150 144

2009 88 62 150 129

Total 267 193 460 429

Table 1 Distribution of Fortutor Lombardia participants and certificates achieved.
3 .2 C our s e or ga niza tion a nd c onte nts
The Fortutor Lombardia course was composed of three modules. Each module included:
– a first face-to-face day with plenary sessions and group work (8 hours)
– a period of online work, divided into four sub-modules, each with an individual or group e-tivity
(minimum 30 hours)
– the drafting of an individual project work (34 hours)
– a second face-to-face day with group work and plenary sessions (8 hours).
This pattern remained the same in the three editions of the course. Substantial differences in the
contents of the modules and activities were introduced in the third edition of the course: they are
summarized in Table 3 and 4.

FORTUTOR
2007 AND 2008 EDITIONS
LOMBARDIA

Module 1 TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC)

Lesson 1: Training in information society. Scenarios and interpretation
1st face-to-face
Lesson 2: Technologies, knowledge construction and knowledge management
day
Presentation of PuntoEdu learning environment and Fortutor training agreement
Group brainstorming: case study
online 1.1 Hardware and software for teaching with technologies. Individual e-tivity

online 1.2 Hypertexts, hypermedia and social online interaction. Individual e-tivity

online 1.3 Using CMC, CMS, LMS tools for teaching. Individual e-tivity

online 1.4 The e-learning integrated training PuntoEdu environment. Individual e-tivity

project work 1 Individual field trip

2nd face-to-face Feedback on module 1 – Group activity: the initial e-tutor toolbox
day Final presentation with discussants’ comments

Module 2 E-MODERATING AND COOPERATIVE WORK

Lesson 1: Tools and environments of CMC
1st face-to-face
Lesson 2: CMC and learning communities
day
Lesson 3: E-moderating: Gilly Salmon’s model
Presentation of Edulab e-learning environment.
Group Brainstorming on e-moderating; group activity: case study and feedback
simulation
online 2.1 Virtual class: how to extend face-to-face class. Individual and subgroup e-tivity
Using and e-moderating a-synchronous environments. Subgroup and individual e-
online 2.2
tivity
online 2.3 Using and e-moderating synchronous environments. Group e-tivity

online 2.4 Network knowledge sharing and management. Individual and subgroup e-tivity

project work 2 Individual design of an e-tivity within a course plan

Group and subgroup activity: e-group interaction, e-group roles, communicative
2nd face-to-face
styles
day
Final presentation with discussants’ comments
Module 3 E-TUTORING AND EVALUATION IN PUNTOEDU ENVIRONMENT
Lesson 1: Profile, skills and roles of the e-tutor
1st face-to-face
Lesson 2: E-learning for teachers’ training: between integration and system
day
Group brainstorming: e-tutor skills’ map. Subgroup activity: e-tutor skills indicators
online 3.1 E-tutoring: roles and skills. Individual and subgroup e-tivity

online 3.2 E-tutoring: styles and modalities. Individual and subgroup e-tivity
Environment preparation and coaching in PuntoEdu. Subgroup and individual e-
online 3.3
tivity
Community discussion
online 3.4 Evaluation techniques and methods – Validation vs evaluation. Individual e-tivity

project work 3 Individual essay, or case study, or analysis

Lesson: The outcomes of E-tutor PuntoEdu monitoring
2nd face-to-face
Individual and group activity: evaluation of Fortutor activities
day
Final presentation with discussants’ comments and certificates delivery
Table 2 Contents and activities in Fortutor Lombardia 2007 and 2008 editions

FORTUTOR
2009 EDITION
LOMBARDIA

Module 1 E-MODERATING AND COOPERATIVE WORK

Lesson 1: Community and learning
1st face-to-face
Lesson 2: YouToo: tools and modalities of digital communication in Web 2.0 age
day
Lesson 3: E-moderating: Gilly Salmon’s model
Presentation of Edulab environment and Fortutor training agreement
Group brainstorming: e-moderating; subgroup work: case study and feedback
simulation
online 1.1 Interaction and cooperation in synchronous environments. Group e-tivity
Interaction and cooperation in a-synchronous environments. Subgroup and
online 1.2
individual e-tivity
online 1.3 Network knowledge sharing and management. Individual and subgroup e-tivity

online 1.4 Network knowledge construction and development. Subgroup and individual e-tivity

project work 1 Individual design of an e-tivity within a course plan

Group and subgroup activity: e-group interaction, e-group roles, communicative
2nd face-to-face
styles
day
Final presentation with discussants’ comments
Module 2 NEW MEDIA CULTURE AND NEW ENVIRONMENTS IN WEB 2.0
Lesson 1: Web 2.0: new communication modalities, digital natives and school
1st face-to-face
Lesson 2: Teaching 2.0
day
Subgroup and group activity: the initial e-tutor toolbox
How CMC changes in Web 2.0 environment: consequences for organization and
online 2.1
training. Subgroup e-tivity
How CMC changes in Web 2.0 environment: tools and interactions in social network
online 2.2
applications. Individual and subgroup e-tivity
online 2.3 WEB 2.0 tools for organization. Subgroup and individual e-tivity
How to integrate Web 2.0 tools in PuntoEdu environment. Subgroup and individual
online 2.4
e-tivity
project work 2 Individual project: integration of Web 2.0 tools in school activities
Subgroup and group activities: advantages vs disvantages in integrated PuntoEdu
2nd face-to-face
training model. Revision of the e-tutor toolbox in Web 2.0 environments
day
Final presentation with discussants’ comments
Module 3 E-TUTORING AND EVALUATION IN PUNTOEDU ENVIRONMENT
Lesson 1: Profile, skills and roles of the e-tutor
1st face-to-face
 Lesson 2: E-learning for trainers’ training: between integration and system
day
Group brainstorming: e-tutor skills map. Subgroup activity: e-tutor skills indicators
online 3.1 E-tutoring: roles and skills. Individual and subgroup e-tivity

online 3.2 E-tutoring: styles and modalities. Individual and subgroup e-tivity
Environment preparation and coaching in PuntoEdu. Subgroup and individual e-
online 3.3
tivity
Community discussion
online 3.4 Evaluation techniques and methods – Validation vs evaluation. Individual e-tivity

project work 3 Individual case study or analysis

Lesson: The outcomes of e-tutor PuntoEdu monitoring
2nd face-to-face
Individual and group activity: evaluation of Fortutor activities
day
Final presentation with discussants’ comments and certificates delivery
Table 4 Contents and activities in Fortutor Lombardia 2009 edition

Without going into details in comparing table 3 and 4, the reorganization of the course completed in
third edition is easily summarized. First, we assumed the possession of basic technological skills by
the trainees - or at least the possibility for the trainee to easily obtain it. We reasoned that the
technological background required to moderate an online group is becoming less and less important.
Messaging management, small documents writing (including hypertexts), using synchronous tools:
these are simple operations for network users. For instance, an average Facebook user makes them
every day, even if he is unaware of the terminology or the underlying technology. For those trainees
who intended to improve their basic skills a module 0 in self-instruction was introduced.
The main change was the introduction of a module dedicated to the culture and tools of Web 2.0.
Modules respectively dedicated to online communication and e-tutor skills did not change.
Each module had a duration of 5-8 weeks. The effective duration of the course was 6 months -
including breaks between units.
Participants were divided into classes (face-to-face and virtual) of 25-30 elements, moderated by an e-
tutor. Each class was then divided into groups of 4-6 elements. No distinction was made between
teachers and support staff members in training groups.
3 .3 The online e nv ir onm e nt
USRL agreed with ANSAS the preparation of a PuntoEdu environment, specifically designed for
Fortutor Lombardia (Fig. 1) [16].

Fig. 1 The home page of the PuntoEdu environment for Fortutor Lombardia
PuntoEdu is not a LMS (Learning Management System), but it is an online learning environment
strongly isomorphic, i.e. characterized by a strong correspondence to the training process [17]. It can
be reprogrammed from time to time for special needs, maintaining these basic elements:
- a catalog of documentary materials
- a set of activities related to materials, through which participants can acquire credits; in Fortutor
Lombardia this credit system was used only to certify if particular tasks were performed or not
- thematic forums related to contents and moderated by experts
- community forums for service and off topic
- a groupware space, managed by an e-tutor who is also conductor of the face-to-face group.
Considering the groupware space, we must specify that in module 1 of Fortutor Lombardia 2007 and
2008 a basic space was tested, called Virtual Classroom, characterized by simple synchronous and
asynchronous tools (forum and chat). In all the other modules we used virtual spaces called Edulab,
characterized by more complex tools: in addition to traditional forums and chat, it was possible to
launch applications for audio and video conferencing, share a whiteboard, and document sharing was
also possible. In the third edition of Fortutor Lombardia these more complex instruments were in fact
abandoned - thus exiting from the PuntoEdu environment - in favor of more familiar and similar tools
on the Web. In particular, participants used Skype to chat, audio and video conferencing and Google
Apps for sharing calendars and documents.
.

4 DISCUSSION

The discussion section deals with the following main points: how the constructivist approach can be
broadened, what the implications of going beyond a learning platform are, how to evaluate
participants’ activity in this new situation.
As anticipated in the presentation of the scenario, the active role of the participant and the collective
construction of knowledge through exchange among peers have always been a perspective of the
national training model of PuntoEdu. Admittedly, it was not always easy to achieve them. Specifically,
large numbers of participants and limitations of e-tutors skills have often led the participants to focus
on individual learning – paradoxically, this was favored by the wealth of materials available - and as a
consequence they had little social interactions [18]. The Fortutor Lombardia team implemented a
constructivist perspective in various ways. First of all, the division within Edulab in small groups played
a consistent role, making not only really practicable, but in fact natural and spontaneous for each one
to participate in every activity.
Second, we delivered to subgroups e-tivities which could not be done individually, but required a
comparison with others before or after the individual summaries. In an environment structured this
way, no one can act in tow of the other, everyone must contribute. In Fortutor Lombardia, e-tivities
were always a mix of individual and collaborative types.
Third, individual and subgroup products (documents, presentations, multimedia…) were constantly
shared to foster dialogue and discussion.
Fourth, e-tivity progression, based on the five-step model proposed by Gilly Salmon [19]– Access and
Motivation, Online Socialization, Information Exchange, Knowledge Construction, Development – was
not only studied by participants but they actually lived it.
Summarizing all points, one could say that good e-tutoring practices were learned by doing them.
An unexpected result in Fortutor Lombardia was that moments of Community were underused. Hence
this probably caused an impoverishment of "high" sharing moments. Could this be an obstacle to the
formation of extended communities of practice? We don’t think so. Community needs experience. In
the first edition, the percentage of participants with a previous experience of e-tutoring was the
highest, and the highest was the use of Community forums.
Turning to the aspect of learning environment and tools, an advantage of PuntoEdu, in comparison to
an expensive LMS, is the possibility of ad hoc updates, reprogramming subsequent parts of the
environment, following the state of the art software solutions offered by the network. In this way,
Edulab groupwares were provided in PuntoEdu, as well as sophisticated synchronous (Breeze) tools,
and even dedicated wikis and blogs. Yet the experience of Fortutor Lombardia leads us to strongly
support the idea that the era of dedicated e-learning platforms or environments is largely outdated.
Today users experience social networking applications and new interfaces - see Google Apps – which
make them familiar with tools for sharing and collaboration that have nothing to envy to those features
implemented by an LMS or a dedicated platform or environment. For example, participants who used
to interact with Skype video found too rigid and inefficient analogues instruments in Breeze, the
solution offered by PuntoEdu.
In other words, if today you think of training school staff, you cannot ignore that the recipients already
have a more or less intensive experience of collaborative tools and environments typical of Web 2.0.
The only reasonable choice you have is to adopt this same practice during training, making it the
center of a process of reflection, study of cases, selection of professional opportunities that these tools
and environments offer.
If the e-tutor is effective to work with Skype, Google Groups or Google Apps, for example, it will be
easy for him to take a coaching role with pupils and colleagues who may not have shared his specific
training, but who already use those programs.
Besides, a feature that we found more and more evident and which probably reflects widespread
habits in everyday and professional use of the network, is the clear preference of the participants to
the synchronous communication over asynchronous communication. Synchronous interactions are
puzzling. While it is always possible to trace them, they are informal and unstructured, typically “open”
pieces of communication.
For all these reasons, we believe that going beyond e-learning closed spaces, like an LMS or a
dedicated environment, is not only desirable but inevitable.
At this point, a twofold problem could arise for those who organize a distance learning course. This is
an issue with particular implications for the role of the e-tutor, the only figure who must always be
"within" the training process. If participants are encouraged to use a number of tools to communicate
and share content outside of the space officially assigned to them by the training project - this is what
happened in the last edition of Fortutor Lombardia - or even the course itself is programmed out of any
dedicated space, the e-tutor will find it difficult to understand what is happening and where things are
happening. In other words, the e-tutor sometimes has no available means of tracking activities and he
cannot always be present, for example when groups use different solutions, like email or mobile
phones or chat rooms, to plan their work.
Without tracking activities, the second difficulty is evaluating them. Obviously, traditional LMS offer the
benefits of tracking, validation and evaluation tools. In its specificity, the PuntoEdu environment
applies the credit system: faced with some actions carried out by users (download a file, send a
document) that the system detects and stores, e-tutors can validate them and give users some credits:
the course is passed when the minimum credits required is reached.
Certainly, when you point to the active role of each one within a group and to the social construction of
knowledge, the necessity of tracking and evaluating becomes less important. Control, in fact, can
partly be shifted within the group. It is well known that in this methodological context the e-tutor fading
is a sign of success. The assessment of final products is always formally possible, like with documents
and similar objects. When the evaluation is reduced to a simple verification that some steps are
completed (validation) as in PuntoEdu, it is not difficult to bring the procedure into a formalized
environment. However, the evaluation of the learning process is perhaps no more possible.
Some other issues remain open, in our opinion. For instance, when guiding the group the e-tutor’s
feedback is needed at all stages. Moreover, the e-tutor’s mediating presence is indispensable in
conflict management. E-tutors should perhaps learn to chase groups in an open learning space?

5 PERSPECTIVES

Not all requests coming from schools have been fulfilled. To achieve the goal of an e-tutor for each
school in the region Lombardy would require further editions of the course. However, the success itself
of the course has lead partners to reflect. First, what are the long-term effects of training? To what
extent are our trained e-tutors employed in the new courses that are offered nationally? (Currently
there is one on whiteboards, for example.) To what extent is their approach in moderating groups
innovative and constructivist? In our region is it possible to completely abandon the PuntoEdu
environment? All these questions are subject to a monitoring and evaluation project which was
submitted to the school administration.
On the other hand, why limit the e-tutors role in adult training, when it is clear that those skills can be
usefully expended in other contexts, such as teaching of course, but also for organizational and
communication solutions inside the school where they operate? Could e-tutors become a resource for
everyone in a school that more and more acts under the influence of the ICT and has to cope with
digital natives distinctive learning behaviors? Obviously, this requires the involvement of other figures
in the school. In particular, aims and objectives have to be suggested by school managers, in their
dual role of collectors of requests and needs by the community and project leaders.
A final requirement, which partners take from national objectives, is to make the newly recruited and
younger teachers play a leading role in the next courses. Moreover, they are certainly not digital
natives, as in Italy they usually enter the school roles rather late.

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