Abstract:

This paper describes the experience of a class of about 18 students of secondary school following a course and laboratory of advanced programming and web technologies. In this context, several hardware and software instruments of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) were used simultaneously and students were allowed to use them in a strong degree of autonomy.

The experimentation took place in Spring 2015 and was leaded by a teacher and a tutor. Students were not used to a fully computerized way of learning, so the method adopted involved both traditional tools and a strong use of ICTs at distinct levels; in addition, autonomous work and group work were both adopted, during lessons and at home.

The role of ICTs in this experience was fundamental: as for software, advanced open source programming environments were used (mainly Eclipse for Java), as well as editing and presentation tools and instruments for designing, developing and publishing web sites (mainly CSS, Wamp server with its PHP interpreter and Filezilla). As for devices and access to the Internet, laptops, tablets, smartphones and high-speed wired and cellular Internet connections were used, for following lessons laboratory, studying and searching material over the Internet.

The goal of the course can be summed up as follows. Young students manage ICT software and devices in a very natural (often unaware) way, because they have been handling them since they were children. The role of a teacher and a tutor in this process is to guide them towards an autonomous and self-aware use of both software and hardware instruments in studying activities as well as in everyday life. Every tool at disposal is useful, ranging from games to educational software and advanced web instruments. All such tools, in fact, can be applied for developing autonomy, self-awareness, sense of group and a correct interaction with companions in the ICT world.

On the one hand, the autonomous and self-aware use of ICT tools and devices helps to understand and develop their own skills, acquire the sense of group and cooperate with class mates. On the other hand, despite the ever growing importance of computers in e-Learning and mobile learning (m-Learning), the teacher still plays a fundamental role of reference and guide in every training path, organizes groupwork and evaluates people as individuals and in group. The role of the tutor is to support the teacher in his or her difficult and precious work.

The observations made during the experiment led to the following observation: an equilibrium must be found between autonomy and autonomous actions and integration with the group. This refers to both the human factor and the role of individuals in achieving the goal of an exercise or a project in workgroup. The role of ICTs in this difficult process is to support both autonomous work and integration with other companions’ results.

Keywords:

Autonomy, group work, integration, java, ICT.