Abstract:

Since many years the growing use of new technologies in professional development training courses has redefined teaching and learning approaches, underlining the core role of some new educators figures, such as e-tutor and coach. These profiles are assuming more and more importance in all training initiatives addressed to adult workers in different sectors; usually, however, the two terms are wrongly used as synonymous and it is not clear what each of these figures are expected to do. The paper aims to better outline the features of e-tutor and coach, presenting an evaluation case study referring to an Italian governmental program for teacher professional development aimed to improve the educational practices innovation through the diffusion and the use of interactive whiteboards (IWB) in Italian primary and secondary schools. The analyzed blended training course has involved almost 400 teachers expected to cover a role of e-tutor and coach and over 20,000 teachers as learners. The paper, first of all, exposes the selection criteria for the 400 subjects, describing their main features, and, then, focuses on the activities realized during the training paths, distinguishing between those that connote them as e-tutors or as coach. These subjects, in fact, were expected to play the role of e-tutors during the first steps of training course, i.e. during the “methodological training phase”, and the role of coach during the following steps, i.e. during “didactic activities’ support phase”. Basing on their evaluations and opinions expressed trough a web survey and online focus group, it will be deeply analyzed in which ways the two different roles of e-tutor and coach have been covered, both in presence, both online. Data show that the role of e-tutor has especially implied a mediation between learners and training content, promoting and coordinating the relationships among learners and helping them to experiment the use of the IWB in classroom. On the other side, the role of coach has required more “interventions on the job”, supporting learners in the planning, realization and conduction of activities in classroom, stimulating reflexive practices on didactic methodologies and styles, identifying resources and instruments more suitable for innovative praxis and evaluating learners’ achievements. Finally, the paper identifies which elements have facilitated or have hampered them toward their effective support to learners helping to better distinguish tutoring and coaching roles and competences.

Keywords:

Tutoring, coaching, lifelong learning, teacher professional development, interactive whiteboards.