Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter no. 5 - July 2015 | Page 68

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2015 Newsletter

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------eTwinning teachers as realistic designers of
learning environments
by Mariella Fasanelli
Last spring the Italian teachers’ association
L.E.N.D., Lingua e Nuova didattica, Language and
new Didactics, invited a few teachers – and I was
among them – to keep some workshops for
colleagues in the afternoon session of their
Conference in Mestre dedicated to "Language
teaching and new learning environments".
The challenge appealed to me since the reflection
upon how to improve our learning environment
takes up much of my and my colleagues' working
time.
While preparing the workshop, the stimulating
visualization made by Dr. Lennie Scott-Webber was
a good starting point for me. As you can see there,
three elements – pedagogy, technology and space
– are on an equal footing in bringing about an
active learning eco-system.

more o less deeply innovate your teaching methods
to meet the needs of learners living in a constantly
and rapidly changing society (and, let me say that,
teachers' needs for lifelong learning). Therefore it
is up to us to make of our classroom "a place
where learners may work together and support
each other as they use a variety of tools and
information resources in their guided pursuit of
learning goals and problem-solving activities" (B.G.
Wilson, Constructivist learning environments: Case
studies in instructional design, 1996).
As I often happen to say, eTwinning projects are
not the panacea for all the problems at school but
in my experience they help teachers set learnercentred environments and design guided learning
paths promoting cooperative and peer learning,
employing problem solving activities and enabling
the use of many tools and information resources.
eTwinning can support teachers in their effort at
boosting the 21st century skills:

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However, some questions may arise for most of us:
can you easily access up-to-date hardware and
software at school? are you entitled or allowed to
physically modify our school environment in
compliance with some of the most advanced
conceptions of school architecture and design?
Since most of us may not give a positive answer to
these questions, I believe a realistic approach is
strongly needed.
That is why the title of my workshop in Mestre
became "Teachers as realistic designers of new
learning environments". To my eyes, realism and
innovation must go hand in hand, thus if you
cannot revolutionize either the technological
equipment or the physical space, you may still

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