BOOKS BY MARIA RANIERI

This study examines how future teachers’ AI literacy develops throughout a four-module professional development program and how metacognitive reflection supports transformative learning. Sixty-three Italian teacher-learners produced short reflective diaries after each module. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, we integrated computational text analyses with qualitative coding to characterize change across cognitive, operational, critical, and ethical dimensions of AI literacy. Texts were pre-processed in Italian with spaCy (lemmatization and extended stopword filtering) and represented with TF-IDF to compute inter-section cosine similarity between phases and within-participant coherence; lexical diversity (type-token ratio), unsupervised topic modeling (LDA, k = 5), and sentiment scores complemented the analysis. Qualitative thematic analysis contextualized patterns with coder agreement and representative excerpts. Results indicate declining inter-diary similarity across modules alongside stable or rising within-participant coherence, suggesting cohort-level conceptual reorganization while individuals consolidate their understanding. Lexical diversity decreases modestly as vocabulary specializes; topic distributions shift from generic to practice-oriented themes; and sentiment evolves from uncertainty to more balanced, professionally grounded appraisals. Taken together, the findings portray a progression from initial ambiguity toward increasingly articulated AI literacy, linking computational signals with reflective evidence of transformation. We discuss implications for teacher-education curricula that aim to build sustainable, ethically aware AI capacities without presupposing technical backgrounds.

In recent years, the expansion of advanced digital technologies in the learning field has caused a deep change in educational platforms and revolutionized the tools and systems that support online learning. Within this context, the rapid development of Learning Analytics (LA) in blended and online higher education has transformed assessment practices, enabling personalized feedback and more targeted instructional strategies. This scoping review investigates how LA is integrated into formative assessment practices within blended learning courses in higher education. By analysing 13 selected studies, the review identifies the main techniques, purposes, and roles attributed to LA, such as student profiling, predictive modeling, teacher support, and feedback automation. The restricted number of papers examined could limit the broader applicability of the conclusions. However, findings highlight how LA is increasingly employed to support formative assessment in blended higher education, with methods such as process mining, predictive modeling, and visualization enabling more precise monitoring of student learning and the provision of timely, personalized feedback. Yet, the pedagogical challenge lies in ensuring that these tools are not reduced to mere instruments of control, but are instead leveraged to foster engagement, support teachers’ decision-making, and promote more inclusive and meaningful learning experiences.

La media education, anche se presente nelle indicazioni formali, è scarsamente attuata nella scuola italiana, limitata com’è a situazioni episodiche che trovano maggiore riscontro negli ambiti informali. Il volume entra in profondità nella varietà del quadro italiano, tra esperienze formali e informali, in diversi ambiti che vanno dall’infanzia agli adulti, valorizzando una ricchezza e un potenziale pronto per uscire dalle cornici sperimentali della ricerca e delle singole offerte formative locali per essere messa a disposizione dell’intera cittadinanza.

This paper presents the results of a study aimed at exploring the potential of technologies as learning mediators enabling the adoption of interactive and conversational teaching approaches for nurturing engagement and participation, to the benefit of the learning quality. The study was carried out at the University of Florence, involving 138 teachers attending the course of Special Pedagogy and Integrated Management of the Class Group. The empirical study adopted a mixed approach based on an online survey combined with participant observation. The elaboration of the questionnaire data and the transcribed observations indicate positive aspects such as increased levels of participation in the lessons, a more relevant and meaningful learning experience and increased motivation to follow and learn. Although the results of this study are promising, further investigation should be carried out to understand participants' perspectives and thus improve learners’ engagement, in favour of pedagogical innovation.

Quali scenari e prospettive educative nell’era del post digitale? Quali emergenti potenzialità per i processi di insegnamento/apprendimento? Quali le ricadute negli ambiti formativi? Questi gli interrogativi cui mira a rispondere il volume, che raccoglie gli atti del Convegno SIREM 2021, fondando al contempo una riflessione finalizzata a proposte e azioni educative, didattiche e culturali che muovano nella direzione di un consapevole processo di cambiamento e di innovazione.

Il miglioramento della didattica universitaria e lo sviluppo professionale della docenza nell’Alta formazione sono oggi al centro di un rinnovato e più maturo interesse da parte della comunità accademica e dei decisori politici. Un ampio richiamo ad agire in questa direzione è ormai riscontrabile sia in letteratura che nelle raccomandazioni degli organismi internazionali. In linea con tali istanze, è stato lanciato nell'a.a. 2016/2017 presso l’Ateneo fiorentino il programma DIDe-L finalizzato a promuovere un uso efficace delle tecnologie digitali per il miglioramento della didattica universitaria. Il presente contributo si focalizza su uno specifico servizio offerto nel quadro del programma, ossia lo Sportello e-Learning (Se-L), che si basa sulla metodologia del coaching individualizzato offerto ai docenti da parte di un instructional designer per la progettazione di soluzioni e-learning/blended attraverso la piattaforma Moodle. In particolare, viene presentato il protocollo metodologico messo a punto per l’erogazione del servizio e viene proposta una prima riflessione sul profilo dell’instructional coach in ambito accademico nella prospettiva di facilitare la trasferibilità del servizio.

The paper presents the evaluation plan and the first results of DIDeL (Didactics in e-Learning), a research and development project of the University of Florence, aimed at promoting faculty professional development on e-learning methods and technologies. From a theoretical point of view the project is based on a multi-levels model characterized by the combination of methodological approaches and teaching tools. The evaluation plan reflects this articulation with the aim to measure users’ satisfaction, the impact of the programme on teachers’ techno-didactic competences on the short and medium run, as well as the impact on students’ career progression. Specifically, this papers illustrates and discusses the results of a questionnaire administered online to all the teachers who participated in at least one of the project's training activities during the first half of 2018: it was investigated the level of satisfaction of training and teachers’ self-perception of learning in terms of knowledge and skills. 166 teachers answered the questionnaire. The results show a high level of appreciation for the various types of training initiatives, which confirms the design hypotheses and the methodologies adopted.

Il testo analizza il rapporto tra tecnologia e scuola e individua un punto d’incontro rilevante nel rapporto tra tecnologie, processi cognitivi e key competencies. Si richiama l’attenzione sulla criticità/potenzialità rappresentata dal “carico cognitivo”. Infine si offre un quadro critico e storico delle esperienze relative alle “reti didattiche”, come la ricerca azione on line in quanto metodologia impiegabile per l’innovazione didattica e per la produzione di sapere didattico “ragionevolmente affidabile”. Antonio Calvani insegna Tecnologie dell’Istruzione e Didattica alla Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione di Firenze. Franco Landriscina, Psicologo dell’apprendimento, è responsabile di E-Learning e Instructional Design alla Lloyd Adriatico. Italo Tanoni, direttore IRRE Marche, insegna Tecnologie dell’istruzione e dell’apprendimento alla Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione di Urbino.