CNR-ITD

Framework

Widespread and inclusive access to digital learning and the challenges it raises for the education system is a key issue in contemporary society, as the SARS pandemic Covid-19 recently demonstrated, leading to a strong adoption of distance learning and 'Emergency Remote Education' (ERE).

The ability to provide a timely and effective strategy for emergency situations - such as school closures due to the pandemic - by strengthening the resilience of teachers and students, cannot rely on 'emergency responses' alone, but requires a systemic and integrated approach involving all digital learning systems.

Moreover, the lack of expertise on the part of teachers with respect to both instructional design for the digital context and the ability to support students' self-regulation at a distance was one of the main obstacles that emerged during the ERE.

Supporting self-regulation of learning (SRL) means making students aware of their learning processes and being autonomous in planning them, which is crucial in general and particularly when using technologies for learning.

Objectives

SuperRED aims to increase the overall quality of the education system, while offering methodologies and tools that are effectively adaptable to local contexts, where knowledge is co-designed through the stimulation of reflective practices.

SuperRED aims to:

• increase students' levels of autonomy in managing learning processes through innovative digital tools to improve motivation and engagement and to preserve the inclusive nature of learning opportunities.
• provide training for teachers on the issues of effective distance/blended learning, develop digital competences on learning design and ensure high quality inclusive digital education, thus empowering teachers to cope with new emergencies.

These objectives will help increase the digital preparedness of the learning ecosystem to manage an effective transition to digital education and promote resilience of teachers and students in dealing with unplanned events.

Main activities

The results of SuperRED will be implemented through the following activities:

• A design framework for effective and inclusive digital learning, with a focus on distance learning. This will be developed through a literature review and teachers' needs analysis with respect to: distance/blended learning, learning design and self-regulation of learning, students' needs in terms of self-regulation of learning.
• A tool for the instructional design of collaborative student activities aimed at developing self-regulation of learning.
• An educational app that stimulates self-regulation of learning (SRL) for students.
• Some educational scenarios based on collaborative learning aimed at developing self-regulatory learning skills in students. Researchers and teachers will be involved in the co-design of the educational scenarios based on the use of the digital tools developed and in the subsequent classroom testing phase.

The field validation of this approach will be done through two separate pilot phases in each of the three partner schools to ensure replicability and adaptation of the SuperRED approach to other contexts.

Main Outputs

SuperRED aims to achieve the following results

• an increased awareness on the part of teachers in their instructional design of students' needs in terms of distance/blended learning: teachers will acquire teaching skills and will be able to pursue the concept of instructional design as a component of their professional practice using the tools specifically developed in SuperRED.
• greater autonomy of students in terms of learning, thanks to the improvement of their ability to self-regulate even in difficult situations and the improvement of their digital skills for teaching purposes.
• an improvement in students' digital skills for teaching purposes, shifting the approach from a purely playful perception of technologies to a more structured use.
• an overall improvement in the quality of education through the provision of methodologies and tools adaptable to local contexts to promote students' competences, where knowledge is co-designed through the stimulation of reflexive practices also to stimulate the inclusion of more vulnerable subjects.

The results of the project will be shared and promoted more widely among academics, policy makers and other stakeholders, which in turn will contribute to the long-term sustainability of the resources.

At the end of the project, a SuperRED Toolkit - which will include the methodologies, tools and best practices developed - will be released to facilitate replicability and transferability of this approach to other contexts. A final book will also be produced to help share and promote the results, aimed at researchers, teachers and educational experts.