The contribution describes a study on the organizational devices and the professional development programs carried out at the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) of the University of Siena and at the Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL) of the University of Macerata. The focus is on systemic actions capable to elicit innovation at an organizational…

Value co-creation unfolds as a system of interactions in which the user and service provider play an active role in collaboratively creating values that go beyond economical and financial worth. Value co-creation is a growing trend in museums; however, little is known about how it can enhance educational activities, especially concerning digital…

This article covers in its first part the digital educational policies elaborated in Italy as part of the plan known as "Piano Nazionale Scuola Digitale" (PNSD). This plan constitutes in fact the orientation document issued by the "Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca" (MIUR) for the introduction of a…

This essay tries to trace the most important steps of Italian e-learning between 1995 and 2005, a crucial time for the success of the Distance Learning in Italy. From the first degree course entirely in e-learning (by the Politecnico di Milano) some excellence e-learning centers of research and experimentation were born until the…

In this contribution, we present the BioS4You project and analyse the results obtained in the first 18 months of its activity. The "Bio-Inspired STEM topics for engaging young generations" (BioS4You) Erasmus+ KA2 Innovation project aims to bridge the gap between STEM national curricula (which include Science, Technology, Engineering, and…

In 2017, the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University created an initiative modeled on the State University of New York's Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program. COIL is an approach to fostering global competence through the development of a multicultural learning environment that links university classes in two…

This paper deals with the pros and cons in relation to the teaching strategy imposed specifically in Italy by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has involved and continues to involve significant changes in the setting in which students and teachers interact. The approach is multidisciplinary, in that the perspective advanced is both historical and…

The goal of this paper is to discuss and provide some practical examples of how the emerging 5G technology can change current e-learning approaches. Thanks to the main characteristics of 5G networks, and specifically improved bandwidth, reliability, and density of devices in an area, it is possible to conceive and implement new educational…

This essay illustrates how an online language education course, implemented within an online language teacher education programme offered at master's level at an Italian university, was designed to foster pre-service teachers' active learning through digitally-enhanced activities. The course was developed within a community of inquiry framework…

In the last year a new virus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by it (COVID-19) has quickly spread around the world, leading the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency and, then, a global pandemic status. The strategies adopted by many countries to reduce the impact of the pandemic were mainly based on social distancing…

The Coronavirus pandemic, forcing all schools and universities to exclusively activate distance learning (DL), has triggered an unprecedented innovative process. E-learning had remained a niche resource for a few innovators, experts and enthusiasts; but, with the forced DL due to COVID-19, teachers of all levels had to engage in a new form of…

The competition of civilizations forced the European universities to adapt to the competition with the Chinese and American universities. European integration cannot advance without the collaboration between European universities. An answer to these challenges is the CIVICA project, the European University of Social Sciences, a consortium of the…

The paper revisits the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy and particularly in Lombardy region, the first and initially most severely affected area among western countries. First, we provide an overview of the impact of the pandemic in the country and in the region, mentioning the turning points and the main effects on the national and local economy.…

With the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdown, Italian schools have continued to provide education using distance learning systems. In this emergency, the primary aim of the Ministry of Education was to guarantee each student's right to education. The expression "School Never Stops" ("La Scuola non si ferma") is a clear…

The aim of this article is to connect transformative learning theory with the practice of teaching in higher education. Connecting theory to effective active learning pedagogy is good practice in teaching adults, andragogy. Using transformative learning theory as a guide, this article describes the historical evolution of transformative learning…