Scaffolding pedagogical planning and design of learning activities: an on-line dedicated tool

This paper focuses on pedagogical planning and illustrates the on-line system IAMEL aimed at supporting teachers in the process of designing, structuring and planning educational activities for their students. Pedagogical planning is meant as the description, at different level of granularity, of the playing out of a learning situation or a unit of learning aimed at the acquisition of a precise body of knowledge through the specification of roles, activities, educational theories and methods. The use of ICT-based pedagogical planners has a particularly important role since it: 1) has a maieutic function in that it helps teachers to express his/her didactical ideas, finalize approaches and educational methods 2) serves as a mean for sharing practices among teachers and communities of teachers and 3) is a useful basis to foster “a posteriori” reflections on the planned educational experiences once implemented in real school settings.