The Online Tutoring learning environment of the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO gives the student an absolutely active role; all the training materials are made available for this purpose. The student is not left alone, but he is guided by an expert tutor.
This is the real interactive synchronic portal section. Inside this section real tutors/teachers assist students in the virtual classrooms by means of chat, also audio and video, correct their assignments, guide them to overcome learning and psychological difficulties, linked to distance student issues.
Tutoring is structured in classes of 20 or 30 students, 20 for the Engineering Faculties and 30 for the other Faculties.
The Tutor guides the students’ learning processes through synchronic teaching models (videoconferencing, chats, video-chats) and diachronic models (forums).
In the framework of the didactic model adopted by the UTIU the tutor plays a crucial role since he/she stands as an intermediary among the actors of the teaching-learning process.
The tutoring activity represents one of the most significant moments of the training process and requires a high degree of interactivity with the students. In particular, tutoring is complementary to the videolessons and to self-learning: actually, the tutor “designs” the students’ experience and act as an expert advisor and as a guide in the learning process.
From one hand, the Tutors carry on organisational tasks (solving practical problems linked to the use of the training materials; assess the learning results; if it is the case, adapt, modify and/or develop the supplementary training materials); on the other hand, they have training support tasks (motivate the students, familiarise them with use of computer technologies; check their past knowledge and help them to understand the most difficult notions; help them to develop more appropriate study strategies, above all as it regards timing; enhance their critical attitudes; make them aware of the real difficulties and of the progress made; help them to develop realistic auto-assessments; prepare them for the final exam through appropriate exercises and discussion by means of virtual classrooms, videoconferencing, chats, forums; promote the structuring of network of knowledge exchange.
The UTIU tutor‘s role takes place by different didactic scenarios: “one-to-one” and “one-to-many”.
“One to one” scenario (learning in a single mode)
In this scenario, by means of videochats, chats, e-mail, the telematic tutor assists the student during his exploration of the different environments, giving a constant evaluation of his didactic progress, whenever the student wishes to. The telematic tutor, by means of interactive dialogues of the Socratic style, will help the student to analyse his own thinking and to discovers and correct not only his mistakes, but also their causes.
In particular, the UTIU tutor has to:
Support the student’s motivation with the aim of:
- Mobilising and maintain motivation
- Creating an open and positive atmosphere
- Compensating the social requirements of the user-student
Help on the content of the course
- Connecting the contents with previous knowledge
- Solving problems in the course contents
- Stimulating the application of these contents in professional life
Development of study skills
-Promoting a critical sense
- Developing learning styles and cognitive strategies
- Helping to auto-regulate study and training
- Promoting awareness of contextual learning factors
- Introducing the student to the use of new technologies (e-mail, chat, videoconference, the Internet)
Supply Evaluation/feedback
- Informing the user-student of his/her progress
- Preparing the user-student for his/her exams
- Helping the user-student to develop realistic self-evaluation skills
One to many” scenario (collaborative learning mode)
In this scenario, by means of real-time videoconferences and off-line forums, the telematic tutor organizes and structures collaborative learning sessions with his class, to promote interaction among the different actors of the educational process. The organisation of students in classes allows to promote cooperation activities among the students themselves and at the same time to enhance the effectiveness of the tutors’ monitoring. Actually, the management of the classes of students gives the possibility to share activities such as the assignment of exercises or scheduling of the learning objectives; in addition, re-creating a learning social context, gives a significant motivation support to “distance” students.
The UTIU tutor has to:
- Organise group objectives clearly and precisely in order to prevent participants from wasting their energies on insignificant interactions and activities;
- Define specialised tasks and assign them to the various members;
- Clearly define the personal responsibilities of each member;
Particular attention must be paid to the group objectives, which have various specific functions. The tasks will be selected so as to offer a stimulating but not impossible challenge in order to activate motivation and stimulate the sensation of self-effectiveness.
• The tutor must support the student motivation by encouraging the creation of an open and positive social environment in order to stimulate reciprocal co-operation and help between students.
The Tutors guide the establishment of learning communities in order to encourage the students to share their skills; more specifically, the students are stimulated to explain their reasoning and understand that of other people. These activities will “force” them to formulate their thoughts and knowledge clearly and respect and accept of other people’s ideas when their arguments are recognised as being valid in order to prevent a “cognitive conflict” from arising.
There is a cognitive challenge in co-operation where user-students attempt to defend and argue their points of view with the other learning partners. With co-operation, people also learn that criticisms are aimed at ideas and not at people and this fact stimulate a feeling of respect towards the others and confrontation training that is seen as a moment of personal and social growth.
In general, the tutor in has to:
1. Play the role of teacher-director that designs learning scenarios and who, later on, cooperates with his “students” to create and educational path that should take into account different styles of learning;
2. Supply the students not only with theoretical and conceptual tools, but also tools that could allow them to transform knowledge into practical abilities, then into professional skills;
3. Promote, thanks to the “virtual laboratories”, the integration between knowing and being able to do;
4. Develop models of sharing knowledge with the other users of the Network promoting collaborative learning processes;
5. Play the role of somebody who orientates and facilitates and give everybody the necessary tools to help the student find the information he needs on the Net and avoid his getting lost in the Web Hyperspace;
6. Promote socialization models on the Net
As it regards his/her didactic role, the tutor should supply the students with a cognitive support:
• Integrating basic knowledge, if inadequate, supplying information on the course structure and aims;
• Giving user-students an evaluation and feed-back on the work done and the skills acquired both during the learning process and at the end of the course;
• Developing study skills such as critical skills and meta-cognitive learning strategies;
• Encouraging the anchoring of the new skills and knowledge to other knowledge and contexts;
• Facilitating access to technologies and materials that the users students will use during the course.
• Selecting the didactic material in order to guarantee access to information in an adequate format and level for the skills and knowledge of the various students.
• Enhancing and strengthening, through constant monitoring of the students’ activities and students’ groups, the effectiveness of the solution of the learning problems.
• To the teachers and students’ roles;
• To evaluation procedures.