Front-TEL 2012 - Advanced School on Frontier of Technology Enhanced Learning

The recent rapid technological evolution has allowed:
? the development of the knowledge society which has marked the transition into the post-industrial era where the primary good is the immaterial knowledge;
? the consequent emergence of new lifestyles, construction and use of knowledge, so that the condition of the subject under training is always 'in progress';
? the completely reshaping of the approach to the nets, so that people are increasingly transforming into active net terminals with which they are constantly connected, independently from the physical place in which they operate; and,
? the reshaping of the physical environment: the pervasive 'machine', more and more hidden in spaces and artefacts, 'dissolves' itself in the everyday life leaving over the 'computability' as unique trace.
The integration of the above phenomena depict a scenario that requires:
? new pedagogical vision and framework;
? new mixed landscapes in which one can experiment the integration of physicality and virtuality;
? more collaborative but at the same time personalized and contextualized learning process; and,
? new methodology and tools to provide awareness and self-control through a multidimensional monitoring.
The challenge is enormous, both for technologies and pedagogy. It requires the ability to intervene at many levels to enhance at most all the facets of the personal and glocal learning experiences as well as their monitoring and sustainability. We need to address the design of integrated physical and virtual environments, sensitive, intelligent, usable in nomadic condition, capable of adapting to the characteristics and needs of individuals and contexts - even in the presence of disabilities or other kind of barriers -, equipped with tools for the ecological monitoring of experience qualities (both at individual and process levels), for the purpose of providing customized and glocalized learning experiences and to offer individuals the opportunity to self-evaluate and acquire those critical attitudes needed to design their own curriculum and professional trajectory, taking full advantage of future network infrastructures and services.
All this is also the basis of the companies’ competitiveness because it fosters innovation at all levels.
The above scenarios and the underlined needs are sufficient reasons to justify a school that introduces the participants (some of the best young talents from all over the world) to the above grand challenges and foster both reflection and concrete operativeness.