Digital technologies reinforce the effectiveness of traditional teaching. This is what emerges from the Censis survey aimed at the first 5 thousand enrolled in the free course "New Digital Teachers - Integrated teaching for open schools", carried out by WeSchool as part of the Operation Risorgimento Digitale project, in line with the three-year memorandum of understanding between TIM and the Ministry of Education aimed at accelerating the digitization of Italian schools.
In detail, the course is designed to help teachers apply the "Guidelines for integrated digital teaching”, issued by the Ministry of Education to enrich teaching with new digital technologies and teaching methodologies, applicable both in presence and remotely. It is fully customizable, based on the teacher's needs, and includes a short preliminary test to suggest an individual path.
The course, active since December 2020 until April 9, 2021 with a duration of about 18 hours, it is intended for all first and second grade secondary school teachers. It is precisely on the opinions of the students that the Censis survey is based. In particular, regarding the difficulties encountered during distance learning and the digital skills they need.
According to 92,1% of the students, the new digital technologies would be able to make the frontal lessons more effective and engaging. The awareness that the integrated digital teaching may be more effective than the traditional one, it seems by now consolidated. For 86,7% of teachers, the outbreak of the pandemic has led to a strong boost to the process of digitizing teaching activities.
Even if the desire for a "new normality" remains very strong: although face-to-face teaching is irreplaceable, 89,4% believe that it should be integrated with digital tools. A position that sees, therefore, teachers interested in an evolution of their skills at a technological level in order to be able to apply them in the relationship with students and in innovative teaching methodologies.
In the future, technologies will play a crucial role in all sectors, especially in educational processes. Results that are also confirmed in the 54th "Report on the social situation of the country” created by Censis among school principals. For 97,5% of those interviewed, face-to-face teaching will never be replaced, but the dissemination of digital tools represents an opportunity to be seized and included in new training processes.
"TIM has always supported schools and at a time like this we could not fail to support teachers to accompany them towards the digital evolution of the education system - he declared Andrea Laudadio, Head of TIM Academy & Development -. With Operation Risorgimento Digitale we want to contribute to the construction of the school of tomorrow through a methodological, structured approach and with personalized training courses. A new school that integrates digital technologies into learning processes: a great opportunity for the whole system, because it concerns the future of our young people".
"The survey confirms that upon returning to the classroom, the Italian school will no longer be what it was before the health emergency" - he commented Marco De Rossi, founder of WeSchool -. Technology changes our behavior and cannot be unlearned. The will of teachers, and a profound renewal of teaching methodologies is needed to do so, is to arrive at a school with increased presence and enhanced by the digital dimension, exactly as happens in the world of work".
