Teaching-Learning – together and for each and everyone
Prof. Maura Striano, Dr. Stefania Fiorentino, Ing. Corinna Freda
University of Naples Federico II
maura.striano@unina.it, stefiore@unina.it, corinna.freda@unina.it

In the last thirty years several international projects have been carried on in order to study new teaching methods and discuss about a transformation of school, University and social environments in order to create also a space to live-together and socialize (Helios project, Equal, Progress).
Within this frame it is very important to focus on the educational potentialities of web technology meant both as environment for intercommunication and cooperation as well as a resource for sharing knowledge and experience among people from different places who experiment different living conditions. 
 If properly used (not only therefore as technological means but also and mainly at a pedagogical and anthropological level), web 2.0 enviroments permit on one side to reduce the influence of a great number of (both spatial and temporal and personal) constraints and hindrances, and on the other side to widen and re-articulate the places and the ways of individual and group experience, giving real recognition to the imagination, the emotional sphere, the creative construction of new forms of learning.
Such environment should be taken into account not only for formal learning but also (and mainly) to build a network of informal learning and teaching, from which it will be possible to obtain indicators to use also in the field of formal learning.
According to these premises the research project“Teaching-Learning – together and for each and everyone in order to carry out a life plan” funded by the Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research within the program FIRB (Funds for basic research) involves five Italian University and a Foundation: research unit 1 and National Coordinator, Università degli Studi di Roma "FORO ITALICO" (coordinator Prof. Lucia de Anna); research unit 2 Università degli Studi di Bologna "ALMA MATER STUDIORUM" (coordinators Prof. Roberta Caldin (from January 2011; Prof. Andrea Canevaro from June 2009 till December 2010 and still co-working on the research project) 
Research Unit 3 - Università degli Studi ROMA Tre (coordinator Prof. Roberto Maragliano); Research Unit  4 - Università degli Studi di Trento (coordinator Professoressa Patrizia Ghislandi); Research Unit  5 - Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" (coordinator Prof. Maura Striano; Research Unit 6 - Polo Tecnologico, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus ( Coordinator Eng. Dr. Renzo Andrich).
Each scientific unit cooperates to the whole execution of the project and is supported by experts of Italian and foreign universities. The project is supported by different research networks involving foreign universities(i.e: Unica network, Ortelius, Fedora project, Handinet network, OCDE projects..).
The projects aims at testing the possibilities to create integrated environments, for learning and socialization where competences and needs converge, within an integration process and an inclusive vision.
The main objective is the creation of an inclusive learning context connecting informal, non formal and formal learning experiences and developing  a meeting ‘place’ where individuals with different abilities are able to exchange knowledge and experiences.
The work is carried out in a web environment 2.0 in order to eliminate spatial, temporal and personal constraints and hindrance, so that:
•	Both spaces and group and individual ways of experience can be widened and re-articulated;
•	Imagination, emotional sphere and creative construction receive a real recognition;
•	The value of person in his/her wholeness is fully recognized.
The research activities of the different units are strictly correlated. Tests in Web 2.0 with students of the universities participating (in particular Bologna, Rome Tre, IUSM, Federico II of Naples) are scheduled. Specific case studies – with an intense attention to specialized tutoring actions are taken into account in order to experiment the use of supportive devices, educational software (by involving the Erickson Centre, Asphi and the Ausiloteca). 
The project has required socio-pedagogical and socio-technological solutions in order to test the possible integration of an open source platform for on-line education and specific properties of multi-user simulation environments.This has provided the students involved with (not only technical) resources for an effective and lively presence and has sustained their active participation in  different earning experiences. 
Given the increasing number of students with disabilities who are at risk of giving up because of the lack of motivation to learn and communicate, a particular attention has been provided to these student’s needs and requests. 
Particular attention has been given to specific problems and special educational needs in order to do away with barriers that hinder communication and participation. This in order to put each and everyone in condition to perform an active and capable presence both within educational environments as well as in citizenship spaces and private life. Students with serious difficulties in communication are closely supported in collaboration with Don Gnocchi Institute.
These issues have been managed through specific aids, technologies and supports; a tutoring system meant as a relational support and a system of peer action.
According to a constructivist theoretical framework, the idea is to construct and develop learning enviroments tailored on the characteristics and potentialities of the single students offering learning contents and activities according in a multimodal format (audio, video, text) according to the norms regulating accessibility for all. This in order to provide each user with equal opportunities and possibilities to access and use learning environments and materials and, at the same time, to be acknowledged and valued in one’s own specificity and uniqueness. 
In detail, the project Rete@ccessibile - whose main goal is the development of a virtual learning environment totally accessible, “friendly”, functional to different learning needs and profiles of university students, with a particular attention to disabled ones - is focused on the possibility to experiment a new way to use technologies as a support to interactive, participatory and collaborative methodologies and strategies to support learning within the university contexts in an inclusive perspective. 
Within this environment it is possible to visit different spaces for learning and socialization: a) common entrance area, a sort of virtual “hall” for the students of all the universities involved in the project as well as to the students of the universities collaborating with the project where they can meet each other in the “square”, reflect on their own characteristics and potentialities and identify their own learning profile, make a preliminary assessment of competencies, reconstruct their personal educational pathway focusing on the most significant moments, places and spaces, chat, discuss in a forum, view and comment scenes from a selection of movies, construct and discuss a conceptual map focused on inclusion in order to participate to the construction of a more inclusive university culture; b) an area specifically dedicated to university courses, each of which has a dedicated virtual classroom. 
The progressive involvement of the students in the learning environments happens through a pathway that starts with a reflective space where students can  identify their cognitive, emotional and relational profiles in order to get information about their own characteristics and individual differences (also referring to their learning styles, their ways of expression and communication, their cognitive needs, their individual learning stories...). 
This has required strategies of mediation and ‘adjustment’, and the mobilization of software and new technologies in order to transform knowledge, in particular for students requesting a re-elaboration of learning materials in order to make them more accessible.
The project has required also a constant monitoring of the quality of learning processes taking into account all their aspects and dimensions within University context, with a particular focus on the “learning to learn” abilities.
Specialized tutors to support students have been trained-in-situation in order to acquire and develop in presence and on line tutoring competences.
A strong focus is posed on the ludic and interactive aspects of learning, promoting participation, sharing of experiences and knowledge and self-recognition, emphasizing the production of collective materials. 
The outcomes of the project will be used to evaluate and broaden the opportunities offered by Italian university system (in terms of learning, inclusion, participation). 
This in order to implement individual and collective life within university contexts; to cope with the real and concrete needs of students with disabilities through advanced technologies; to employ more effectively the web potentialities by discovering new, creative and personalized ways of using them thanks to a pedagogical approach to multimedia and technology.

For further information visit the site: www.firbreteaccessibile.it.