Revolutionising teacher training
Future learning and working environments will demand tasks to be performed within multidisciplinary, multicultural and physically distributed spheres. Consequently, participation in these calls for adequate preparation. Neither cognitive, nor social collaborative skills have been fully developed practices in educational institutions. Thus, the DUNES project has designed a methodology and software tools to facilitate collaborative learning with numerous participants within formal and formal learning environments and in workplaces across Europe. The DUNES project adopts the philosophy that an individual and an individual's interaction with peers are operative agents in the learning process. As a starting point, it was necessary to train teachers/moderators in conducting DUNES-based discussions so that the system may eventually be implemented into the curricula. In fact, since DUNES uses an argumentative foundation in its approach, the teacher takes on a new role in the learning process which requires preparation. Therefore, teacher training sessions in cycles of 28 or 56 hours with up to 20 teachers per group have begun to be implemented in schools. The training cycles utilise the vast collected experience as well as activities realised within recent years. Some of the training program's components include use of ontologies, case design, alternative approaches to discussion moderation, discussion evaluation and reflection-inducing activities. The software tools developed and the wide range of available services should be of particular interest to educational, corporate, governmental and other institutions.
