Become a skilled Instructional Designer

We interviewed Fabrizio Bracco

Let’s talk about university teaching innovation: what does it consist of?

Fabrizio Bracco: "In recent years, especially following the experience of distance learning imposed by the pandemic, we have witnessed three major drivers of change affecting how teaching and learning are understood and managed in universities.

First of all, there has been an internal push, based on the growing awareness among individual teachers, degree programs, and universities, that teaching was the only one of the three missions of the university that had not seen a systematic update. Essentially, teaching is done with approaches, methods, settings, and tools that are not very different from those of past decades, and in some ways, from past centuries. Without detracting from the value of models consolidated over the centuries, I believe it has been useful to critically reflect on these approaches, without taking them for granted as the only way to experience university education. The almost traumatic shift from in-person to distance learning imposed a reflection, a strategic review, and a constructive problematization of teaching. Once out of the pandemic emergency, in many academic contexts, there was no return to the previous state, as if to leave the trauma behind, but rather a more or less spontaneous process of revision, innovation, and updating of teaching methods began, driven by individual teachers and, in many cases, also supported by their institutions.

Then we see an external push, given by the rapid changing of the social, economic, cultural, and technological context in which the university carries out its mission. Online universities are growing extremely rapidly, increasing their enrollments and expanding their educational offerings. They respond to needs for flexibility, ubiquity, and accessibility that traditional teaching sometimes struggles to meet. Add to this the ongoing demographic decline, which will reduce the number of people who, after graduating from high school, will want to access university education, and it becomes clear how Italian universities, particularly traditional ones, must seize the challenge of renewing their educational offerings. These offerings are of undeniable scientific quality, but they must meet the new needs of multiple user groups, very different from the traditional stereotype of the recent high school graduate attending without logistical, economic, or organizational constraints.

Finally, the wave of artificial intelligence increasingly shows that education can no longer be based solely on the delivery of cultural content (already accessible thanks to existing platforms), but on the care of the ways in which one learns and builds a professional identity. Finally, we see an institutional push, thanks to some initiatives that show how the quality of teaching is becoming important even for those who govern the management and strategic settings of Italian universities. The focus on quality teaching, emphasized in the new model of periodic accreditation of university sites and study programs (AVA 3), the recent document “Guidelines for the Recognition and Enhancement of University Teaching” created by the ANVUR working group “Recognition and Enhancement of University Teaching Skills,” and the projects that will be carried out within the Digital Education Hub with PNRR funds, are just some of the signs that the Italian university system is moving towards more systematic and coordinated forms of enhancement and consolidation of university teaching skills."

What topics are covered in the course?

F.B.: "The course aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools to design and manage faculty development initiatives, which include all models of intervention, support, and training to consolidate and enhance the teaching skills of university professors. There are two main areas: pedagogical and technological:

The pedagogical area provides the foundations to guide teachers in quality instructional design that is constructive, active, and interactive, centered on students. The technological area introduces the use of teaching platforms, technologies based on augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and podcasts to enrich the learning experience. It also includes technologies for monitoring learning processes (learning analytics) and enhancing acquired skills (open badges and microcredentials).

These two areas allow for the formation of an expert in innovative teaching with digital skills, combining the roles of a faculty developer (consultant for quality teaching) and an instructional designer (consultant for technology-mediated distance learning).

The course is structured with some in-person sessions and numerous modules available independently on a digital platform, thus predominantly at a distance.

F.B.: “The in-person sessions will be at the beginning, to consolidate the group into a learning community, mid-course, to experiment with some active and interactive educational architectures, and at the end, for the presentation of project work. However, the online modules also include the practical application of acquired knowledge through exercises such as case analyses, simulations, and experiments, which will be managed by educational tutors with disciplinary expertise. All acquired skills will finally be channeled into the final project work, which will involve the creation of concrete faculty development programs. The course will be available on AulaWeb. The online modules will be created with the H5P resource, which allows for the creation of interactive videos, with exercises, quizzes, and activities that will make the video experience more active and participatory.”

What are the professional prospects for participants at the end of the course?

F.B.: "The professional prospects are promising. Most Italian universities have established a Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC), a structure dedicated to supporting teachers in designing educational innovation. Therefore, the demand is growing, but there are still few training paths leading to the role of an expert in innovative instructional design. Often, those already working in these areas have a background in pedagogy but have built their professionalism in the field. The course thus aims to create an opportunity for organic and coherent training, both for those already working in TLCs and for those who wish to enrich their basic training and propose themselves as consultants in both public and private contexts.

The demand for such professional figures is growing. In the first edition, we set a maximum limit of 30 participants, but I expect that the requests will be much more numerous, and based on the quality of the applications we receive, we may consider launching a second edition by 2025."

What does the collaboration with the Teaching and Learning Center of the University of Turin consist of?

F.B.: "The Teaching and Learning Center of the University of Turin includes faculty members with a significant scientific profile on these topics, not only at the national level. We have created collaborations with numerous Italian and foreign universities, and the relationship with the University of Turin has been well-established for several years. In this specific project, Turin’s contribution focuses particularly on the technological area, on aspects that see teaching enriched with resources and opportunities thanks to digital tools, an area in which they have scientific excellence profiles and consolidated intervention experiences.

To value the commitment of the two universities, we have decided to reserve some free spots for structured staff already working in strategic sectors for educational innovation. In this way, the universities demonstrate strategic commitment to strengthening the skills of their staff, to provide quality service to the teachers who will turn to their respective TLCs."