Paolo Maria Ferri’s Curriculum

Scientific and Teaching activity

Paolo Maria Ferri was born in Milan December 1^st, 1963. In the school year 1981-82 he was awarded his high school diploma (classical studies) with full marks (60/60) at the high school A. Manzoni in Milan. He graduated summa cum laude in Philosophical Studies March 22, 1988 from the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy of the University of Milan (Thesis title: Money and Experience in the philosophy of money of Georg Simmel. Supervisor: Professor Laura Boella).

 

Academic and didactic activity

Academic year 2006-2007

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa”. (http://www.formazione.unimib.it/persona.asp?idPersone=8)

Professor of the following courses:

a. Educational Technologies (64 hours), Undergraduate Degree Course in Educational Sciences. Course title: Digital training as mainspring of innovation for businesses and educational institutions.

c. New Media: Theories and Techniques (60 hours), Degree Course in Science of Primary Education. Course title: The digital school, myths and opportunities. Theories, methods and implementations of digital teaching.

d. Education Methodologies and Techniques II, Graduate Degree Course in Adults Education and Business Consulting. Course title: Blended learning as mainspring of change

All courses are part of the e-Learning Pilot Project (coordinated by Paolo Ferri) of the Faculty of Education on the platform http://docebo.unimib.it. The courses feature both face-to-face lectures and on‑line blended learning activities (see the Research Projects section).

e. Professor of the Computer Science Workshop and Training at the Telematic University IUL (Italia University Line - I.UL. Consortium composed of INDIRE, University of Florence, University of Macerata, University of Palermo, LUMSA University in Rome).

f. Professor of the Postgraduate Course The e-Tutor in on-line learning environments at the Telematic university IUL  (Italia University Line - I.UL. Consortium composed of INDIRE, University of Florence, University of Macerata, University of Palermo, LUMSA University in Rome, www.iuline.it).

g. Scientific Director and Professor of the For Tutor Training Course

The objective of the course is to give 200 professors and 100 ATA staff members (Administrative and Technical Assistants) the chance to receive an effective training in the dynamics of on-line tutoring and in the use of digital technologies in education.

The course aims at training tutors for each school involved, someone who is both an academic point of reference and an active staff member to be employed in the next on-line training courses which have already been scheduled by USR (Lombardy School Office), the Ministry of Education and INDIRE (National Agency for the Development of School Autonomy).

The USR has entrusted the task to the University of Milan - Bicocca and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, both universities having been involved for two years in the tutor training project for on-line education  (for ATA staff members and professors) organized by USR Lombardy and having the specific expertise.

The three formative pathways or modules (basic, intermediate, advanced) will be held in sequential order and in blended form (classroom + tutored on-line platform). They will include two face-to-face lessons (8+8 hours), one at the beginning and one at the end of each module consisting of a total of 30 hours of on‑line tutoring on the platform provided by INDIRE. The University of Milan - Bicocca and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore will each cover the cost of 8 hours of face-to-face lessons and 15 hours of tutoring for each module.

Our University will therefore provide 24 hours of face-to-face lessons and 45 hours of tutoring.

At the University of Milan - Bicocca, face-to-face lessons will be held by Paolo Ferri and Andrea Garavaglia, on-line tutoring by Livia Petti and Francesca Bossi.

1.   Since 2007 he  has been an OCDE Expert (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) for the New Millennium Learners International Project. The aim of the project is to study a new approach to learning and knowledge management among young generations which is profoundly influenced by the interaction of children and teenagers with information technologies. The main research topics are:         

- understanding who the New Millennium Learners are and what their new learning styles are

- determining whether the NML case touches all OCSE countries and identifying those factors which can account for the differences among different countries and within single countries themselves

- identifying the challenges for education posed by NMLs and understanding how this new generation of pupils can affect school practices

- what educational policies must be developed at European and international level to meet NMLs’ needs and what are the implications of such educational policies ?

http://www.oecd.org/document/10/0,2340,en_2649_201185_38358154_1_1_1_1,00.html  

2.      Professor of Digital Communication (20 hours) for the Integrated Course in Pedagogy, Psychology and General Sociology at the Postgraduate Course in Distance Teaching applied to Medicine of the University of Milan, in partnership with the Universities of Ancona, Catania, Catanzaro, Bari, Ferrara, Genoa, Milan, Naples II, Piemonte Orientale, Pisa and La Sapienza University in Rome.

(hdttp://www.miur.it/0006Menu_C/0013Eventi/0016Comuni/04722001/1203PROGET.htm)

3.      Faculty member of the PhD in Information Society, PhD Course: Technologies for communication and information applied to the Knowledge Society and to educational processes of the University of Milan - Bicocca (Coordinator: Professor Guido Martinotti) www.quasi.unimib.it.

4.      Visiting Professor from August until September 2005 at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, at the CSI and the Department of Italian Studies.

5.      He is Vice-president of the University Center for Multimedia Production and Design.

6.      Since 2004 he has been member of the e-Learning Committee of the University of Milan - Bicocca which coordinates the University’s e-learning activities.

7.      Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-University School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (8 hours – subject: Educational Technologies).

8.      Professor of the Postgraduate Course Design and Management of Training Facilities and Systems of the State’s Police at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

9.      Member of the Association for Information Systems (www.aisnet.org) and of its Italian section ITAIS.

10.  Member of the Italian Society of e-Learning (www.sie-l.it) and of the editorial staff of its magazine.

11.  He has been one of the co-founders of the virtual community of files (www.elesociety.org) fostered by the Faculty of Educational Sciences of  the University of Milan - Bicocca and the IBM Foundation.

12.  He represents the University of Milan - Bicocca as member of the Boards of Directors of the I.UL. Consortium (INDIRE, University of Florence, University of Macerata, University of Palermo, LUMSA University in Rome), the Telematic University IUL (Italia University Line) and the Istituto Universitario IUL (www.iuline.it).

13.  In agreement with the Fondazione Scuole Civich eof Milan he held a course for the teachers and staff members of Scuole Civiche titled Teaching in the Web Era (20  hours), focusing on the fundamentals of technology use in teaching.

He is reviewer for the American magazine International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI) (http://ijhc.edmgr.com) and member of the editorial staff as well as reviewer of the Je-lks magazine (Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society) published by SIe-L (Italian Society of e-Learning, www.SieL.it).

   Academic Year 2005-2006

1.      Since October 1st, 2005 he has been working as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of  the University of Milan - Bicocca - Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa” (http://www.formazione.unimib.it/persona.asp?idPersone=8).

2.      Professor of the following courses: 

a. Educational Technologies (66 hours), Undergraduate Degree Course in Educational Sciences. Course title: Digital training as mainspring of innovation for businesses and educational institutions.

b. New Media: Theories and Techniques (72 hours), Undergraduate Degree Course in Science of Intercultural Communication. Course title: Cross-mediality and communication techniques in the Era of  Digital Revolution

c. New Media: Theories and Techniques (60 hours), Degree Course in Science of Primary Education. Course title: The digital school, myths and opportunities. Theories, methods and implementations of digital teaching.

d. Educational Methodologies and Techniques II, Graduate Degree Course in Adults Education and Business Consulting. Course title: Blended learning as mainspring of change.

All courses are part of the e-Learning Pilot Project of the Faculty of Educational Sciences (coordinated by Paolo Ferri) on the platform http://docebo.unimib.it. The courses feature both face-to-face lectures and on‑line blended learning activities (see the Research Projects Section).

g. Professor of Digital Communication (20 hours) for the Integrated Course in Pedagogy, Psychology and General Sociology at the Postgraduate Course in Distance Teaching applied to Medicine of the University of Milan, in partnership with the Universities of Ancona, Catania, Catanzaro, Bari, Ferrara, Genoa, Milan, Naples II, Piemonte Orientale, Pisa and La Sapienza University in Rome (hdttp://www.miur.it/0006Menu_C/0013Eventi/0016Comuni/04722001/1203PROGET.htm).

3.      Faculty Member of the PhD in Information Society, PhD Course Technologies for communication and information applied to the Knowledge Society and to educational processes of the University of Milan - Bicocca (Coordinator: Professor Guido Martinotti) www.quasi.unimib.it.

4.      He is Vice-president of the Commission for the Creation of a University Center for Multimedia Production and Design.

5.      Since 2004 he has been member of the e-Learning Committee of the University of Milan ‑ Bicocca which coordinates the University’s e-learning activities

6.      Since 2005 he has been member of the University Press Commission of the University of Milan ‑ Bicocca doing a feasibility study of a University’s Publishing House.

7.      Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-university School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (8 hours – subject: Educational Technologies).

8.      Member of the Association for Information Systems (www.aisnet.org) and of its Italian section ITAIS.

9.      Member of the Italian Society of e-Learning (www.sie-l.it) and of the editorial staff of its magazine.

10.  He has been one of the co-founders of the virtual training community (www.elesociety.org) fostered b the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca and the IBM Foundation.  

11.  As representative of the University of Milan - Bicocca University he is member of the Boards of Directors of the I.UL.  Consortium (INDIRE, University of Florence, University of Macerata, University of Palermo, LUMSA University in Rome), of the Telematic University IUL (Italia University Line) and of the Istituto Universitario IUL (www.iuline.it).

12.  In agreement with the Fondazione Scuole Civiche of Milan, he held a course for the teachers and  the staff members of Scuole Civiche titled Teaching in the Web Era (20  hours), focusing on the fundamentals of technology use in teaching.

13.  He is reviewer for the American magazine International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI) (http://ijhc.edmgr.com) and member of the editorial staff as well as reviewer of the Je-lks magazine (Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society) published by SIe-L (Italian Society of e-Learning, www.SieL.it).

Academic Year 2004-2005

1. Confirmed researcher at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca - Department of Epistemology and Educational Hermeneutics  (Disciplinary Sector SPS/08 - Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes).

2. Professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Degree Course in Communication Sciences. Course title (36 hours): The End for Mass Media. Communication forms, tools, methods and markets in the Era of Digital Revolution. The course features a virtual complement on the platform http://docebo.unimib.it based on the Complex learning mode.

3. Professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, as part of the Course in Science of Primary Education. Course title (60 hours): Children and computers: methods and practices of e-Learning in kindergarten and primary school teaching. The course features a virtual complement on the platform http://docebo.unimib.it based on the Complex learning mode.

4. Professor of the Course in Methodologies and Technologies for Education at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Graduate Degree Course in Adults Education and Business Consulting (30 hours). Course title: Methodologies and Technologies for Education: designing business training using the new technologies. The course features a virtual complement on the platform http://docebo.unimib.it based on the Complex learning mode.

7. Faculty Member of the PhD in Information Society, PhD Course Technologies for communication and information applied to the Knowledge Society and to educational processes of the University of Milan - Bicocca (Coordinator: Professor Guido Martinotti) www.quasi.unimib.it.

7b. He is member of the Commission for the creation of a University Center for Multimedia Production and Design.

 

8. Since 2004 he has been member of the e-Learning Committee of the University of Milan - Bicocca which coordinates the University’s e-learning activities.

 

9. Since 2005 he has been member of the University Press Commission of the University of Milan - Bicocca doing a feasibility study of a University’s Publishing House.

9. Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-university School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (8 hours – subject: Educational Technologies).

10. Member of the Italian Association of Sociology (www.ais.it).

11. Member of the Association for Information Systems (www.aisnet.org) and of its Italian section ITAIS.

12. Member of the Italian Society of e-Learning (www.sie-l.it).

13. He is one of the co-founders of the virtual training community (www.elesociety.org) fostered by the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca and the IBM Foundation.

14. He represents the University of Milan - Bicocca as member of the Board of Directors of the I.UL. Consortium (INDIRE, University of Florence, University of Macerata, University of Palermo, LUMSA University in Rome). 

    Academic Year 2003-2004

1. Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Department of Epistemology and Educational Hermeneutics (Disciplinary Sector SPS/08 - Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes).

2. Professor of the Course “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Degree Course in Communication Sciences. Course title (36 hours): Digital publishing and content management. Communication forms, tools, methods and markets in the Era of Digital Revolution.

3. Professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, as part of the Course in Science of Primary Education. Course title (30 hours): Digital learning: methods and practices of e-Learning.

4. Professor of Sociology of the Media at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Graduate Degree Course in Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Course title (36 hours): Subjectivity forms  in the Era of Digital Revolution. The course features a virtual complement on the web site http://ariel.ctu.unimi.it/corsi/socioMedia based on the Complex learning mode.

5. Member of the Coordinating Committee (in charge of the technological area) and Professor of the Postgraduate Course Expert in the training, search and development of human resources. Methodologies and technologies of education and human resources management (40 hours). As member of the Coordinating Committee, he did the following: Preparation: Preliminary market and requirements analysis, Determining user’s profile, Conceiving and designing the Intervention, Participants’ selection and orientation; Implementation: teaching and co-teaching; Management and Evaluation: project coordinator

6. Professor of the Postgraduate Course MIU-PhD in Humanistic Computer Science of the Faculty of Science - Department of Computer Systems and Communications of the University of Milan - Bicocca - (10 hours - subject: Epistemology of Complex Systems).

7. Faculty Member of the PhD in Information Society, PhD Course Technologies for communication and information applied to the Knowledge Society and to educational processes of the University of Milan - Bicocca (Coordinator: Professor Guido Martinotti) www.quasi.unimib.it.

8. Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-university School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (8 hours – subject: Educational Technologies).

9. Member of the Italian Association of Sociology (www.ais.it).

10. Member of the Association for Information Systems (www.aisnet.org) and of its Italian section ITAIS.

11. Member of the Italian Society of e-Learning (www.sie-l.it).

12. He is one of the co-founders of the virtual training community (www.elesociety.org) fostered by the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca and the IBM Foundation.

 

 Academic Year  2002-2003

1. Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Department of Epistemology and Educational Hermeneutics  (Disciplinary Sector SPS/08 - Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes).

2. Professor of the Course “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Degree Course in Communication Sciences. Course title (60 hours): Digital publishing and content management. Communication forms, tools, methods and markets in the Era of Digital Revolution.

3. Professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, as part of the Course in Science of Primary Education. Course title (60 hours): Theories, methodologies and applications of “digital teaching”: from distance learning to e‑Learning and blended-learning.

4. Professor of the Postgraduate Course MIU-PhD in Humanistic Computer Science of the Faculty of Science - Department of  Computer Systems and Communication of the University of Milan - Bicocca –  (10 hours - subject: Web Systems and Web Quality).

5. Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-university School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (4 hours - subject: Educational Technologies)

And:

6. He held 4 seminars on the “Fundamentals of Digital Technology” and the “Description and Techniques of the New Media” at the Chair of English Language and Literature III of the Free University of Languages and Communication IULM in Milan (Professor Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman).

   Academic Year 2001-2002

 

1. Since Ottobre 1st, 2001 he has been assistant professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Department of Epistemology and Educational Hermeneutics  (Disciplinary Sector SPS/08 - Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes).

2. Professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca, Degree Course in Communication Sciences. Course title: From atoms to bits. Languages and Epistemology of the new media.

3. Professor of the Postgraduate Course MIU-PhD in Humanistic Computer Science of the Faculty of Science - Department of Computer Systems and Communication of the University of Milan - Bicocca (40 hours - subject: Web Systems and Web Quality).

4. Professor at the SILSIS (Lombard Postgraduate Inter-university School for Secondary Teaching) - Milan Section (4 hours - subject: Educational Technologies).

 

Academic Year 2000-2001

1. Adjunct professor of “New Media: Theories and Techniques” at the University of Milan - Bicocca, Faculty of Educational Sciences (70 hours).

2. Assistant Professor of the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy (Professor Salvatore Natoli) of the University of Milan - Bicocca.

3. Adjunct Professor of the Chair of English Language and Literature III of the Free University of Languages and Communication IULM in Milan (Professor Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman), where he held the 200 hour integrative course Hypertext writing in English Literature.

4. Professor, Member of the Steering and Executive Committee of the Postgraduate Course Basic Methodologies of Computer Science and Communication for Humanities, organized by the Faculty of Humanities in partnership with the Department of Information Sciences of the University of Milan. Course title: Multimedia Publishing.

5. Professor at the Training Course for Primary School Teachers organized by the ITIS, at the Cannizzaro Technical Institute in Rho (8 hours).

   Academic Year 1999-2000

 

1. Adjunct Professor of the Chair of English Language and Literature III of the Free University of Languages and Communication IULM in Milan (Professor Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman), where he held the 200 hour integrative course Hypertext writing.

 

2. Adjunct Professor of the Theoretical Philosophy Course at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan – Bicocca, where he held an integrative course focusing on Plato’s Theaetetus and Nietzsche’s philosophy (60 hours).

3. Professor, Member of the Steering and Executive Committee of the Postgraduate Course Basic Methodologies of Computer Science and Communication for Humanities, organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy in partnership with the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan, where he held a course in Multimedia Publishing.

4. Researcher of  Aesthetics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Professor Roberto Diodato).

5. Professor of Multimedia Teaching at the Pietro Verri Technical Institute in Milan (Coordinator Professor Nizzi), December-April 1999-2000 (22 hours).

Academic Year 1998-1999

1. Adjunct Professor of the Chair of Multimedia Publishing of Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM (Professor Alberto Cadioli) where he held the 100 hour integrative course New publishing technologies and knowledge transfer.

2. Researcher of the Moral Philosophy IV Course (Professor Amedeo Vigorelli) at the University of Milan.

 

3. Researcher of Aesthetics (Professor Roberto Diodato) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

 

4. Researcher at the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy (Professor Salvatore Natoli) of the University of Milan - Bicocca where he held a seminar focusing on Plato’s Philebus and on Epicurus’ philosophy.

 

 

Academic Year 1997-1998

 

1. Adjunct Professor of the Chair of English Language and Literature III of Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM (Professor Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman) where he held the 100 hour integrative course Relationship between computer science and literary criticism.

 

2. Researcher of the Moral Philosophy IV Course (Professor Amedeo Vigorelli) at the University of Milan where he held a seminar (20 hours) focusing on Georg Simmel’s philosophy.

 

3. Researcher of Aesthetics (Professor Roberto Diodato) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

 

4. He held a seminar (8 hours) at the Chair of Aesthetics (Professor Elio Franzini) at the University of Milan focusing on the Eschatological Philosophy of Georg Simmel.

 

5. Assistant Professor of the Chair of Theories and Techniques of Mass Communication of the Polytechnic of Milan (Professor Giovanni Cesareo) where he held the 20 hour Seminar New technologies and publishing.

   Academic Year 1996-1997

1. Researcher of the Moral Philosophy IV Course (Professor  Amedeo Vigorelli) at the University of Milan where he held a 30 hour seminar focusing on Kant’s philosophy.

2. Researcher of Aesthetics (Professor Francesco Piselli) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

3. He held the 12 hour seminar Humanities and new technologies at the Linguistic Center of Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM in Milan. In June 1996 at the same University he also held the conference Working as editor.

4. He held a 12 hour seminar on Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson for final-year students, at the Chair of Aesthetics III of the University of Milan (Professor  Elio Franzini).

5. Assistant Professor of the Chair of Theories and Techniques of Mass Communication, Degree Course in Industrial Design of the Polytechnic of Milan (Professor Giovanni Cesareo). He held a 16 hour seminar focusing on New Technologies and Publishing.

Academic Year 1995-96

1. Researcher in Aesthetics (Professor Francesco Piselli) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Research fields

 

His scientific activity revolves around educational technologies and the theories and techniques of the new digital media. More specifically, he researched into the issues of multimedia teaching and training at school and elsewhere through the use of off-line and on-line digital tools, and the issues related to the relationship between the new digital technologies, educational sciences and social sciences. He also examined closely the new ipermedia modes of knowledge transfer from both an epistemological and a technological point of view. More specifically, he investigated the following research fields:

 

a. Techniques and applications of Computer Science to different educational and training environments: primary and secondary education, higher education, professors and adults training, focusing in particular 1) on the educational, technological and organizational design of integrative training courses, and 2) on the design and production of CD-ROMs, web sites and internet portals for education, Computer Supplied Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and Computer Supplied Collaborative Working (CSCW).

 

b. e-Learning and distance teaching, focusing in particular on the issues of educational and learning design. Within the scope of this field:

- he has been member of the research team who designed and lead the international research The life cycle of e-Learning coordinated by Professor Raoul C.D. Nacamulli. The research findings have been published in the volume La formazione,  il  cemento e la rete. E-learning, management delle conoscenze e processi di sviluppo organizzativo (ETAS 2003);

- he is member of the research team coordinated by Professor Susanna Mantovani designing the research Computer, children and adults: experiences and representations in agreement with and with the financial support of the IBM Foundation Italy. The research objective is to analyze, from a qualitative standpoint, the first approach of children in school and pre-school age (2 to 6 years old) to digital technologies and how the these transform their cognitive and learning frameworks. The research also aims at designing training courses for pre-school professionals;

- in the past, within the scope of his activity, he developed the projects Virtual Classes and Web Academy with Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM and its Language Center.

 

c. the impact of the Digital Revolution and of new communication technologies on epistemological paradigms, on education and training practices as well as on the practices of the sociology of cultural processes, studying in depth, from an anthropological and sociological standpoint, the issues related to the spreading of  “informational” and cultural capitalism and the issue of  digital divide.

 

d. critical study and interpretation of the new modalities of knowledge transfer and reception, focusing in particular on the applications of Computer Science to research in the fields of Humanities, education and business training;

 

e. the theories of hypertextuality, hypermediality and the study of the epistemological changes undergone by the “text” and its modes of writing, fruition e critical interpretation as they shift from paper to digital;

 

f. the theoretical and practical problems of shifting from traditional publishing to multimedia publishing: digital encoding and storing, multimedia design and production, the new professional figures, the relationship with the market.

 

He has also dealt with contemporary philosophy, focusing in particular on Aesthetics and on Moral and Theoretical Philosophy.

As far as this field is concerned, he focused on the following areas of interest: a) German Historicism and especially Georg Simmel’s philosophy, b) The Philosophy of Life, focusing in particular on Henri Bergson’s philosophy, c) Critical Marxism, focusing in particular on Ernst Bloch, d) Paul Ricoeur‘s Hermeneutic Phenomenology and the issues of contemporary Aethics.

 

 

Research projects and activities

 

As for his research activities at the Department of Human Sciences for Education of the University of Milan - Bicocca he started the following research projects:

 

Project Title: New Millennium Learner 

               

Research Leader: Paolo Ferri 

 

The aim of the project is to research into the new approach to learning and knowledge management of young generations which is profoundly influenced by the interaction of children and teenagers with information technologies. The main research topics are:           

- understanding who the New Millennium Learners are and what their new learning styles are

- determining whether the NML case touches all OCSE countries and identifying those factors which can account for the differences among different countries and within single countries themselves

- the challenges for education posed by NMLs and the way in which this new generation of pupils can affect school practices

- what education policies must be developed at European and international level to meet NMLs’ needs? What are the implications of such educational policies ?

http://www.oecd.org/document/10/0,2340,en_2649_201185_38358154_1_1_1_1,00.html  

 

 

 

Project Title: Knowledge and digital learning environments: field research and methodologies for the cooperative building of a local e-learning ontology in kindergarten and primary school (PRIN 2006/2007).

 

Leader of Research and of the research unit of the University of Milan - Bicocca: Paolo Ferri  (Professor Luciano Galliani, PRIN National Coordinator).

 

The research program’s objective is to put forward concrete solutions and at the same time to explore some of the topical issues of e-Learning and Semantic Web using integrated tools. Due to the complexity of the issues, it is necessary that the analysis and the different subjects be shared among different research groups, in order for them to be able to handle the experimental problems and the final content integration in a homogenous way. The present methodological and technological e-learning tools are not appropriate for the innovative applications which might actually solve the problems connected with the formalization, recovery and sharing of knowledge. The theoretical basis of the research unit of the University of Milan - Bicocca is made up of a series of elements, studies and experiences on four levels:

1) The analysis of the technological models required for the different e‑Learning software platforms. This line of research was developed at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca and within the framework of the international PhD in Information Society coordinated by Professor Guido Martinotti. Different functions were analyzed: database management, virtual classroom, asynchronous interaction, tracking, proof, etc. of different open source platforms (php. ecc.) based on the XML protocol. The research objective was to test the platforms compatibility with the following requirements: self‑consistency (the function does not interact with the database of the organization directly); ID reading capability (XML document).

2) The analysis of e-Learning and integrated training models aimed at teachers in active service and experts of professional and continuous training. One line of research was developed to identify and classify the pedagogical models for on-line blended teaching (Ferri, 2002; Ferri, 2003). More specifically, this part of the research was lead on field on the Docebo Platform (docebo.lib.unimib.it). This research falls within the framework of the pilot projects financially supported by the University of Milan - Bicocca for the testing of integrated teaching models in blended learning applied to seven modules of the degree courses of the Faculty of Educational Sciences.

3) The analysis of future prospects for e-Learning provided by Semantic Web, Blog and Learning Object. The aim of the research was to examine if the two basic problems of "knowledge objects", namely the educational dimension and the consensus on the required terminology for their indexation, could be solved through the development and the consensual use of domain ontologies typical of Semantic Web. The EduOnto project has also been taken into consideration: its first objective is the development of an ontology which can be used to describe the actors, processes and technologies of Educational Sciences, and its final result the development of a Learning Object Repository which makes use of the ontological base for their “intelligent” consultation. Today L.O. researches are going to great lengths more to develop common and shared standards, than to tackle the teaching issues of the construction, putting together and fruition of the objects in a shared knowledge environment. Correctly tagging L.O. with metadata it’s still not sufficient to assure a real progress in the processing and shared building of knowledge: in fact, each metadata adding semantically relevant information (for example about the target, the contents or the references used to describe its "pedagogical properties") bears with it the burdensome problem inherent to all classification processes: different people will classify objects in different ways, using different reference terminologies. The classifying effort thus ends up very often being useless.

4) More specifically, the research line followed by the research unit of the University of Milan - Bicocca revolves around the development, experimentation and implementation of an integrated learning environment for primary school teachers. Such an environment will have to be supported by ontological structures based on the training community agreement and by social networks in the field of the Science of Primary Education implemented with the Semantic Web methodology. As for this point, the research unit rests on a) the experience built up by the team of researchers carrying on the studies of Professor Susanna Mantovani (Mantovani, S. 1995) in the field of primary education environments analysis, and b) the method of inquiry based on the observation of primary education environments developed during a series of international researches relying on the visual method in ethnographic research (Tobin, Wo, Davidson 2000). The development of a specific ontology for primary education requires of course an active consent of a training community. Such ontologies would also have an important side-effect on all actors involved: first of all the development of a common vocabulary (Wenger, 1998), then a strong drive to the explicitation of tacit knowledge, and finally the sharing of a meta-model for the integration of processes, knowledge and relationships. A primary education ontology has a great asset, namely that of providing a medium to foster knowledge sharing (through Learning Objects) in a sort of semantic interoperability between different e-learning applications which also encompass learning pedagogical strategies. The aim is to giv value tot the empirical evidance and the conclusions which can be obtained a) by a direct observation of the teaching environments with the visual method in ethnographic research, and b) by a shared social building of the agreement or falsification of the research hypothesis regarding the proposed primary education regional onthology.

 

 

 

Project Title: Learning Communities and Blended Learning Communities: The Fortech Pilot Project of the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Milan - Bicocca

 

Scientific project leader: Professor Paolo Ferri

 

The project’s strategic objectives may be summed up as follows:

- test new teaching modalities, especially constructivist in nature, which, thanks to technology, are able to enhance the quality of the University’s educational opportunities and meet the needs of the actors involved;

- tackle some of the problems of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, where a large number  of working students cannot attend lessons and have no direct contact with their professors during their educational journey at the University;

- design a successful model of on-line education by testing and co-designing more effective teaching modalities for teachers and students which facilitate the blending of Educational Technologies and face‑to‑face lessons.

- adapt and co-design a Learning Management System which features different levels of interaction design in line with educational models and which meets the following criteria: usability, scalability depending on the transmission band, accessibility and usability by the actors involved.

- find formats for the creation of digital learning objects which a) can be integrated in blended educational pathways, b) can be easily managed by teachers, c) meet efficient learning needs, and d) allow for an appropriate implementation and supply of net contents.

The coexistence of different objectives highlights the complexity of the whole system made up of the main actors and contexts. The approach to the problem thus requires a synthesis process between the different elements of the project. More specifically this can be seen as the search for the best possible “fitting” between teaching and the context where its technological network dimension comes to life, that is the Learning Management System.

 

More specifically the objectives are:

- create from scratch, at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, a blended techno-pedagogical educational system for the qualification of an ever increasing number of teachers over time.

- buy the infrastructures (labs, servers, etc.) and increase the number of skilled professionals who are qualified to hold (professors and tutors), design and manage (technicians, researchers, administrative staff) blended courses;

- identify the net and blended educational models which meet the need for educational innovation and the new educational needs of teachers and students, and evaluate their effectiveness levels;

- co-design and keep running a Learning Management System which suits the identified educational models and features different levels of interaction design in line with following criteria: usability, scalability depending on the transmission band, accessibility and usability by the actors involved.

 

 

 

Project Title: The Child Author: knowledge building in the classroom  and through a network. Monitoring and developing an on-going project in a network of schools in the South of Milan.

 

 

Scientific project leader: Professor Paolo Ferri

 

Research Team: Professor Paolo Ferri, Valentina Garzia (University of Milan – Bicocca), Stefano Merlo (Coordinator of the Child Author Network)

 

The Child Author project was conceived and developed during the Academic Year 1998-1999 by a group of schools which eventually joined in a network. The project serves as a tool to establish a relationship between students from different schools based on the shared building of multimedia products by communicating and exchanging materials through a computer network. The network-based cooperative teaching featured in the project enables teachers and students to develop new relational skills typical of distance communication which require a deeper reflection on linguistic codes, as opposed to those of face-to-face communication which are based primarily on body language.

The teaching activity itself enables students to become more aware of their own cognitive skills, which they have to spread and exchange in order for them to gain new and qualitatively better ones.

This way, the development of multimedia products through the distant cooperation between classes proves to be a tool which a) promotes the overcoming of a teaching system based on the transmission/reception of often scrappy and sketchy content, and thus b) favors a challenging and successful learning since it is grounded on the ideas of:

- acting ability

- metacognition

- cooperation

The Teaching Institutions of the Child Author Project prepare the budget for the scheduled activities by common agreement. All member schools must comply with the rules stated in the agreement. The following 35 schools, including more than 200 teachers, joined the Child Author Network Agreement (see attachment):

IC di Assago (MI);

IC di Basiglio (MI);

DD 1° Circolo di Buccinasco (MI);

DD 2° Circolo di Buccinasco (MI);

IC Copernico di Corsico

IC Buonarroti di Corsico;

IC Verdi di Corsico,

Scuola dell’Infanzia Comunale Dante di Corsico,

DD 1° Circolo di Cesano Boscone

DD 2° Circolo di Cesano Boscone

IC di Lacchiarella

DD De Nicola di Milan;

DD  Arcadia di Milan,

DD 1° Circolo di Rozzano (MI);

DD 2° Circolo di Rozzano (MI);

DD 3° Circolo di Rozzano (MI);

DD 1° Circolo di Trezzano (MI);

DD 2° Circolo di Trezzano (MI);

DD 2° Circolo di Pavia;

DD 4° Circolo di Pavia;

IC di Verdello (BG);

IC di Rovellasca (CO),

IC di Vermezzo,

DD 1° Circolo di Pieve Emanuele,

DD di Bressana Bottarone

 

 

In 2005, an agreement protocol was signed between Child Author and the following municipalities:

 

Corsico

Buccinasco

Cesano Boscone

Trezzano SN

Basiglio

Lachiarella

Zibido San Giacomo

Rozzano

Pieve Emanuele

Vermezzo

Milan – Zona ???

Rovellasca (CO)

Rovello (CO)

Pavia

Pinarolo Po (PV)