This is our sixth weekly instalment of interviews with teachers in Project “Our School” who we have described as i-Teachers, inclusion teachers, who work day in and day out to make sure that no one is left behind [see news: Our School].
Today, a short video and an interview by Ilaria Gaudiello will introduce us to Prof. Stefania Altieri, will introduce us to Computer Engineer Eugenio Vitanza, an expert of virtual reality and didactic robotics.
Eugenio Vitanza is a professor and engineer who has worked both in start-ups and schools, developing an authentic passion for robotics and virtual and augmented reality applied to the world of education. He firmly believes in the crucial role played by new technology in education and images a new way of teaching in which old and new media will coexist to guarantee quality and attractivity. He teaches computer science at IIS Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa in Caltagirone (Catania).
INTERVIEW
Eugenio, your profile is the result of a rich combination of digital skills, interest in pedagogy and awareness of social issues. You have worked in start-ups, education, training. What brings these worlds together for you?
Bringing things together is an incredibly stimulating challenge. Innovation and education are two routes that must run parallel and that’s what I try to do every day. We need to study to teach others to participate in an evolutionary process. These worlds are strictly related and only by joining them together can we move from the theoretical to actual practice.
You are developing a course on Civic Education, together with other teachers for the “Our School” Network of teachers organised by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale. Where does your interest in history and the Italian Constitution come from? What approach did you decide to use?
Personally, I have always loved history. I firmly believe that a people that are unaware of their history are destined to disappear. Human evolution is based on success and unsuccess, on problems that must be resolved. Therefore, I attempted to face the origin of the Constitution with the eyes of a developer to identify the analytic approach employed after the war, when the founders of the Italian Republic faced with a difficult problem. Their solution proposed a complex interconnection of institutions to balance the power. A commitment that produced a beautiful Constitution, admired by the entire world.
Your course will be published in March on the FMD website. At the conclusion of this project, what do you believe is the value proposition that “Our School” needs to develop to consolidate its actions?
The publication of our work will be a great honour. It was beautiful and allowed me to focus on issues that are only apparently unrelated to my profession. I undertook this journey with two splendid travel mates (Flavia Giannoli and Caterina Colucci), both of whom are exceptional teachers with professional and human qualities. On the basis of my experience, I believe that the best value proposition is to stimulate teachers to move out of their comfort zone and experiment with techniques that may, at first, appear unrelated to their experience. This will surely lead to unexpected success.
