''Interactive Teaching'' through the Use of New Technologies: The Interactive Whiteboard

After I graduated from Catania in 2003, I worked for three years in various major commercial companies in Rome, first as a sale consultant, then in the field of human resources. I thought that working in a big company would be challenging and motivating, but as I wasn’t involved in what I really liked, I was coming home unsatisfied with my professional life. It was after a short stint as a supply teacher I realized teaching was the right career for me and in 2006 I decided to apply for the S.I..L.S.I.S. course in Pavia. I have found the course an excellent and gradual way into teaching. It has given me plenty of opportunities to learn about the many aspects of being a teacher. Anyone who want to work with young people should not lack an appropriate pedagogical and theoretical preparation. For too many years students of all ages have been victims of unskilled and untrained teachers sometimes without any appropriate qualification, or even an idea of the many delicate aspects that this job implies. it’s not just subject expertise, but being able to hold the attention of the class, ability to enthuse using a variety of different teaching methods, empathy and making students think rather than being told.
The studies in the interdisciplinary area (area 1), specifically, learning and development psychology, equip future teachers with the pedagogic knowledge and enable them to develop their knowledge and understanding of pupils and their learning. Evaluation, be it formative or summative, is a delicate moment in both teacher’s and student’s life and requires awareness of methods and tools. In the methodological area I have found particularly interesting the courses about pedagogy of literature. Enthusing students in studying literature is an ability that goes beyond the mere subject knowledge, and takes practise, method and self-reflection. In the course we have learnt how to explore innovative approaches, apply new strategies, collect, develop and use a wide range of teaching resources including developing our own skills in the use of information technology. If some criticism is allowed, it would be desirable to have a better coordination between courses and laboratories, and a longer amount of time spent in schools rather than in university classes. However, Generally speaking, the SILSIS has been a valuable experience, a period in which we as future teachers have developed an awareness of our professional role and of the value system which belongs to it.