ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

This paper aims to summarize the current changes in education concerning the use of innovative teaching methods and to understand the opinion on technology and its educational uses of both teachers and pupils. While pupils’ grasp of their learning is a relatively underexplored field in educational research, it is paramount for effective lifelong learning. Our investigation focuses on the following aspects: the differences in the use of digital tools by the two groups, the motivations leading to certain uses and/or non-uses, the teachers’ pedagogical perspectives and their views on how ICT can contribute to the learning environment, their considerations on the current situation. We used focus groups to explore the subjects’ perspectives on innovative learning strategies, particularly ICT-based ones. In the final section, we consider future perspectives. Such assessments promote valid decision-making regarding to education and help in designing adequate learning experience to achieve effective learning objectives. Our findings point towards learning through collaboration and show that technologies can facilitate the learning process in cases of full participation by both teachers and students. The best learning environment, we discovered, is the one where teachers are no longer all-knowing controllers of activities but co-explorers together with the children.