Report on VDS workshop on Narrative Learning Environments

This report concerns the organization and outcomes of an online workshop (in the form of a small course) on Narrative Learning Environments (NLE), carried out by the SIG NLE in the period October 9-December 4, 2006. Th2 workshop appears satisfactory, both as a learning activity and as a Kaleidoscope one. As a learning activity, its success is determined by the satisfaction of the students and by the level of knowledge actually achieved by all of them. A problem was constituted by the defection of a number of participants after the workshop's start. The number of students remaining, however, was still sufficient to carry out a meaningful online activity and to make the discussions participated and lively. From the point of view of the SIG NLE, it has represented a moment of aggregation, in that 9 SIG members from 4 different institutions and countries took part, as experts or tutors or both, in its design and running. Moreover, it has led to increase the SIG membership, in that the PhD students taking part in it have become SIG members. Finally, having increased the competence on NLE of a group of people is a step in fulfilling the institutional aims of the SIG. From the point of view of Kaleidoscope in general, it represents a valuable contribution to the activity of the VDS. Being completely online, its costs were very limited, since travelling expenses were avoided. Moreover, an online activity in an international context can be followed by PhD students while taking courses or carrying out some activity in their own university and hence can represent a way to increase the distribution of VDS activities.