Hospital and Home School Education: A Potential Crucible for "2.0 Teachers"

The body of individual experiences deriving from sometimes "extreme" didactic needs, such as those of students who are unable to attend normal education regularly (if at all), has provided and continues to provide school and research worlds with useful specific material for reflection and for the experimentation of new forms of teaching. An example may be found in hospital and/or home teaching, that is to say an "open" type of teaching which ignores the usual physical perimeter of the class (understood as an aggregation of individuals with the respective roles of students and teachers), while guaranteeing the same social and communicative dimension which must be allowed to develop within a class. Paradoxically these situations have shown themselves to be ideal for the development of a teaching style aimed at stimulating the active role of the student, at fostering a learning process based more on doing than on listening, hence in line with so-called "2.0 pedagogy". And, as will be argued in this chapter, it is in this sense that special pedagogy can and must be considered as a potential crucible for "2.0 teachers". But how can the transition from "potential" to "actual" crucible be effected? In answering this question, we will begin with some considerations on the current relationship between technology and pedagogy, then attempt to understand if and how it is possible to capitalize on the numerous individual experiences of hospital and home teachers, in order to achieve a didactic innovation which is supported by the new technologies and which can be extended to the whole school system.