Supporting the design of pilot learning activities with the Pedagogical Plan Manager

Pilot actions for introducing ICT-based innovation in school education generally involve a multitude of elements and a range of different actors. Accounting for and grasping this complexity calls for systematic pedagogical planning efforts that provide a solid basis for accommodating the different perspectives, for analysing the factors at play and also for casting light on the initial assumptions and theoretical framework adopted. These are the issues currently being addressed in a European project called ReMath, in which the authors are developing and testing a prototype ICT-based tool called the Pedagogical Plan Manager (PPM). The system supports the construction and sharing of pedagogical plans within a community of different actors operating in different contexts with different visions. This paper briefly describes some of the requirements that have shaped the PPM and outlines the conceptual model on which it is based. The system is described in the light of two vital characteristics it presents for the design of learning activities, namely expressiveness and flexibility.