Designing learning paths in the field of intangible cultural heritage (ich): a new methodology

Spurred by the UNESCO Convention (2003) [1], ICH is becoming an emerging topic at all the levels and number of initiatives and projects have been developed in the last 10 years. Education seems to have a significant role in the safeguarding of ICH and UNESCO itself clearly highlights its value, nonetheless, looking at specific cultural expressions, it is difficult (often impossible in the case of rare ICHs) to find formal and structured training initiatives, being them online or face-to-face. This is due to the intrinsic nature of these expressions (that are alive and not stable) and to the traditional methods typically adopted for their transmission, which are usually based on imitation and apprenticeship.In this paper we describe how, in order to maximize the educational opportunities and involve a wider public, the i-Treasures project [2] tried to go beyond the current practice, by conceiving more structured and "standardized" training initiatives mediated by the technology.To do so, a new methodology for ICH education is proposed, based on the idea that, in order to master any specific cultural expression, a learner needs to get through three main essential stages: (1) s/he needs to acquire a background of knowledge on the cultural expression (2) s/he needs to observe and explore experts performance in order to become able to appreciate/detect the main features of the ICH itself, (3) s/he needs to practice, getting feedback in such a way to understand her/his mistakes and improve the quality of the performance. The proposed methodology can be implemented either in formal or non-formal learning contexts and it can be applied in technology enhanced learning initiatives, as well as within face-to-face scenarios.Furthermore, within the i-Treasures project, an ad hoc tool, called Pedagogical Planner [3], has been developed, aimed to support the design process (by teachers and ICH experts) of learning paths based the methodology itself [4]. The tool allows the creators to conceptualize the design at macro-level and then to author the sequence of activities to be proposed to learners. The resulting paths can also be automatically transformed into courses on a Learning Management System (LMS) [5].A particular case study (concerning the Italian cultural expression called Canto a Tenore) is used as an example of application of both the methodology and the tool.