Reshaping faculty professional development for blended learning

In the last year, due to the Covid-19 crisis, universities at a global level had to radically transform their teaching activities. All face-to-face academic practices were moved fully or partially online, prompting a rethink of the entire educational process. Teachers had to redesign their courses for online delivery and include videolectures, digital educational contents, e-tivities, assessment tools, discussion forums etc. This situation brought most universities to provide teachers increased support not only in terms of provision of equipment but also through new or reinforced training programmes of faculty professional development. In this regard, this study aims at investigating the impact of the several training actions promoted by the University of Florence in 2020 on teachers’ digital skills for blended and/or digital learning. These actions were undertaken within the context of the DIDeL project, the strategic initiative of the University of Florence for faculty professional development on e-learning. Given the limitations imposed by the pandemic, DIDeL was completely reshaped for online delivery and centered not only on elearning as a complementary activity but also on blended learning as a possible solution for the reopening of the academic year. A cycle of 12 webinars was offered online between June and July 2020, consisting of events focused on different topics related to educational methods and technologies as well as on technical aspects. Results show that the remote mode was welcomed and the methodological topics particularly appreciated. These results provide insights to reshape faculty professional development initiatives in the future.