Empowering faculty for digital transformation: early insights from the University of Florence’s Alma webinars and minimoocs

The accelerated digitalization of higher education, catalysed by global shifts in technology and learning demand, requires universities not only to integrate advanced tools into coursework but also—crucially— to strengthen faculty competence in digital pedagogy and education; raising these competences is now widely recognised by European and international frameworks (e.g., DigCompEdu) as a prerequisite for sustainable, learner-centred innovation. Responding to this mandate, the University of Florence has played a key role in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan project “Digital Education Hub – Advanced Learning Multimedia Alliance for Inclusive Academic Innovation” (ALMA), a consortium of fourteen Italian universities dedicated to creating high-quality online professional-development and lifelong-learning pathways. Within ALMA, five open two-hour webinars and four self-paced miniMOOCs were conceived and released. A satisfaction survey assessing technical usability, content quality, perceived relevance, and overall value was completed by 469 participants (438 webinar attendees, 31 MOOC learners). Respondents reported high levels of clarity, engagement, and professional growth, highlighted the practical examples drawn from the Florentine context, and voiced interest in more advanced iterations; technical obstacles were negligible. These preliminary findings indicate that targeted webinars and MOOCs can effectively engage academic staff, cultivate the digital competences essential for twenty-first-century teaching, and ultimately elevate the quality and inclusivity of university education; future longitudinal research will investigate the sustained impact of these interventions on disciplinary learning outcomes and student achievement.