E-tutoring nella didattica telematica. Pratiche di modellamento

The work aims to outline e-tutor’s role development in digital teaching, considering the changes that digital and social media introduce in it (Rivoltella, 2017; Ferrari, 2019). The communicative dimension on which this role is based is still very important (Rivoltella, 2006); this means that some skills have to be developed: online moderation, online group management, online communities animation. E-tutor, in particular, is required to be aware of the modeling activity he/she carries out towards students through his/her communication and (interactive and delivery) teaching activities within online degree courses, that is: facilitating the interaction between teachers and students, monitoring teaching activities, supporting teaching staff in verifying students’ preparation, supporting teachers and students in final examinations. The case study presented in the article is about the role of e-tutor in an Italian distance university using an analysis methodology already validated in the literature.