Designing pedagogical devices

The research work presented in this article concerns professional training and collective learning scenarios according to a project-based pedagogy. They are supported by pedagogical devices. We consider a pedagogical device as a set of means (methods, tools, procedures, and actors) intended to support a learning process. These devices include a pedagogical method (MAETIC, French acronym which stands for educational method instrumented by the Information and Communication Technologies), which supports, for learners, the acquisition of professional knowledge and know-how. This article presents the development of an Assistance Tool, which helps a teacher to design a pedagogical device dedicated to the training of professional know-how according to a project-based group active pedagogy. The device thus designed is instrumented using Web 2.0 tools. This work seems interesting to us because many teachers do not have the needed competences to set up a technological environment and few of them have the assistance of engineers to help them in this task. The interest of this assistance tool is then, to help teachers to formulate their needs (assistance in the design) and to relieve them from the sometimes tiresome and repetitive tasks related to the deployment of a teaching device (development assistance).