From Computer Assisted to Grid Empowered Teaching and Learning Activities in Higher Level Chemistry Education

This chapter deals with the development and implementation of innovative methods of teaching and learning chemistry based on information and communication technologies (ICT) carried out as part of the activities of the ECTN, and its Association, ECTNA. The chapter starts with some basic methodological considerations on the impact of ICT on teaching and learning chemistry through student-centred cooperative efforts and analyzes in this perspective the evolution from computer- to net-assisted approaches. The analysis of these approaches focuses on their exploitation both to assist students and teachers in making the learning process ubiquitous and continuous and to develop virtual and abstract level networked methodologies specific of the management and the acquisition of scientific knowledge. To this end virtual reality and learning management systems, which are already enabling new ways of representing and handling chemical concepts and categories, are discussed in detail on the base of some case studies. Further implementations of ICT for broadband transmissions and grid networking are discussed in order to highlight the resulting empowering of data high availability and cooperative concurrent computing. The related discussion lends itself to the formulation of a proposal for establishing a grid-based virtual organization aimed at ferrying European higher education institutions into the telematic era.