Networked informal learning and continuing teacher education

As it is widely accepted that the educational system must change, we might assume that one of the key factors for its innovation is the promotion of reliable continuing teacher education (CTE) initiatives. If the main purpose of CTE is to facilitate transformative practice and professional autonomy, rather than to provide a means of transmission, teachers must change their attitude to teaching. New constructs of schooling and learning are emerging, also due to the rise and rapid diffusion of network mobile technologies (NMTs). This chapter describes Aladin, a project in which teachers perform a sequence of steps in order to become fully aware of the educational value of NMTs. It focuses on the informal approach based on action research adopted in this project and on the results achieved, offering some refl ections as to which critical factors would hinder or help such an initiative in becoming a continuous education practice in teacher professional development.