Technologies and innovation in secondary schools: rethinking teaching to improve student satisfaction

The use of new technologies is one of the themes at the centre of the educational debate, especially following Distance Education. The Avant-garde Educative Movement gathers schools from all over the country that share experiments based on a model in which the student is at the centre of his or her own educational path, a model capable of promoting meaningful learning. The Self Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) highlights the extent to which the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relationships contributes to student motivation. The purpose of the present study is to understand whether the rethinking of teaching promoted by widespread use of new technologies has had an impact in terms of student satisfaction. For the analysis, a Multilevel Model was used that assumes as the dependent variable students’ satisfaction with their school life from the Clipper Test, a-Portfolio for the orientation of students aged 15–19 (Soresi & Nota, 2003). The scale captures satisfaction with the school experience in terms of preparation received, relationships established and congruence with expectations. Results show that satisfaction increases as the use and frequency of innovative teaching methodologies employed by the teacher increases and as the frequency of use of technological resources employed in the classroom and in homework assignments increases.