E-Learning at Politecnico di Torino: Moving to a Sustainable Large-Scale Multi-Channel System of Services

Politecnico di Torino has been actively experimenting distance education scenarios since 1992, through the development of innovative methodologies and tools. The real challenge today, however, is to move from small settings to a large-scale system able to suit the needs of a broad number of users belonging to different categories, from traditional students to part-time or full-time workers, from students living far from Torino to people with participation restriction due to disability. The emphasis then, is not only on the innovation of methodologies and technologies, but on their effective and economically sustain- able use in a complex and multi-faceted setting. This chapter describes the services introduced in this direction and gives a preliminary evaluation after the first year of delivery.