It has been claimed that a reversal of school science-teaching pedagogy from mainly deductive to inquiry-based methods provides the means to increase interest in science’ (Rocard et al. 2007). Furthermore, the development and use of technologies provide new perspectives for science teachers. The latest technological resources available at school, such as modelling and simulation tools, online and mobile devices allow the teachers to explore new approaches to design and carry out learning activities. The symposium addresses issues regarding the support for Inquiry-Based Science Teaching (IBST) or Learning (IBSL) through the design of appropriate on line resources for students and teachers. The use of such resources has been of interest in many scholarly and developmental works in the field of science education (Kim et al. 2007), but the growth of available resources, and the increasing use of such resources, indicate the need for further studies. In this symposium we present and discuss such studies, ongoing within local, national and European projects.

Many definitions of IBST have been proposed in the educational literature. In the “Mind the Gap” project (Jorde et al. 2009), IBST is characterized by

“activities that pay attention to engaging students in:

(i)                   authentic and problem based learning activities where there may not be a correct answer

(ii)                 a certain amount ofexperimental procedures, experiments and "hands on" activities, including searching for information

(iii)                self regulated learning sequences where student autonomy is emphasized

(iv)                discursive argumentation and communication with peers ("talking science")”

We will refer to this definition to examine the features of on line resources likely to support IBST. Such resources can propose to the teachers and students rich situations, for example stemming from controversies. They can provide the teacher with elements for the organisation of debates in the science classes: scaffolding for the students in the search of information, but also for the teacher in the management of students’ argumentation (intervention of Jocelyn Wishart, about the PEEP project at the University of Bristol).

We will present tools, developed within the “Mind the Gap” project, for analysing the potential of a given resource for IBST. The analysis criteria have to take into account the scientific content and its presentation; technical possibilities; but also the scaffolding offered to students and teachers within the inquiry process (intervention of Gueudet and Forest).

We will also consider the resources design modes. On line resources yield new articulations between design and use: the user can be involved within the design process, and can participate to communities of users of mixed communities of users and designers. This is a key issue, because the involvement of the user in the design guarantees the appropriation of the resource, and contributes to its ongoing improvement.

The students themselves can become designers, a principle developed within the “Science Created by You” project (intervention of Marzin and Van Joolingen). The teachers can collaborate with science education researchers for the design of resources, their implementation in class and their further improvement (intervention of Aldon and Sanchez).