Abstract:

In 2005, there was an event that definitely influenced the way we deal with information: a new Web was born.

Although high school students are “natives” or “digital immigrants”, and therefore feel comfortable with technology, it was possible to see their reduced involvement in the proposed learning activities available in LMS Moodle.

In an attempt to capture the students' interest and consequently the real learning, we tried to define new strategies, practices and applications in the field of Information management, organization of information, Information sharing. At same time we also pursue the objective of quality. Measuring the quality of a b-learning environment is critical to determine the success of a b-learning course. In Portugal, there is a standard NP 4545: 2015 that establishes the requirements to evaluate the quality of the curricular units and courses with a strong E-learning component. The online coursed offered by the Unit of e-Learning and Pedagogical Innovation of Polytechnic of Porto (e-IPP) take into account the specific learning context, the Soft skills to be developed, the cognitive objectives, pre-requisites, web technologies, learning outcomes, synchronous and asynchronous sessions and learning resources. The present study intends to demonstrate, through a practical case, the relevance of all the preparation and development of courses in e/b-learning regime based on the requirements of the NP 4545: 2015, as a factor of credibility and pedagogical innovation.

In this way, an implementation proposal is presented on the basis of an internal procedure. This is documented and details the activities and the responsibilities and is structured in four phases: 1st)Design and planning of the course: It aims to guide the proponent, in what concerns the elements related to the course to be proposed to the e-IPP Unit and its follow-up opinion and approval; 2nd)Disclosure of the course: It is intended to ensure that in the dissemination of the course all relevant information is provided to the potentially interested in the e-IPP web environment; 3rd)Course implementation: Its purpose is to define the way of implementation and operation of the course in the training support platform; and finally the 4th) Evaluation and revision of the course: This is intended to measure the quality of the course, that is, to see to what extent what has been accomplished has met the needs and expectations of the stakeholders.

With this work, a procedure is materialized, which is related to the development of courses in e/b-learning regime in the e-IPP, based on the requirements of the NP 4545: 2015. It is also mentioned that this is a primordial and basic document in the scope of the future certification of the courses of this Unit, ensuring the quality of the training offer.

Results presented will help institutions to deliver services with more quality and improve their long-term competitiveness.

Keywords:

NP4545, blended-Learning, e-learning, Higher Education, Course Quality, Web Tools, Web 2.0.