Abstract:

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is a challenge for teachers and students, that influence its effective adoption, despite the added value for the teaching and learning processes, in particular with regard to the flexibility of teaching, reach new audiences regardless of physical location, diversity of teaching strategies adapted to the demands of the labour world, among others.

However, it is necessary to take into account factors that are considered critical to the success of a process of diffusion of ICT in higher education and implementation of distance learning practices, such as the fear of change, the perception of increased workload and the relation between the cost of investment and the opportunity for innovation, examples of factors that may negatively influence the individual predisposition to accept and incorporate the process of adaptation to new technologies in teaching.

The University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) is a portuguese higher education institution that, despite the initiatives that have been developed since 2010, continues to growth regarding the effective adoption of ICT in the pedagogical practices of its teachers.
In this context, there are four axes of action taken into account:
1) Lifelong Learning and Training;
2) Cooperation and Development;
3) Management and Sustainability; and
4) Research and Dissemination of Actions and Results.

To achieve the outlined goals for each axis, UTAD has a technical and pedagogical support team that assists in the process of designing educational activities with ICTs and has carried out different strategies that allow the dissemination of ICT in pedagogical practices. One of them is the integration of the UNorte consortium, in 2015, with two portuguese institutions with already consolidated distance learning and b-learning practices, which allows UTAD to learn from its partners' know-how. Within the scope of this consortium, the UnorteX.pt project is under implementation, and aims the development in the three partner institutions of a common architecture for distance education; training and development of resources and local technical teams to develop distance training courses and support teaching, such as the creation of two multimedia recording studios and the creation of certified rooms for online exams in each institution. The UNorteX.pt also foresees the creation of rules of accreditation of distance education common to the three institutions.

In this paper, we present the work that has been developed in UTAD to promote teachers’ motivation for the use of technologies in their pedagogical practices. A questionnaire was created and applied, allowing to assess the main motivation factors (needs and expectations) for the adoption of the technologies by teachers. Based on the findings drawn from the questionnaire, measures were implemented, and as results we already have:
1) there are two massive open online courses (MOOCs) in preparation, authored by UTAD teachers, one on Digital Accessibility and the other on Sustainable Tourism;
2) several non-degree training courses are being prepared to be taught in b-learning;
3) teachers of different scientific areas are developing multimedia content to be part of an online component of their classes.

As stated earlier, much still need to be done to achieve the desired level of adoption of ICT in UTAD, being the action plan aligned with the institutional objectives and those of the UNorte consortium.

Keywords:

Distance learning, b-learning, teacher motivation.