The document discusses the 8th annual international conference on education challenges and competencies for e-teachers, emphasizing the importance of student-centered teaching in distance learning. Key points include the necessity for active student participation, flexible curricular structures, and the development of e-trainer competences. Testimonials from students highlight the benefits of collaborative work, feedback, and teacher presence in enhancing the online learning experience.

1. 8th Annual
International
Conference on
Education
Challenges and
competences of the
e-teacher:
a higher education
experience in Portugal
fernando albuquerque costa | fc@ie.ul.pt
instituto de educação
07 July 2012
10:30-11:45H http://aprendercom.org/miragens/

2. THE CHALLENGE
Need to develop stimulating teaching and learning
distance contexts.
To develop dynamics that will rise:
- Active participation of students
- Respect for needs, interests, expectations
- Individual autonomy in organisation of
learning
- Self-regulation strategies
- Interaction and collaboration between
students
- …

3. THE STARTING IDEA
the most successful distance learning
systems are not necessarily the most
technologically advanced ones,
but those which invest in the quality of
the teaching and learning
opportunities they create!

4. OUR ASSUMPTIONS
Structural pillars of the teaching and learning activity
1. The student is at the centre of the teaching and
learning process
2. The learning is an on-going process and uses a
rich and wide-ranging set of strategies,
especially communication and collaboration
among the participants
3. The curricular structure is open and flexible,
allowing adjustments to be made resulting from
the needs identified and the dynamics created
throughout the process
4. The support materials serve to aid a meaningful
and in-depth learning experience

5. E-TRAINER COMPETENCES AND SKILLS
The skills of the new teacher:
1. management of the virtual environment;
2. design of learning activities;
3. facilitation and guidance of the individual learning;
4. leadership and socialisation, to promote interaction
among the participants;
5. assessment, with particular focus on the “art” of
supplying “feedback”;
6. management of the entire teaching and learning
process online;
7. mentoring, i.e. supporting personal and professional
development.

6. METHODOLOGY
To listen to the voice of the end recipients, both in
terms of self-assessment of the learning achieved,
but also in terms of satisfaction in relation to the
work methodologies and tools used:
• Written reflections of the students
(at the end of the semester)
• In deep semi-structured interviews
(after the semester was finished)
Qualitative data analysis

7. SOME TESTIMONIALS
About the COLLABORATIVE WORK strategy
“The amount I learned and „grew‟ in this short
space of time is immeasurable and surpassed
all my expectations.
I‟m not talking only about the content of the
subject itself, but also the collaborative work
experience online and the spirit of sharing
that I have experienced over this period.”

8. SOME TESTIMONIALS
About the “QUICK” FEEDBACK strategy
“she (the tutor) always clarified our doubts
and gave us feedback so that we could
improve our participations and contributions,
paving the way for us to go beyond the limits
of our knowledge at the time.”.

9. SOME TESTIMONIALS
About the TEACHERS’ PRESENCE strategy
“the opportunity to have a present-distance-
tutor.
(…) There was and is no way we can feel
alone. Even if you were not always online,
obviously, we knew perfectly well that a
question, a doubt, would be quickly
answered.”

10. REFERENCES
Adams, E. & Freeman, C. (2003). Selecting Tools for Online Communities: Suggestions for
Learning Technologists. The Technology Source, July/August 2003 (available at
http://technologysource.org/article/selecting_tools_for_online_communities/).
Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does.
Philadelphia, Society for Research into Higher Education: Open University Press.
Costa, F. & Peralta, H. (2007). Comunidades virtuales de aprendizaje: El punto de vista de
los participantes. Revista Electrónica Teoría de la Educación. Educación y Cultura en la
Sociedad de la Información. 8(3): 23-59.
CUTSD Project (2000). Facilitating flexible online teaching using structured frameworks.
(available at: http://www.ntu.edu.au/education/oll/index.html).
Figueiredo, A. & Afonso, A. (2006). Managing learning in virtual settings: the role of context.
Hershey, PA, Information Science Pub.
Jonassen, D., Peck, K., & Wilson, B. (1999). Learning with technology: Constructivist
perspective. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Salomon, G. (1993). Distributed cognition: psychological and educational considerations.
New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Urdan, T. & Weggen, C. (2000). Corporate e-learning: exploring a new frontier. (available at
http://www.performancesupport.com/piper-elearning.pdf).

11. http://aprendercom.org/miragens/
Thank You!
fernando albuquerque costa | fc@ie.ul.pt
UNIVERSITY OF LISBON | INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION