Title:	WHAT MOTIVATES PUC-SP TEACHERS TO ENROLL IN AN IN-SERVICE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ABOUT DISTANCE EDUCATION AND DIGITAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES?
Author(s):	Angelita Quevedo
ISBN:	978-972-8939-71-7
Editors:	Miguel Baptista Nunes and Pedro Isaías
Year:	2012
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Distance education, distance learning, higher education, teacher’s formation, teacher’s work, information and communication technologies.
Type:	Short Paper
First Page:	374
Last Page:	378
Language:	English
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Paper Abstract:	A number of variables can limit Brazilian university teachers in the use of digital information and communication technologies (DICT) in their teaching praxis. Socio-cultural limitations, different perceptions of DICT (dis)advantages, obstacles faced in their application, intense workload are some of the variables that can affect their understanding and use. This paper is based on a case study research that has been carried out at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Having the Activity Theory (AT) as its main theoretical background, our objective is to investigate a) teachers’ knowledge of and beliefs about Distance Education (DE) and digital information and communication technologies (DICT), b) the motives they have had to engage in an in-service program; c) how teachers appropriate DICT in their praxis after the program and d) contradictions that arise in the activity of qualifying teachers to digital learning. The subjects of this research participated in a formative experience offered in 2011 – an in-service professional development program conducted to develop teachers’ competence on the virtual learning environment (VLE) used by the university – Moodle and the formation of online teachers. In order to deeper understand PUC-SP teachers, we focused on the first research objective: the reasons that led them to enroll in the program. We assume that their expectations and motives can determine their engagement in the program. This study used two surveys that were applied in the beginning and in the end of the first module of the program. The analysis of data reveals some of the reasons that may motivate Brazilian university teachers to go into the experience of teaching in VLE that may be explored for future professional DICT development programs.
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