Building the future of distance and online learning: the case of a Portuguese university

Abstract

The switch to distance and online learning is a central issue for the European Education Area in Higher Education. To help prepare the future of digital education, the academic community of the University of Aveiro (UA, Portugal) has been called to debate learning experiences, to prepare forward-looking training systems, and to share practices. Within this framework as a background, this article has a double objective: to present a Teachers’ Professional Development Program designed for the empowerment of digital teaching and learning processes, and to report two teaching experiences incorporating the key ideas of the program and designed to serve STEM publics (a professional training course and a preservice teachers’ course). An additional objective is to present a future research proposal, within an informal context for STEM students. The study will provide relevant insights regarding e-learning in STEM Education at the UA and the impact of transformational strategies on the community.