This study examines the tendencies, issues and challenges related to the integration of ICTs into training for the teaching profession and into the teaching practice itself. Its objective is to deepen our understanding of the changes occurring among prospective teachers presented with ICTs (beginning with the educational innovation of « on-line » courses), with respect to their motivation vis-à-vis the integration of ICTs into university teaching, their attitudes to this new learning mode, and their in-class teaching practices. The first experiments with on-line courses took place in the fall of 1998. The results presented are based on data collected between September 1998 and May 2000 (four academic sessions).

The experiment of course mediatization on the Web at the Université du Québec à Hull indicated that a change takes place among prospective teachers when they are presented with ICTs in their teacher training. Changes were noted in terms of their motivation to learn with ICTs, their attitudes with respect to the integration of ICTs into university teaching, and - for a quarter of the students participating in the experiment - some changes in their teaching practices in the classroom. Their actual experience as learners, integrating ICTs into their courses, was also likely to lead to a favourable attitude towards the integration of ICTs, or to the creation of conditions supportive of modifying structures representational of the role or utility of ICTs, either in their learning or teaching (practicum or future professional practice). Possibly because the experiments were conducted in a socio-constructivist context, ICTs are thus viewed as learning tools in which learners increase their autonomy and critical faculties, since they must find sources of reliable and relevant information when searching for answers to problems.