A EDUCAÇÃO À DISTÂNCIA (EAD) COMO PRÁTICA DE DEMOCRATIZAÇÃO DO ENSINO SUPERIOR NO BRASIL: PROBLEMÁTICAS E PERSPECTIVAS

Abstract

Distance Education (DE) is a modality characterized by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide distance learning courses where the student and the teacher (tutor) are physically separated in space and time. It is a constantly growing modality that inspires several debates about its nature, quality and its contributions to the democratization process of Brazilian Higher Education. The present work aims at a systematic discussion of the bases for the emergence of Higher Distance Education in Brazil, its proposal, its evolution, its importance and its problems regarding its contribution to the democratization and universalization of the Higher Education modality in the Country. They point out that problems of access to higher education are historically marked by the segregation of the less able, higher education as indicators of social status and attended by elites. Distance education is a process that has increased access for people historically neglected by higher education, but many researchers debate the quality of these courses, the high dropout rate, the mercantilistic feature of the offer and the questionable conditions and quality of tutors.