ORIGINAL ARTICLE
THURY, Ana Paula de Souza Rocha [1], OLIVEIRA, Diney Adriana Nogueira de [2]
THURY, Ana Paula de Souza Rocha. OLIVEIRA, Diney Adriana Nogueira de. Challenges of the educational process in virtual learning environments of The Estácio College of Amapá. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year 05, Ed. 07, Vol. 04, pp. 196-221. July 2020. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/education/educational-process
SUMMARY
This article refers to the theme Distance Education, with the purpose of demonstrating its origin, from the first technologies, discussing its positive and negative aspects, with theoretical foundation on its history. In this sense, the impacts on man’s life, in its different aspects and phenomena, will be emphasized through a timeline that demonstrates every moment of Distance education, through political interference and its growth, in Brazil and in the world. Thus this investigation will verify access to the virtual environment (SIA) of the Estácio do Amapá College, and its impacts on the students present in the institution, which bring changes and transformations. In this way, we will seek to discover how distance education happens, from the 20% mandatory in face-to-face courses, going through its trajectory, until it reaches the present day. And at the end of this research, it will be possible to understand the result of its impacts on students, in order to better understand the theme in which it refers to the modality of distance study. The field research of the course completion work took place at The Estácio college of Amapá, with about 50 students present there, in which it was done through interviews, with a free and spontaneous approach in the library, cafeteria and college courtyard. The quali-quantitative methodology was used, in which the questionnaire used in the interview aimed to investigate both the students’ opinion and the quantitative of these opinions, being positive or negative about the Academic Information System of the Estácio do Amapá College and the 20% of distance education subjects that are mandatory. The interviews lasted between 2 and 5 minutes, and all were recorded.
Keywords: Technology, higher education, distance education.
INTRODUCTION
This study focuses on the theme of distance education at The Estácio do Amapá College, in the municipality of Macapá, in order to understand the difficulties existing in the academic life of students, with regard to distance subjects. This research is important, because it will demonstrate the real difficulties of the students of Estácio College, in front of the Distance education platform, thus helping the college to better understand the situation of its students. Among the several authors consulted for the preparation of the research are: Mendes (2007); Vinha (2007); Litto and Formiga (2009); Ribeiro (2010); Kenski (2012); Castilho (2014).
The work is divided into three parts. The first outlines the overview of the emergence of information and communications technologies (ICTs), as well as their meaning for man and his transformations in individual use, education and work; The second topic discusses distance education in current higher education. The final topic brings the results of the analysis on the impacts that students of The Estácio do Amapá College face with the digital platform of the student system, carried out with 50 students of the courses of law, civil engineering, accounting sciences, pedagogy and administration, of the following semesters: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th.
The following question was defined as the problem of the research that conceived this work: What impacts do students of Estácio do Amapá College face when inserted into the digital platform of the student system? That had as a basic hypothesis for the problem of research that: the impacts occur because these students are of a generation divergent from the current generation, and this makes it necessary a time of adaptation, and also because many students do not have financial conditions to have internet at home, or because they do not have the knowledge and time necessary for distance study.
1. THE EMERGENCE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs), AS WELL AS ITS MEANING FOR MAN AND ITS TRANSFORMATIONS IN INDIVIDUAL USE, EDUCATION AND WORK
1.1 THE EMERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGY
Technology has always been present in the life of the human being, so the emergence of technology is linked to the emergence of the human being, because technology is any instrument created by man, to facilitate his day-to-day life, since the beginning of the human era. In the beginning, the first creations supplied man’s needs, and so it is nowadays, compared to technologies.
From rubbing a rock in another to get fire, in the intention of softening the cold, to creating a cell phone where you can work, study, and talk to friends and family, it was a long process that lasted for centuries. In this period, many technologies were created, because as time passes, the world changes, and man also undergoes changes and with him his needs, so he is always creating new technologies to meet his new day-to-day needs. In view of this, Alves points out that:
The relationship between man and nature has always been mediated by technology, although this mediation is more remarkable in contemporary society, because the technological impulse of the twentieth century marks social institutions and interferes in all sectors of human activity. (ALVES, 2009, p. 18)
Moreover, this relationship manifests itself in each historical period. However, from the 20th century, in the post-World War II period, this relationship between man and technology becomes increasingly relevant, where in some situations technology can replace the human being, for example, in some household tasks.
However, technology has expanded not only in the domestic and particular sectors of man, but also in the collective activities manifested in study and work, where technologies, over time, presented ways and ways for humanity to act in these activities, either by studying in a book or on a youtube, or by working in factories manually or in companies in an office behind a computer.
However, the technology is created by human intelligence, of naturally wanting to make life easier, making it simpler and less tiring, in fact, machines were created to reduce manual working time in factories, in order to reduce worker fatigue and increase the performance of the same.
As well, Hara (2011) points out that this time saved can be used in studies, household chores or leisure. As well as other technologies, the day-to-day of man, which serve to facilitate life, such as the remote control, which aims to change the TV channel without the individual having to get up from the couch and effect such activity.
1.2 THE CONCEPT OF (ICTs)
Even technology, being something so surprising and spectacular in man’s life, in which it renews from generation to generation, it is not easy to give a concept the same, because it is always constantly changing, leaving longing for what has passed in history, and causing anxiety for the new technologies of the future, which man will be able to create.
According to Castilho (2014), the etymology of technology is constructed as follows, it is a word composed of two, which are: “technos” that means the process of doing something, and “logia” that means understanding about something, so technology is the knowledge of doing something or the manipulation of nature for human purposes. That is, technology is created by man, according to the needs of the same, with the purpose of performing tasks that man would perform. However, technology makes it more quickly and faster, making man’s life easier.
According to Kenski (2012), virtual technology is both immaterial and its raw material is information, and based on information emerged information and communications technologies (ICTs), through the need for freedom of expression, or record experiences, and so were created the media, which are exclusive spaces to communicate and inform news and experiences , where multiple groups interact in real time or not.
1.2.1 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF (ICTs)
Technologies have always had paramount importance in man’s life, so they have gone through many phases, in their timeline, because the first technologies, had as characteristics, to supply the natural needs of man, over time, technologies began to have a significant importance for war, where they were restricted to state leaders. Soon after the end of the war, technology began to have objectives focused on information and communication.
Therefore, according to Castills (2003) apud Castilho (2014) technologies are characterized by their global reach, the interaction of all media and the constantly changing interactivity. This shows that these technologies developed rapidly, and the advances of these technologies that human intelligence was able to create were of enormous importance to humanity.
With this, the first information technologies were created, such as telephone, radio, television and computer and all this was modernizing over the decades, with studies and projects, everything was happening with an immeasurable speed. As Castilho (2014) points out, information and communication technology is characterized mainly by its simulation, virtuality, accessibility and also by the overabundance and diversity of information. Therefore, all these characteristics spread throughout all the activities of man, until it came to the present day, in which the way of living becomes, according to castilho’s statement (2014, p. 33) “the era dominated by the virtual”.
1.3 THE USE OF (ICTS) BY MAN
The uses of technologies for the various daily activities are common, both for individual and collective activities. As demonstrated by Santos (2014), technologies are part of man’s life, at home, at work, at school, in fun and in communication. This use occurs through social networks through applications. The use of technologies by man is changing according to decades and times, where new technologies are gaining space and the old ones are falling behind.
Technologies are used for a long time, such as the example of music, in which they used technologies such as vcr, vinyl, and CD, but these technologies are left behind and digital music has gained space, but today, after many years, older technologies are returning to the market, with nostalgia, these relics that have been so successful and have marked decades , adds to this new generation. Thus, it is technologies, they can spend decades being useful to man, or they can no longer be useful to man, and with that they can be forgotten forever.
1.3.1 THE USE OF (ICTS) IN EDUCATION
According to Mc Luhan (1970, apud Kenski, 2012) technologies become invisible as they become familiar. And this occurs from the moment people learn to use these technologies, which consequently cease to have that name, and become just another object of use of man. This object becomes banal because it is used continuously in the day-to-day, it is no longer innovative.
In schools and colleges the technological means, most used by teachers is the data show, the notebook, the mobile phone and the internet, these means are used for the elaboration of lesson plan, communication with the student, and the presentation of the class. Students, on the other hand, make use of these technologies (with the exception of the data show), to study, review the subjects, interact with teachers and classmates, which facilitates communication and understanding of what is being studied.
The contemporary changes that happen through social networks that transform relationships with knowledge are characterized by the advanced form and mutual interaction that they offer, so that they fit perfectly, in the contribution with education, having how to pass and receive information in real time, which helps, to make knowledge shared. All of this occurs so that learning goes more and more independently.
But these technologies can bring problems. Thus, according to Kenski (2012), technological machines can acquire technical problems, which cause the loss of files and documents saved in their own internal memory or on the usb stick or memory card, through viruses that damage files, whether on the computer, or on the notebook or phone, as well as problems with hackers, who invade the machines and erase information , or spy on what is being accessed or stored on the machine.
Finally, in this generation of information and communication, young people stand out for the ease of understanding and understanding of each digital technology, which is launched every moment. For adults, it ends up having some difficulty in dealing with these innovations, because these adults are in fact, from a generation discrepant to contemporaneity, and this is also reflected in education, where younger students use technologies quickly and effectively, while adults take a longer time to understand how that particular technology works.
1.3.2 THE USE OF (ICTS) AT WORK
Since the beginning of computerization, companies run against time, to always keep up to date, starting with computing, following computer science, until you reach the Internet, where you join the computer, information and communication, through the Internet, to have ICT, inserted in the work.
With this, there were changes where everything seemed aesthetically perfect, because companies were exchanging manual labor, for intellectual labor, but this race against time burdened workers, increased unemployment and caused companies to enter at an insatiable pace of competition. In addition, Vinha (2007, p.47) adds that “within the social relations of production, the search for greater labor productivity through technological innovations and productive restructuring has always been an institutional pressure of capitalism”.
Based on the author’s speech, it is noted that companies need to make use of technologies, so it needs workers with training in these technologies, for this fact many workers have lost their jobs. From then on, these workers who lost their jobs and young people who were still looking for work began to seek courses and training in technologies, so that there were technological specializations so that they could be inserted in the labor market. In this context, Vinha points out that:
There have been profound changes in the organisation of work at the level of companies, with the expansion of multinationals, the intensive use of information technologies, mobility at work, increased competition, high unemployment rates, etc. (VINHA, 2007, p. 49)
Thus, information and communications technologies brought with them many difficulties, because it was a new model of work and different from everything that was before. However, after this phase of adaptation, many proposals and technological projects emerged at work, until reaching the present day, where there are already companies that were born in the information age and are totally technological. And this is also due to the fact that access to cameras, editing software and broadcast platforms is facilitated by the scalability of products in the market. (SOUZA; GIGLO, 2015).
Like, for example, Uber, which is a digital app, and needs user information, such as name, phone, and locale, and works only over the internet. In addition to having the option of communication between the passenger user and the driver user through messages. And if you have the example of companies that were not built in the digital age, but update themselves so as not to lose customers and popularity, such as Banco do Brasil, which today has its application, which serves to facilitate the life of your client.
1.4 THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF (ICTS) ON THE LIFE OF MAN
Society goes through many changes over time, it is modernizing and adapting to every change, the way of thinking, dressing, talking and also in the music, in the problems discussed, in the study, at work, in short, there are many aspects that undergo transformations in society. Thus, the technologies inserted in society also suffer from changes, because they are part of the life of the human being.
With this Castilho (2014) says that the evolution of technology defines changes in society, as well as in all its layers. Nowadays, known as the information age, technological evolution has come to dictate historical transformations through themselves, which has led to more and more changes in terms of the possibilities of technique and technology.
For this reason, it can be understood that the technologies created by man himself bring benefits to it, which needs the technologies that it creates and recreates by adapting these technologies to the very changes of society. To explain better, Mendes (2007) cites that technological advances are the purpose of benefiting social well-being, favoring aspects through work and education, bringing speed to information and advantages to social groups that live in hard-to-reach locations.
Therefore, this technological evolution cited by Mendes, which aims to facilitate the life of man, ends up generating some differentiated impacts on each individual in society, whether positive or negative. For before it was man who created technologies and adapted their needs, and today man continues to create technologies, but it is man who needs to adapt to these current technologies, and this causes the fear of the new, a fear of not being able to follow the same pace of technological advances.
In view of this, Mendes (2007) states that fear is not really technology, but the consequences it brings with it, because it seems to some people difficult to understand or because of the speed of technological progress that may seem unlikely to be achieved. And this ends up generating unemployment and exclusion, because it is necessary to understand these technologies, to inform and communicate, causing changes in the way of living of the individual inserted in society.
2. DISTANCE EDUCATION IN CURRENT HIGHER EDUCATION
2.1 ORIGIN OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE WORLD
Distance Education emerged at the beginning of the industrial era and according to Peres (2009), since then, it uses several methodologies and technologies bringing the possibility of learning through this teaching. Thus, it can be said that Distance education emerged to improve education and expand the possibilities of studying and obtaining new knowledge, being the modality of study that enables the autonomy of the student, in which he organizes his studies himself. In this way, Distance education began to spread throughout the world, opening many doors in various places.
Thus, distance education began to become popular and gain space in several places, as Ribeiro (2010) states, in Cuba in 1979 at the Faculty of Havana, usa with more than 100 universities of distance learning courses, in Australia where there are many Distance education programs that start in elementary school and go to graduate school, and other countries like France , Germany, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, India, New Zealand, China and others.
The distance study is always updating itself in order to run along with time, towards the future, because it is a modality of study, changeable and contrary to traditional education, being interactive and changing its technological tools according to its generations, be it by correspondence, television, radio or computer. The emergence of Distance education can also be characterized, according to Ribeiro (2010), by the Fordist and post-Fordist model in the 1980s, being from the industrial and technological era.
2.1.1 TRAJECTORY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN BRAZIL (1891-2019)
Distance learning originated in Brazil before World War I, because according to Silva (2009, p.40), in 1891 jornal do Brasil was offering courses by typed correspondence, with the aim of transforming the life of the Brazilian population, but the minister of the time, José Seabra did not believe in the teaching modality, with this i pronounced the following phrase “Teaching arrived (in Brazil) to a state of anarchy of discredit that , either it is radical reform, or it will be preferable to ban it for good.”
Already in the twentieth century, distance learning begins to be manifested through radio, with this, Alves (2007, apud Silva, 2009) points out that in 1923 a group led by Henrique Morize and Roquete Pinto, founded the radio society of Rio de Janeiro, in which educational contents were transmitted. From then on, a new time began in the country, to begin the changes that would happen to Brazil. According to Alvarenga (2012), in the 1930s at the Ministry of Education, many changes occurred in Brazilian education.
According to Silva (2015) in 1932 there was a movement through the Pioneers of Education, so that the common school system could be developed, in such a way that this education, distributed in this system, would be for all Brazilians to have access to education. Then, in 1936 Roquete Pinto gave to the ministry of education his radio station, to establish in the country the Radio Ministry of Education, for educational purposes as carvalho exhibits (2013).
According to Diniz (2011), the most relevant supplementary teaching programs arose through distance learning by correspondence and radio in the 1940s, after the Capanema Reform, which characterized this teaching as private studies, which aimed to prepare students for face-to-face exams.
By the 1950s educational television emerged and in the 1960s the creation of the Brazilian Educational Television Center Foundation, now called TVE, and even in that decade, the Padre Anchieta Foundation was also created, known today as TV cultura de São Paulo and TVE do Maranhão. Soon after in the 1970s, the Minerva Project took place, which were the courses transmitted by radio at that time according to Duarte (2011).
In the 1980s and 1990s there was an advance in distance education in the country, because there were many computer projects and foreign languages, with this many courses began to be offered, as Alves highlights (2001, apud COSTA, 2014). Also in the 1990s, according to LDB (Law guidelines and bases of national education), in the country “the legal bases for the modality of distance education were established by law no. 9,394 of December 1996, which was regulated by Decree No. 5,622” (BRASIL, 2007).
In the 2000s according to Pereira (2017), distance learning courses and enrolments increased significantly. As Monteiro (2012) emphasizes, the highlight of this teaching also occurs in Amapá, with the standardization of distance education by the LDB in 1996 and also with resolution no. 36/07 – CEE/AP that establishes standards for the functioning of the teaching modality in the state by the Legislation of the Distance education (BRASIL, 2007). However Reis (2010, apud Monteiro, 2012) stresses that the National Service of Commercial Learning (SENAC), already offered distance courses in the state since 1992.
At the beginning of the current decade, the demand for distance courses in higher education is high, with this the Distance education begins to grow in the offer and variation of courses. In this sense, as Duarte (2011) states, the 2010 sense of the Brazilian Association of Distance Education pointed to about 2,648,031 enrolled in Distance Learning in the country, in the 1,752 courses offered, between accredited and free courses.
Since then, Distance education gains strength, until reaching the present day, in which it is the modality of higher education, in which the data show the increase in both the courses offered and in the face-to-face disciplines. From this, the Extra Class website discloses that in 2019 undergraduate courses in the face-to-face modality, except engineering and health, may double the percentage of 20% in distance classes to up to 40%, and this measure is provided for in ordinance no. 1,428, in art. 3, released on December 31, 2018, in the Official Gazette of the Union by the Ministry of Education (EXTRA CLASS , 2019).
2.2 DISTANCE EDUCATION FEATURES
The modality of distance study has as main characteristics to enable the study to people who live in the interior or in the countryside, where they are distant from the cities and university centers, and also by the autonomy that is gained through distance learning, where the student learns to arrest. In this context:
Distance education is characterized as a teaching modality that promotes learning situations and arouses the interest, both of the educational system and of the productive sector, and can be a good strategy to meet the needs of formal and continued education of professionals from various areas of knowledge, dispersed in different geographical locations. (ALVES, 2007, p. 36)
This is due, through the possibility of distance education to provide teaching between two physical bodies that even distant, are able to communicate, and in this case the teacher is able to teach and the student is able to learn, even being away from each other, which shows that learning has no distance, borders or barriers that prevent knowledge from reaching each other’s home , no matter where you are, everyone can learn wherever you are.
2.2.1 DISTANCE EDUCATION STUDENT PROFILE
According to Pereira (2015), in contemporary times, tracing the individualities of the student of Distance Education not only demands social, demographic and economic factors, but also peculiarities that make the student choose and continue his course, because institutions are concerned with evasion. Therefore, it is perceived the need for self-self-orientation of the student, not to give up the course, because it is the student himself who controls his learning, his schedule and his mode of study. Thus, Pereira also states that:
The reality of Distance education has its own specificities, such as time management, responsibility for the learning process and adaptation to the context of the learning environment itself. When the student is faced with this reality, he/she realizes that he/she is often unable to continue, loses motivation, does not believe in his potential, besides feeling responsibility in the face of his graduation. (PEREIRA, 2015, p. 44).
Therefore, the motivation and maturity of the distance student are of paramount importance for the completion of the course. Distance Education students are adults, work and have self-orientation to gain learning and grow in their career. However, these characteristics vary according to the individual profile of each student, because there are those students who can remain motivated until the end of the course, just as there are those students who lose their willpower in the middle of the course and end up giving up, as Morini (2006) points out.
2.2.2 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT
According to Hack (2011), distance learning does not happen physically or delimit synchrony in the time of the activities, with this the courses have virtual environments, which provide the study material that can be accessed by the student at any time and there is also the possibility of printing this material for the student to study and transform this information into knowledge.
Thus, it is perceived the practicality that virtual study environments provide, thus having all the necessary tools so that the student can organize himself in the most flexible and dynamic way, having access to all contents and their corresponding activities, both as results of tests and activities performed, whether complementary or mandatory.
Thus, this learning environment can be used in various ways, depending on each student, and allowing the freedom of free access to the information contained therein. Virtual environments can also be characterized as virtual communities and, as Linden (2011) points out, this environment is summarized in a virtual community of online didactic dialogue, with activities that contribute to student learning, so that it favors the differentiated use of each learner.
2.3 TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Technological advances make the whole daily journey of the human being more practical and interactive, so in education it is no different and today technology is essential for all school levels. However, in higher education, technology is the primary instrument of study, because it is from the virtual system process that distance education takes place.
Distance education manifests itself through technology, as a milestone in the entire history of this teaching. Through this, it can be said that this practice of study occurs, according to Maia (2003), when the teacher is away from his student, and the technological means connects them. With this, it is understood that technology, at any time or generation, is what makes distance education happen.
In this scenario, technology becomes the basis of learning, which encompasses an interactionist teaching that makes Distance education more quality and that the student wants to learn without the teaching becoming dull. Therefore, distance education requires adequate technological resources to obtain quality learning.
2.4 EDUCATION FROM GENERATION DISTANCE TO GENERATION
Today distance education is a teaching platform that, together with digital technologies, offers the student the content of a particular study, so that the student himself learns independently and freely how to use his time and his learning tools. However, it was not always so, because its technologies and forms have changed over the decades, in which distance education has been shaped, so the Distance education runs through a timeline where 3 generations are found:
According to Litto (2009), the first generation of distance education was done by correspondence, the content was based according to the course chosen by the participant of the modality, and this material was sent to the Distance education ent weekly, in which the development of this teaching had a strong connection with the fordism production system.
The second generation, according to Duarte (2011), occurs together with the emergence of television, in which distance education comes through telecourses, and also through some courses with the use of radio, where Distance education goes through the paths of the media, with tele content transmitted, by television programs, with the objective and methodology, and also actors who played to demonstrate the situation that the teacher put in his classes.
This generation shows some facts that happen in everyday life, through telecourses, in which the teacher teaches the content. Then, the actors show a situation, based on the content taught, for better understanding of the student, then the teacher gives a conclusion to the content. Even today some television stations broadcast the telecourse programs.
The third generation occurs with changes and new information and communication technologies, in such a way that it is marked by interactivity through virtual environments, where it was characterized, as Lopes (2007, p.55) points out, as the “Virtual Being Together”, that is, the communication that did not exist before, became possible, between the teacher and the student. This new phase of distance learning is innovative and essential for the development and growth of the modality of study, and the next generations are inspired by it.
Some authors also affirm the existence of the fourth and fifth generation as highlighted by Litto (2009), about the emergence of the fourth generation that is characterized by the change caused by advances and the speed of the Internet, which brought changes both in the production of materials, as in the more effective and differentiated distribution, represented by the teaching of the “connected society”. Therefore, what happened was the improvement of the tools already existing in the previous generation.
In a similar way, Duarte (2011) points out that the fifth generation is considered current, for its updates of everything that has ever existed, being broader and interactive. It is characterized by the use of the internet, as well as the use of the virtual environment, which allows the free option of the student to study through videos, audios, books, educational games and simulated activities, having the freedom to communicate with the teacher and ask questions through the forums, as much as the teacher can insert activities for the student as well. In addition to the tele lessons transmitted, which take place in real time. Therefore, the student can enjoy these learning tools, in the most accessible way, according to the style of each student.
In addition, for Maia (2003, p. 73) the fifth generation is also characterized by “automatic response systems, virtual reality environments and broadband communication”. However, these characteristics already exist, but are not worked on in all higher education institutions, as they are still in development, especially the virtual reality medium. Currently, in Macapá, the means of augmented reality is available for some vocational courses at SENAI, but in the future these means of study in higher education institutions may be common.
Moreover, given the research carried out, it is possible to notice that even with some authors stating the existence of 5 generations of distance education, other authors consider that the characteristics used in the 4th and 5th generations are part of the 3rd generation, which in turn is the current generation.
3. THE IMPACTS THAT STUDENTS OF THE AMAPÁ IS FACULTY FACE WITH THE DIGITAL PLATFORM OF THE STUDENT SYSTEM
3.1 PUBLIC CHARACTERIZATION
The field research was conducted with 50 students of afternoon and evening shifts, and 5 students of this total were conducted qualitatively and quantitatively with the 50 students, with this the methodology used was quali-quantitative. The students who contributed to the answers to the qualitative questions were: A1 (student of the 6th semester of the accounting sciences course); A2 (8th semester student of the pedagogy course); A3 (9th semester student of the law course); A4 (student of the 8th semester of the administration course); and A5 (4th semester student of the civil engineering course).
And the students who were part of the quantitative questions were 50, being: 27 of the law course, 6 of the civil engineering course, 9 of the pedagogy course, 3 of the accounting sciences course and 5 of the management course.
Among the law students were: 4 of the 1st semester, 2nd semester, 2 of the 4th semester, 1 of the 5th semester, 4 of the 6th semester, 7 of the 7th semester, 2 of the 8th semester, 2 of the 9th semester and 3 of the 10th semester. Of the Civil Engineering course were: 2 of the 4th semester, 3 of the 6th semester and 1 of the 7th semester. Of the Pedagogy course were: 4 of the 4th semester and 5 of the 8th semester. From the Accounting course were: 1 of the 2nd semester, 1 of the 4th semester and 1 of the 6th semester. And of the management course were: 1 of the 4th semester, 1 of the 5th semester, 2 of the 6th semester and 1 of the 8th semester.
3.2 THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN THE USE OF (SIA) AND THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS
Interviewee A1 was asked: What are your biggest challenges in using the academic information system? And the student replied that: the biggest challenges in the use of the academic information system, is in online classes because sometimes they open, sometimes not and when it opens has a teacher who does not speak well, does not have a methodology, it seems that he left the 2000s, with slides from 30 years ago, and it seems that he is talking to a robot.
In view of the student’s speech, it is possible to notice that she is not satisfied with the methodology of the videos classes, the distance subjects, because the system, presents some flaws and defects in its methodology, because the student complains about the classes, because they are old and outdated.
The student was asked: What are the positive and negative aspects in the 20% of Distance education subjects that are mandatory? And the student replied that: the positive aspect occurs when people work hard and cannot go to class and study at home. That is, the interviewee thinks positive the issue of the student having the convenience of studying at home.
And the negative aspects the student replied that: These 20% is almost half of all subjects, so it is more negative because the teacher does not have a good dynamic, it seems that they did not put the teacher prepared, because in an online class the student had the example of a teacher who only spoke of her dress, during 30 minutes of class. In the context of the student’s response, it is understood that the interviewee does not conform to the amount of discipline, because she considers that she has many online disciplines. And she was dissatisfied with one of the online classes, in which the teacher, got away from the subject and kept talking about her dress.
The A2 interviewee has no challenge in the use of the academic information system. The student does not see any positive aspect regarding the 20% Distance education that are mandatory, because he says he is accustomed to the virtual environment and likes the virtual environment of the system, but hates the idea of having to study online, attend online classes, and do readings of books online, because he prefers the physical.
While the A3 interviewee says that his biggest challenge is when the system crashes, when it is close to the trial period. For the student: the positive aspects of this system, in this student’s view is the issue of teaching, where there is a lot of good subject matter for distance study and the negative aspects is that many subjects that were in person have become online and this has hurt students a little, because there are some students who sometimes do not attend video class, do not study and this , in future development, will be detrimental to the professional career.
Then for the A4 student, his biggest challenge in the system was last semester because he wasn’t able to attend online classes because they didn’t open. In question of the positive aspects for the student is the convenience of having a few days vacant, of not being all day in college and the negative aspects is the lack of interactivity with the face-to-face teacher that ends up causing the relaxation of only studying for the day of the test.
And the A5 student says that his biggest challenge in using the system is to find the interactive content that teachers post in the system, because sometimes it is complicated to find and the virtual library, is also complicated, in the matter of finding books to make reservation and even to send reports or papers by sia.
Its positive aspect in the 20% Distance education, according to the student’s opinion, is that you do not need to go to another platform to study, because it already has the specific content of the subjects, to be able to do the complementary study, so you do not need to keep researching much, or wasting much time, and has many books in the virtual library. And the negative aspects is that sometimes this teaching, leaves the student a little dispersed, because in distance education it is difficult to better understand the content, because in the room you can ask doubt with the teacher and ask him to explain again in a clearer way.
3.3 DISAPPROVAL IN DISTANCE DISCIPLINES AND THE IMPACTS OF STUDENTS BEFORE THE ACADEMIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND ITS FUNCTIONS
3.3.1 DISAPPROVAL IN DISTANCE DISCIPLINES
The reasons for failure in the Distance education subjects, of the 50 students interviewed, 14 will fail, as can be seen in graph 01, the 28% were those who will fail in online subjects and their main reasons were: the discouraged of attending classes, difficulty in opening the system and organizing to study the subjects and the lack of understanding of some terms as well.
Graph 01: Disapproval in the online disciplines of The Estácio College of Amapá.
Other reasons that led to the disapproval, placed by the students, is when the student passes the test, but does not have the minimum percentage in the system to pass, for this reason disapproval. As well as the lack of interest in attending classes, as well as for reasons of illness, or because it does not perform well, because it does not understand the content or because some students can not access the platform because the system crashes. However, it is possible to notice that the majority of the students interviewed, out of a total of 36 students, referring to the 72% of the total, of 50 students, did not fail in any online subject.
3.3.2 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
The students who are part of the 54% in graph 02, who consider that the system generates positive impacts, highlight that the system has ample ease and flexibility, to understand about the subject studied in distance classes. Because Estácio’s system is one of the best academic systems, especially the library that you can find a lot of books and study a little more. He just gets off the air sometimes. With this, highlights Hack (2011), that interaction through virtual environments is an advantage in learning distance learning, because it reconciles flexibility and independence.
Graph 02: Positive and negative impacts of Distance education.
And the students also show that teachers are very good, the structure of the faculty is good, and the teaching is very good, because teachers are well prepared. Because you have access to material that is online and this even facilitates the delivery of evaluative activities. It facilitates the academic life of the student, with the possibilities of scheduling, scheduling questions and slips. Because it is easy, practical and affordable. For the matter of the material, which has a lot of resources, then it is easier to acquire knowledge, because it is a platform that allows an exchange of information.
These students point out that SIA is a good platform, that each year it innovates in new tools, to be used, and the college always thinks of various ways to invest in labor, equipment and structure and always hold meetings, with class representatives, to check the best solutions in investments and improvement, so the college is always interested in the best student learning. And it is also positive, because the system complements information from face-to-face disciplines.
Students who are part of the 32% who consider that the system generates negative impacts, in the face of distance education, occur according to students because of the lack of motivation to study, and the doubts that arise at the time of online discipline that can only be answered if it goes backwards, on the Internet. Because of the lack of organization, which even generates disapproval in the disciplines, and in one of the reported cases, the student could not organize her schedule, and lost the test because it was brasilia time, so the student said that this was not oriented correctly and she ended up paying the discipline again.
As well as, the students emphasized that they put essential subjects at a distance, and in this modality of teaching, never focuses as much as if it were face-to-face, because there is not so much dedication. Yes, he has a lot to improve, because he fails a lot and there is no way for the teacher to ask questions in online classes, because he does not have a teacher present. Since with a system of distance disciplines, you do not take advantage of the subject, because you only do 3 or 4 activities to pass the tests. And the other 14% of students do not identify any positive or negative aspect in distance education.
3.4 THE REASONS THAT HINDER THE HANDLING OF THE SYSTEM
According to the analyses, it was possible to notice that 29 of the 50 students interviewed, corresponding to 58% of the total, have no difficulty in handling the system. Then, it is possible to visualize in graph 03 that 17 students corresponding to the 34% of the total, answered others, in which, these others were justified because of the low quality of the internet, the lack of information or support of the faculty, the lack of motivation, the lack of disposition, the maintenance of the system, when it is giving error in the system and can not access the sia , the lack of availability, or when the system crashes or slows down, and just keeps loading and never enters the academic system page.
Graph 03: Difficulties in handling the system.
Soon after, comes the lack of information technology that is the need for 3 students of 50, corresponding to the 6% of the total, who highlight that this need exists because sometimes students encounter difficulties that can be solved with a good course of information or information even, and also the issue that not everything that is in the sia is self explanatory , needs someone else to explain how he does it, recounting the videos on youtube that teach to do some things in the system, because some branches of it, are not self explanatory, as they should be. And finally, the last student interviewed, has the need for lack of access to technology that is the lack of access to computer.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
In this course conclusion work, it was possible to understand about distance education inserted in the academic life of students of Estácio do Amapá College, in the use of the virtual environment, as a means of information and communication technology. Among its existing both positive and negative impacts.
In the first part of the research, it was possible to understand the concepts about the emergence of technology and ICTs, as well as their characteristics through information and communication technology, discussing its use by man, in education, at work and its transformations. In the second topic it was possible to understand the origin of Distance education in the world, as well as its trajectory in Brazil since 1891, until reaching the present day. Moreover, the characteristics of distance education, the student profile of this type of study, passing through the virtual environment, technology in higher education and generations of this teaching, was also highlighted in this topic.
And in the last topic was made the analysis of the field research, in which we sought to answer, what impacts the students of the Estácio do Amapá College face with the digital platform of the student’s system, which can be seen that, according to most interviewees, 54% of the total, has positive impacts despite the existing challenges. And these students point out that SIA is one of the best academic systems, despite staying off the air sometimes, it makes the student’s life easier. These students consider SIA a flexible, accessible and practical system. In addition to complementing the information of face-to-face disciplines with books and material posted by the teacher.
In addition, 32% of the total interviewees have negative impacts in the virtual environment, because of the demotivation to access the environment to attend classes and study, because the system fails a lot, because it does not have a teacher to ask questions, because it has no use of the subjects. And the remaining 14% represent students who have no impact in the face of the virtual environment.
With this it is possible to realize that even with the challenges, most of these students consider that the academic information system provides students with positive impacts, because these students consider it to be one of the best academic systems, because it is practical and accessible, as well as facilitates the life of the academic, in various sectors, both in disciplines and in information about the situation of the student in college. Even with the low quality of the Internet, cited by the students and also some flaws of the system itself.
REFERENCES
ALVARENGA, A. G. S. Os intelectuais da educação da década de 1930 vinculados a comissão de censura cinematográfica. In: XI SEMINÁRIO NACIONAL DE ESTUDOS E PESQUISAS “HISTÓRIA, SOCIEDADE E EDUCAÇÃO NO BRASIL”. 2012. João Pessoa. Anais… Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 2012. p. 253 – 254.
ALVES, P. F. Um estudo sobre as alternativas de desenvolvimento profissional dos professores frente a modalidade de Educação à distância, baseada em tecnologias da internet. 2007. 130 f. Dissertação de mestrado – CEFET – MG, Belo Horizonte, 2007.
ALVES, T. A. S. Tecnologia da informação e comunicação (TIC) nas escolas: da idealização à realidade. 2009. 134 f. Dissertação de mestrado – Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisboa, 2009.
BRASIL. Resolução nº 36/07 CEE /AP. Legislação da EAD, 20 jun. 2007. E-book.
CARVALHO, A. H. A evolução histórica da educação a distância no Brasil: Avanços e retrocessos. 2013. 36 f. Monografia. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Medianeira, 2013.
CASTILHO, L. B. O uso da tecnologia da informação e comunicação (TIC) no processo de ensino e aprendizagem no ensino superior brasileiro. 2014. 79 f. Dissertação de Mestrado – Universidade Fumec, MG, Belo Horizonte, 2014.
COSTA, M. L. F. ZANATTA, R. M. et al. Educação a distância no Brasil: aspectos históricos, legais, políticos e metodológicos. 2014. 130 f. Eduem, Maringá, 2014.
DINIZ, E. C. LINDEN, M. M. G. V. FERNANDES, T. A. Educação a distância: coletânea de textos para subsidiar a docência on-line. 2011. 205 f. Editora Universitária – UFPB, João Pessoa, 2011.
DUARTE, Z. M. C. Educação a distância (EAD): estudo dos fatores críticos de sucesso na gestão de cursos da região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte na visão dos tutores. 2011. 82 f. Dissertação de Mestrado Universidade FUMEC, Belo Horizonte, 2011.
EXTRA CLASSE. Graduações poderão ter até 40% de EAD. Disponível em: <https://www.extraclasse.org.br>. Acesso em: 23 de fevereiro de 2019.
HACK, J. R. Introdução à educação a distância. 2011. 126 f. LLV/CCE/UFDSC. Florianópolis, 2011.
HARA, C. L. Home office e as tecnologias de acesso remoto. 2011. 41 f. Monografia, FATEC, São Paulo, 2011.
KENSKI, V. M. Educação e tecnologias: O novo ritmo da informação. 2012. 141 f. Papirus Editora, São Paulo, 2012.
LITTO, F. M. FORMIGA, M. Educação a distância: o estado da arte. 2009. 479 f. Pearson. São Paulo, 2009.
LOPES, M. S. S. Avaliação da aprendizagem em atividades colaborativas em EAD viabilizada por um fórum categorizado. 2007. 168 f. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2007.
MAIA, M. C. O uso da tecnologia de informação para a educação a distância no ensino superior. 2003. 294 f. FGV-EAESP. São Paulo, 2003.
MENDES, F. R. Tecnologias e a construção do conhecimento na sociedade da informação. 2007. 85 f. Dissertação de Mestrado – Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, 2007.
MONTEIRO, A. R. S. Desafios da EAD no estado do Amapá. 2012. 49 f. Monografia. Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, 2012.
MORINI, A. M. Um estudo sobre o perfil do aluno do ensino à distância. 2006. 43 f. Monografia. UnisulVirtual, Palhoça, 2006.
PERES, A. L. Um modelo de aferição de usabilidade dos diferentes personas em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem no contexto da educação à distância a partir de um estudo de caso do sistema UAB/UFAL. 2009. 163 f. Dissertação de mestrado – Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, 2009.
PEREIRA, G. B. B. O estudante da EAD (Educação à distância): Um estudo de perfil e interação geracional. 2015. 133 f. Dissertação de Mestrado – Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo, 2015.
PEREIRA, M. F. R. MORAES, R. A. TERUYA, T. K. et al. Educação a distância (EAD) reflexões críticas e práticas. 2017. 275 f. Navegando Publicações, Uberlândia, 2017.
RIBEIRO, E. L. Uma avaliação da importância da gestão da qualidade na prática da educação à distância. 2010. 148 f. Dissertação de mestrado – Universidade Paulista, São Paulo, 2010.
SANTOS, A. C. B. A utilização das TIC como meio facilitado do processo ensino aprendizagem nas series iniciais do ensino fundamental. 2014. 62 f. Monografia, Universidade de Brasília – DF, Brasília, 2014.
SILVA, M. B. N. Escola nova na “Página da Educação” (1930-1933): navegando nas palavras de Cecília Meireles no “Diário de Notícias”. 2015. 161 f. Tese de doutorado. Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, 2015.
SILVA, W. V. K. M. Uma revisão sistemática das publicações cientificas sobre políticas em educação à distância no Brasil. 2009.156 f. Dissertação de Mestrado – Universidade do vale do Itajaí, Itajaí, 2009.
SOUZA, M. GIGLIO, K. Mídias digitais, redes sociais e educação em rede: Experiências na pesquisa e extensão universitária. São Paulo: Blucher, 2015.
VINHA, T. F. Tecnologia, trabalho e educação: perspectivas, estratégias e trajetórias dos jovens no mercado de trabalho informacional. 2007. 248 f. Dissertação de Mestrado – Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2007.
[1] Graduation in Pedagogy.
[2] Advisor. PhD in Social Communication. Master’s degree in Social Communication. Specialization in Tourist Desarollo. Specialization in Tourism Administration. Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism.
Sent: June, 2020.
Approved: July, 2020.
