Virtual learning environments and their collaboration for the development of Distance Education in Brazil

Distance education is a term that has been developing for many years, but it only reached great dimensions in the beginning of the 20th century, mainly, with the use of information and communication technologies online. Through bibliographic research it is intended to present the advancement of distance education in the world and in Brazil, describe the evolution, showing that it started by exchanging correspondences until reaching the use of the internet, with synchronous or asynchronous interaction, verifying the most used platform for distance education, demonstrate the increase in the number of people enrolled in this teaching modality in addition to the main trends that the authors expect for the coming years. Distance education has great chances of gaining acceptance in the academic environment, however it is necessary that people know how to work with the technologies involved in the process, that is, be part of digital inclusion, and that both institutions and the State provide cultural and financial incentives for this alternative of knowledge transmission, because only in this way will we be able to achieve the goal of education, which is to eliminate people’s social exclusion.


THE EMERGENCE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Distance education is not a relatively current term, but only now at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century is this modality of teaching gaining popularity and acceptance among people.
To begin understanding about the subject, it is first necessary to understand the concept of Distance Education, therefore, according to Moore and Kearsley (2007) distance education is a learning that is planned and usually occurs with teachers and students separated in time and place, requiring special communication techniques through various technologies.
According to Martins (2005) and Nunes (2009) the first records on distance education were correspondence classes by Cauleb Philips in March 1728, because the person did not need to live in Boston to study shorthand. Then came other teachers with other correspondence courses, and today, there are several countries on several continents that have Distance Education at all levels of formal or informal education.
The information described above is the most common among the authors, pointing out the beginning of Distance Education in the eighteenth century, because it is what has to be officially registered as an attempt to transmit knowledge. However, some authors state other theories about its beginning, pointing to even biblical times.
According to Peters (2003, p.29): I am referring here to São Paulo, who wrote his famous epistolas in order to teach the Christian communities of Asia Minor how to live as Christians in an unfavorable environment. He used the technologies of writing and means of transportation to do his missionary work without being forced to travel. This was already clearly a substitution of preaching and face-to-face teaching by asynchronous and mediated preaching and teaching (PETERS, 2003, p. 29).
In this way it is evident that the concern to transmit knowledge from one place to another without the people involved in this learning being in the same place and at the same time is a very old thought, and that humanity every day has been getting ways to explore the Virtual learning environments and their collaboration for the development of Distance Education in Brazil www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br Distance Education to disseminate knowledge.
In Brazil, distance education has been gaining space and always seeking improvements in the way information is transmitted, it has been incorporating technology to bring and spread knowledge in the best possible way.
In our country this type of learning emerged just before 1900, when it was possible to find advertising of professional courses by correspondence circulating in the newspapers of Rio de Janeiro. This structure was better consolidated when the International Schools were established in 1904, where the courses were aimed at people seeking jobs in commerce and services (ALVES, 2009).

point out as the beginning of the Distance Education in
Brazil the foundation of Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the 20th century and, from then on, this modality of teaching has been spreading and perfecting over the years.
Some authors share the thought that Distance Education arrived in Brazil through correspondence teaching, as happened in much of the world, however other authors claim that Distance Education has already reached more advanced and gained even more strength with the emergence of a radio focused especially on this purpose.
Distance Education has evolved and other ways to convey learning, new platforms, technology features and software have emerged. Thus, Maia (2002) points out that the first virtual learning environments emerged in isolation within the institutions, presenting courses on web pages, where texts without images and with minimal interaction predominated.
Porter (1997( , apud Penterich, 2009  There are several ways to learn and teach from a distance, from exchange of information for letters to the use of computers with internet access and audio and video transmission. According to Moore and Kearsley (2008), technologies began to be used in distance education in the early 20th century, with a decade difference between the emergence of radio and television in education. When radio emerged, a lot of expectation was created around this technology, but not as promising as television, because radio stations were more concerned with commercial ads.
Over the years, The Distance Education has developed and other means of transmitting learning have emerged. Its fuse was the combination of the Internet with education that allowed a change in the methodology of the courses, giving students the opportunity to learn regardless of the time and place in which they were helping to shorten the distance that existed between the one who taught and the student. The beginning of the use of the Internet for distance education occurred from the year 1994, when institutions began to research the potential ities coming from it. Over the years, virtual learning environments have emerged and more and more are improving the forms of online teaching (MAIA; MATTAR, 2007).
The internet is a very important tool for Distance Education and today is accessible to many people. With it it was possible to change the interaction of those involved in the learning process, creating new ways of communicating, since in the Distance Education the focus is not on the teacher, but on the students who are interacting and seeking knowledge at all times.
According to Munhoz (2011) the student who chooses to study distance needs to have discipline, know how to study online, have a time planning, choose when and where to study and identify their learning progress. Distance education makes students more critical, who seek learning and share ideas, the teacher in this environment is a moderator, he just does The interesting thing in distance learning is that through a single equipment, in this case the computer, associated with the use of the Internet, brings together a set of tools that include audio, video and texts. In addition, it is present worldwide and uses synchronous and asynchronous means at the same time better than any other media, it is enough that for this institutions know how to set up channels of communication with students assertively. Munhoz (2011) states that we cannot fail to consider the benefits that technology can bring to learning processes, in addition, the advancement of technology contributes to important social changes. With this teaching model the student needs to seek the information, involving tasks that need to be developed in groups spreading knowledge.
Deitel, Deitel and Steinbuhler (2004, p. 269) say that online distance education is also called e-learning, which are "the use of the internet and technologies related to the development, distribution and improvement of learning resources and has enormous potential as a new The term e-learning is a nomenclature in the English language to describe the use of electronic means for education and in recent years has gained greater relationship with the technologies used through the Internet. It is important to at least quote it, since some authors approach this term in this way, but the most relevant is that regardless of the language used to describe this relationship the Internet helped to boost the advancement of this type of teaching and increase the interaction between students and teachers.
According to Rosenberg (2002) e-learning is a term related to the use of internet technologies to provide solutions to improve knowledge and performance. As it is networked it becomes possible to update, store, recover, distribute and share instant information, in addition, it is accessible because it uses standard internet technology creating a universal delivery platform.
According to Lazilha (2011) not only the academic environment benefits from distance education and the use of virtual learning environments, but also the corporate environment.
This thought is also shared with other authors as follows: E-learning reduces travel time and travel expenses, especially related to corporate training, as it often requires the student to move elsewhere for a certain period of time and allows students and staff to learn from the best teachers (DEITEL; The educational institutions that teach distance learning courses need to shape an environment that is possible to transmit knowledge as well as the monitoring of students through the Internet in the best possible way, since the lack of face-to-face contact causes a distancing from the student and institution relationship. Typically these online environments are called Virtual Learning Environments (AVA) or Learning Management System (LMS) and work from software that can be free or private.
Teles (2009)   It is through the AVA that the student keeps in touch with the institution, within this environment he performs activities, attends classes, checks his grades, makes a request to the secretariat, etc. As this environment is part of the student's academic daily life, institutions need to use platforms that best adapt to the objectives they seek to achieve. Litto (2009)    Provides the most common features and tools with user-friendly interface. Its operation does not require advanced technical knowledge. Platform present in more than 100 countries.

Dokeos
It was developed from the Claroline software and is also free. It allows the teacher to create pedagogical content, structured in learning routes, allowing interaction between students. Very simple interface for the user.

WebClass
It is a national closed-source system that provides the main tools and resources of other systems on the market. According to Warschauer (1997, apud Teles, 2009) the AVA ś have a lot of pedagogical potential since it becomes possible to interact group by group and no longer just one by one.
Another important factor that virtual learning environments allowed was the independence of place and time, since it is possible to connect from anywhere that has internet access, at any time.
Since the beginning of Distance Education technologies have been contributing to the improvement in the teaching process. With its advancement it is possible that we have a different teaching structure from the traditional one, physically separated the exchange of knowledge. To do this, institutions must be able to adjust their systems in order to maintain maximum approximation with their students to achieve their goals.

TRENDS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION IN BRAZIL
It is apparent how distance education is expanding, gaining space among people and no longer being a mere complement to face-to-face education. It is another modality of teaching different from what we know and with great potential to be explored. before. But it is still seen as a path to impact or supplementary actions. It is seen as a way to reach those who are inside, who have few economic resources, who cannot attend a face-to-face institution or to quickly achieve high-impact goals According to Maia and Mattar (2007) today many countries regardless of their social condition serve thousands of people through distance education, offering different types of courses in the most different degrees of education.
We cannot deny that in recent years we have heard more and more about distance learning, and this will tend to become increasingly common, because the ease of access to technology and the need for many people to acquire knowledge in the most different areas will make this modality of teaching increasingly sought. Kipnis (2009)  In the same sense Deitel, Deitel and Steinbuhler (2004) say that distance education associated with the use of e-learning has very high chances of growth, expected to double in size every two years. However this growth will depend on the advancement of technology such as broadband and multimedia resources.
Even with all these indexes we must not forget that for learning to be full in Distance Education it is necessary that people know how to work with technology, that is, it is necessary to eliminate the digital exclusion, because, as much as the person knows how to work with the available resources, he needs to know all the potential he can obtain from them, otherwise teaching will not be able to eliminate social exclusion and a very promising form of education can end up failing due to lack of preparation.
The training in service of people without time or opportunities to return to school is no longer a dream of many educators to become a reality with technological evolution. But it is still observed that the serious process of social exclusion is increased with the sum of the process of digital exclusion, which affects a large portion of the population of developing countries (MUNHOZ, 2011, p. 198).
Virtual learning environments and their collaboration for the development of Distance Education in Brazil www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br According to Santos (2006, p. 117 apud Bertoncello, 2011 we can understand as digital inclusion the "access of citizens to digital technologies, under favorable conditions of appropriation of their potential, for personal and collective development". It is not enough to know how to make use of computers, for example, it is necessary that people are prepared to use this technology to take full advantage of its resources. People need to understand that Distance Education is not a complement to face-to-face teaching but another modality of teaching with its individualities, with new paradigms that are constantly evolving. Maia and Mattar (2007, p. 69) state that "technology already exists; it is not necessary to know what to do with it to produce something new in education, because, so far, what has been developed is a misplaced copy of the model of classroom teaching; therefore, it has not yet avenged." Bertoncello (2011) points out some care we should take regarding the use of educational technologies, because, as already mentioned, the model should not be closed, technologies should adjust according to the different contexts in which they will be used. Therefore, teachers need to think about the correct use of technologies, develop projects to discover how they will contribute to pedagogical practice and what objectives are expected according to the established strategy.
According to Sander (1997) for this type of teaching to grow, it is indispensable that teachers know how to work with students, know them, strengthening relationships, as in face-to-face teaching, in which the teacher knows what his students are feeling when attending the class.
The Distance Education teacher needs to know how to use technology to his/her favor and understand what students feel when they have contact with distance-mediated knowledge.
Distance learning is a student-centered process so it is very important for educators to know the sociocultural principles of students, as well as their experiences and knowledge, demands and expectations and to use correctly the available technology in order to compensate for the existing physical separation and create learning conditions (BELLONI, 2006).
The technological preparation of those involved in the process of distance learning is very important to ensure that the information clearly arrives from one part to the other, but we must not forget that technology is only one way, just as in face-to-face teaching the According to Maia and Mattar (2007) for distance education to grow, it is necessary for people to understand this type of teaching as a new way of teaching, and the first step is to know how to work with technology, through appropriate training. Distance education evolves very rapidly, as technology is constantly developing. Independent study and open and flexible learning have already become a reality in many institutions and will tend to become popular for the other, making lifelong learning increasingly evident.
Learning throughout life is not just being attentive at the moment you are inside the classroom, whether physical or virtual, it is constantly being open to learning and never stopping, we all learn even in old age. Knowledge has contributed to the improvement of anyone's life, whether in academia or in the labor market, and will stand out as the one who knows more.
Belloni (2006)  them. This learning model will be the best, or even, the only way to avoid social exclusion. Maia and Mattar (2007) believe that institutions should know how to take advantage of what is good in face-to-face teaching and distance learning, creating learning opportunities without borders or limitations of space and time. When it comes to education, whether at a distance or in person, we must always think about the future, otherwise we will be harming ourselves.
Knowledge is the key to the success and elimination of social inequalities, so choosing how to dissete it is very important, whether face-to-face or distance, and as technology is constantly improving we can expect that in a few years new ways of transmitting this knowledge, reducing social exclusion.  (LEARNING and PERFORMANCE BRASIL, 2003) where it points out that almost half of organizations prefer to buy an LMS system rather than create their own system. Most organizations have implemented the system to centralize and manage learning activities, and more than half of the organizations that responded to the survey are satisfied with the integration of this system and will continue with the platform. At all times technology has been developing and, as education is increasingly tied to technological means to transmit knowledge, it develops together, affirming the expansion trends of The Distance Education through the censuses carried out. The Internet has a lot of potential over this type of teaching, both with regard to the increase in the number of students enrolled, which helps to lead education in places where with face-to-face education was difficult, as in improving the resources available for knowledge transmission and learning monitoring, because at each census we see a significant increase in the diversity of resources available to institutions , so it is very important that people understand and accept this new concept of education, because it is part of the present and, above all, of the future.