Institucionalização da EAD no Ensino Superior: o caso do curso de Especialização a Distância em Gestao Educacional da UFSM/UAB

Abstract

The article discusses the institutionalization of Distance Education (EAD) at the Federal University of Santa Maria (RS) as the implementation of the Specialization Course in Distance Education Management, implemented in partnership with the Open University of Brazil (UAB), is discussed in view of the first class of graduates of this course. After the exposure of the contextual approach of the course in its Pedagogical Project, the focus is based on the perspective of graduates who, originating from two poles located in the southern and northeastern Brazil, express their perceptions about the reasons that led them to choose a course in distance mode, the expectations on entering the course, relations between students, tutors and teachers as well as the contributions of the educational management course for personal and professional training. The act of listening to the subjects who experienced the process of training through the mediation allowed through a virtual learning environment constitutes an important tool for thinking about the necessary referrals for the institutionalization of a distance learning course considering the interaction between the subjects involved, proper planning for the care of local and regional peculiarities in order to promote the overcoming of still limited visions of the management process.