The Open University System of Brazil: A Study of Learner Support Facilities in the Northern, North-Eastern and Southern Regions

Abstract

Since June 2011, research on the Open University System of Brazil's (UAB's) official evaluation processes relating to learner support facilities has been carried out by the Teachers' Training, New Information, Communication and Technologies research group, which is linked to the Laboratory of New Technologies for Teaching at Fluminense Federal University, Brazil. This study has followed 70 learner support facility coordinators in the northern, north-eastern and southern regions of Brazil, who were struggling to define their professional profile, analyse the official evaluation systems and suggest optimisation procedures for them. The data was obtained, organised and consolidated, firstly, by means of interviews in which the professional trajectory of the learner support facilities and management profile were highlighted; secondly, through ‘crossed visits’, in which elective regional pairs were established and a simulation of mutual evaluation was performed; and, finally, with the participation of two representatives from each region. The entire process was monitored via Moodle and what is presented here is a summary of these collaborative efforts whose goals were to (1) materialise information about the UAB's learner support facilities and (2) promote a wider debate on the official assessments between the facility coordinators and the participants of the UAB system as a whole.