Virtual collaboration tools used in project management learning: case study in the Amazon Forest area

Abstract

The use of collaborative and cooperative tools has been widely accepted in distance learning environments, where they are often used. This article presents a case study developed from the use of collaborative tools with the objective of assisting the Projects Management course of the Information Systems degree, in the Federal University of Acre. This university is part of the public system education, located in the Amazon Forest area, far from the large technological centres in Brazil and with limitations with regards to infrastructure and technological resources. Despite being a Information Systems course, the diagnosis identifies the limited use of technological resources as support to the classes and activities of the course and the lack of use of technology as resource for the communication between students and professors. The methodology for the development of this research was based on the use of virtual free tools for the creation of a group where files and messages were exchanged between the participants. Projects management activities had been undertaken in a seminar form, and two projects, an individual monographic work and another work, undertaken in groups, as a business project. The results show the importance of a frequent interaction between students and professor, agility, flexibility, large use of the information technologies and communication, integration between students and cooperation in the exchange of information and materials. The experience shows the viability of the application of this methodology, through the use of freely available tools on the Internet. The paper concludes that the use of models based on the cooperation, collaborative and interactive activities allows the development of important skills that can be used in other contexts through the collective communication between professors and students.