Formação de professores na modalidade a distância: itinerários da Licenciatura em Geografia na UFRN

Abstract

The approaches about teacher education through the Distance Learning become relevant today, in view of the social barriers of acceptability that still exist regarding quality of the professional graduated by this modality of education, mainly due to superficial knowledge on the issue. This work aims to analyze the process of teacher training in the distance modality at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), emphasizing the Degree in Geography. To this end, the study traced the Distance Learning course, as a national project for the democratization of Education based on Communication and Information Technologies, with emphasis on teacher training in the national context and at UFRN, assuming the Degree in Geography as a reference for analysis. The methodology used in this research covered two technical procedures, documentary research and bibliographical research, and the data were analyzed in a qualitative and quantitative perspective. The temporal cut of the research covered the period from 2007 to 2017, the years of entry of the first and last group of students in the Degree in Distance Geography of UFRN, respectively. From the results obtained from the research, it is inferred that the offer of distance courses at UFRN has made significant progress since its inception, mainly through the creation of the UFRN - SEDIS Secretariat for Distance Education. In this context, the Degree in Distance Geography contributes to the formation of Basic Education teachers, especially in the interior areas, where the offer of higher education was only feasible from distance education. It is also worth noting the relevance of the course offered in this modality as the only possibility of obtaining the degree certification for many, which results in an improvement in the quality of education and in the recognition of this professional before society.