Aula virtual : implicações e desafios docentes considerando o cenário de educação apoiada por tecnologias digitais

Abstract

This master research was developed in Sensu Stricto Master's Program Graduate Education (PPGEDU), at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). The work is connected to Research Line Training, Policy and Practice in Education. The research aimed to answer the por question: What is the connection between teacher education and their choices por to use them in a virtual classroom? The dissertation intended to investigate issues involving the connection between teacher education and pedagogical practices in virtual classrooms in order to support the selection of tools in a virtual class placed in a Virtual Environment for Teaching and Learning. The theoretical framework was based on the following themes: Distance Education, Virtual Environments for Teaching and Learning, Teacher Education and Teachers Knowledge related to Digital Technologies. The research was based on a qualitative approach Bogdan and Biklen (1999), with a case study (YIN, 2010; LÜDKE; ANDRÉ, 1986). The data collection instruments used were: a semi-structured questionnaire, an interview with the administrator of Distance Education unit and university policies documents. In order to analyze and interpret data, it was used the qualitative technique named Textual Analysis of Discourse Moraes (2003). The results show us that teacher background related to specific technologies influences the choice of tools to be used in the virtual classroom. The different tools associated to a virtual class are restricted by teacher s formation regarding to technology. Thus when researchers are observing teaching actions in virtual classrooms they can formulate a wrong idea about teachers' pedagogical concepts. Indeed teachers choose pedagogical tools and resources which are more comfortable to use and not necessarily those ones they would like to use according to their pedagogical beliefs. In other words their pedagogical projects include the use of tools and resources which are limited to their own technological background. Therefore it is necessary that educational institutions think about the importance of continuous investments in teachers' education for the use of Digital Technologies along all teachers' profissional life.