Educação à distância: a experiência em uma organização militar com sede no Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

New Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) allied to the education have favoured the teaching-learning process. In this context, the Personnel Studying Centre (CEP, as it is called in Brazil) aimed at adapting itself to such a reality, and attending both the work force and the society as a whole. O CEP has restructured its pedagogical and computer science areas, and offered distance teaching, without ignoring its face-toface learning-teaching courses. This study has focused upon the CEP, for it has already tradition and excellence in providing distance education courses. Its methodological approaches were quantitative and qualitative. The former has identified the difficulties, processes and pedagogical procedures used, and the latter has identified the main reasons which have lead to an effective democratization of teaching-learning through distance education, especially in a large country such as Brazil. Bibliographical and descriptive researches have been carried out by using the Yin Method. Also, questionnaires and interviews have been applied, whose answers to the open questions were analysed by using the technique of content analysis (GRACE, 1978; BARDIN 1979). Closed questions were analysed by means of percentages. The main findings were: distance education is an inclusive and democratic approach, being of a great range, however, it does not yet substitute the face-to-face education; information technology and communication are the distance education better allies; it is an education for the future for it responds to the modern world s demands, and helps people to become competitive professionals. This study hopes to contribute to the evaluation of the advantages of distance education courses, as they are offered by the CEP, a competent military and educational organization.