Letramento digital na educação a distância: uma experiência no âmbito da Universidade Federal do Grande do Norte

Abstract

The current society is permeated by the Digital Technologies of the Information and Communication (DTIC), so that the students coexist with diverse resources and tools, which require new ways of being and communicating. Faced with this scenario, there is not to escape from dealing the issue, or avoid the paradigmatic changes caused by educational technologies. It is assumed, therefore, that there is a close relationship between DTIC and distance education, given that this modality develops from and with the DTIC, in addition to its students being immersed in a virtual learning environment, whose tools contribute to the formation of digitally literate subjects. The exposed situation instigated us to investigate the digital literacy practices of the students in the Distance Learning Pedagogy Course of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), aiming at identifying and analyzing the digital literacy practices carried out in the subject Teaching Profession, in addition to verifying the contribution of the Distance Education for teacher training in the perspective of digital literacy. The study focused on the Teaching Profession curriculum component, offered by the referred course, for the possibility of access and immersion in its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), since it was acting, at the time, as a distance tutor. The theoretical reference, used in the accomplishment of this study, was anchored in the three elements: Distance Education; Digital Literacy and Digital Technologies of the Information and Communication, with Belloni (2015), Almeida and Valente (2011) and Buzato (2006) as guiding authors of these areas. The research had a qualitative character, using the bibliographical research and nuances ethnographic case study. The data were collected through questionnaires, field diary, documents and activities carried out in the subject Teaching Profession - collaborative forum and infographic. During the course of the investigation, it was observed that in the analyzed practices the processes of interaction, collaboration, interactivity and autonomy were instigated, together with internet search skills and critical evaluation of the content, which contributed to the formation of the subject in the perspective of the digital literacy. Therefore, we can see that distance education can contribute to teacher training in this perspective, when it offers its students support to work on pedagogical practices that are interwoven with DTICs. In this case, the use of active methodological strategies, with the use of technologies, for the formation of digital literate subjects, it can be pointed out as a necessary experience for those who experiences the distance modality, making the teaching and learning process attractive and coherent with the contemporary educational demands.