Abstract

HERNANDES, Paulo Romualdo. The Open University of Brazil and the democratization of public higher education. Ensaio: aval. pol. públ. educ. [online]. 2017, vol.25, n.95, pp.283-307.  Epub Jan 23, 2017. ISSN 0104-4036.  https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-40362017002500777.

This study surveyed the progress and limits of distance education in higher education courses offered by the Open University system in Brazil. It seeks to analyze decrees-law and official documents regulating the distance education in Brazil as well as the creation of the Open University of Brazil (UAB) as a public policy of expansion, democratization, and internalization of public higher education. We also studied through Capes/UAB and also FNDE (Fund for Development of Education) documents the role of the new social actor who appears in the teaching and learning of the top courses in the distance education: the tutor. It was found that the higher education distance courses promoted by the UAB system bring important advances to the distance education when compared to the traditional distance education that employed static media such as television, radio, books, as a communication language, particularly the possibilities of interpersonal relations.

Keywords : Distance education; Distance higher education; Educational technology; Education online.

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