UAB’s Reflex on Cities and LocalSupport Centers to Distance

Education J. L. S. Hermenegildo1, M. Moraes2, J. Rossato3 and E. M. F. Vieira4

1 Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology of Santa Catarina,Department of Health and Service, Florianópolis, Brazil

2 Federal University of Santa Catarina / Department of Economics, Florianópolis,Brazil

3 Federal University of Santa Catarina / Department of Engineering of Knowledge,Florianópolis, Brazil

4 Federal Universities of Santa Catarina / Department of Accounting,Florianópolis, Brazil

Abstract—The associated support centersconstitute privileged spaces, in theoffering of courses at a distance, in whichstudents can look for help to solve theirdoubts and to deal with themes ofadministrative or academic issues, andwhich are part in the operational structureof a number of renowned institutions inthat teaching modality. In Brazil and forthe Open University of Brazil (UniversidadeAberta do Brasil – UAB), these centers werecalled Face-to-face Support Poles (Polos deApoio Presencial). The poles originatedfrom the articulation, interaction andeffetivation of a partnership among thethree governmental levels (federal, stateand city) with the Public Institutions ofHigher Education (Instituições Públicas deEnsino Superior – IPES), linked to the UABsystem. The presence of a face-to-facesupport pole together with its diverseorganizational and structural factors, andwith the offering of courses by the IPES,created a new social and human developmentmovement in the cities or regions in whichit was installed. The present paper aims atpointing those essencial aspects and themain reflexes generated with theinstallation of UAB support poles in thecities in which the Universidade Federal deSanta Catarina – UFSC, and the InstitutoFederal de Tecnologia de Santa Catarina –IFSC function.

Index Terms—Distance education, polemanagement, face-to-face support pole, UAB.

I. INTRODUCTIONThe transformations experienced in

the educational processes appear in thebuilding of new social, cultural,political and economic relations. Ithas already become clear thatinformation and knowledge arecornerstones in contemporary society,and have leaded the evolutive cycles ofhuman kind. Education reflects anddetermines such cycles, as thetechnological transformations areappropriate and adequate for DistanceEducation, as a teaching modality.Having in mind the availability of

new information and communicationtechnologies, the decision of offeringcourses at a distance have demandedever greater initial investments,especially in the preparation of thestaff, in technological infrastructure,in the production of didactic material,in communication systems, in monitoringand management, in the installation ofassociated support centers, inlogistics of maintenance and inproducts distribution, among others.

In open universities, instituted inEurope by the end of the 1960s andbeginning of the 1970s, as the OpenUniversity – UK (1967) and theUniversidad Nacional de Educacion aDistancia UNED – ES (1972), one of thefirst strategies for students to haveaccess to information from differentdisciplines was focused on the use ofprinted material and in the face-to-face support centers. Suchinstitutions, by the time when theywere created, aimed at reaching thosepopulations that did not have access toface-to-face education, thus bringing agreat advantage both for the lives ofthese citizens and for the country –which, by that means tried to reachparts of society in a move in searchfor quality in order to assure theopportunity of filling new work postscreated by technological innovations.In that same period – the end of the

1960s and beginning of the 1970s, anumber of experiments were carried out,inspired in the European scenery, andquickly abandoned for a viablealternative, receiving continuedinvestments [1]. It was only in 2006with the creation of the OpenUniversity of Brazil system (sistemaUniversidade Aberta do Brasil– UAB),instituted by the Decreto 5.800, onJune 8, 2006, with a view at thedevelopment of the Distance Educationmodality – EaD [2], that the projectwas resumed for a more effective andcontinued offer of courses at adistance at the Brazilian PublicInstitutions of Higher Education(IPES). And according to itsconception, UAB functions under acollaborative regime, with the face-to-face support pole as the “operationalunit for the decentralized developmentof pedagogical and administrativeactivities related to the courses andprograms offered at a distance by thepublic institutions of highereducation” [3].According to the decree, the UAB was

instituted for “the development of themodality at a distance, with a view atexpanding and interiorized the offer ofhigher education courses and

educational programs in the country.”And it adds: it promotes the distanceeducation modality in the publicinstitutions of higher education, andsupports research in innovativemethodologies for higher education withinformation and communicationtechnologies. In addition, itstimulates the collaboration betweenthe federal government and otherfederative entities, and promotes thecreation of permanent formation centersby means of the face-to-face supportpoles at strategic localities.To plant the seed of the quality of

the public university in distant andisolated sites stimulates thedevelopment of cities with low HDI(Human Development Index) and low IDEB(Basic Education Development Index).Thus, it works as an efficient tool forthe universalization of the access tohigher education e for requalificationof the teacher in other disciplines,thus strengthening the school indistant places in Brazil. Thatminimizes the concentration ofundergraduate courses at the greaturban centers, while avoiding themigratory movement to the large cities[4].The official discourse, however, does

not reflect the numbers. In a recentwork Ramos [5] analyzes the policiesfor the expansion of Higher Educationin Brazil during the administrationsfrom 2003 through 2010 and stressesthat selectivity, a characteristic inBrazilian education, has been kept atelevated levels during the last years,even with the expansion programs, withUAB among them. According to thatauthor, the social selectivity inHigher Education in relation to BasicEducation increased 42.12% from 68.73%(p. 82) in 2003, and in spite of theinvestments made, only 14.4% of thepotential undergraduate students(youths from 18 to 24 years old) areenrolled in a higher educationinstitution.One believes that the transformation

of such scenery will demand aperformance from the support poles thatare part in the UAB system beyond the

simple offer of infrastructure for thecourses. Such a space must beintegrated to the social-politicaltissue of the community, in which it isinserted, creating positive reflexesthat can be observed on the medium term(IDEB), or in the long term (HDI). Inthe present work data from a sample bythe coordinators of support poles atthe Universidade Federal de SantaCatarina and at the Instituto Federalde Tecnologia de Santa Catarina areanalyzed in terms of the reflexes ofthe installation of the support pole inthat city or region.

II. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

A. Distance Education and the Support from the Face-to-face Support Pole UABThe support poles imply in the

existence of a network of agents whoperform administrative and managementfunctions, in addition to thefundamental role of supporting thelearning process of the students. Thosecourses conducted at each pole can beoffered by different educationalinstitutions, and each pole can beunder the rule of the city, or of thestate government, or both, which arecalled Mantenedores (Maintainers), andwhich must offer the “physical andtechnological infrastructure for theample development of those activitiesreferring to the offered courses,” aswell as to hire staff for the“execution of the proposed goals andactivities” under the guidance of theUAB system” Ref. [4]. The pole is the space equipped with

physical infrastructure and logisticsthat is directed for giving support forthe students. It must have research andteaching laboratories, computerlaboratories, library, technologicalresources, among others, that arecompatible with the offered courses. At the pole one finds important

agents for the students’ support, likethe face-to-face tutor – an academicadviser with an adequate undergraduatedegree, who will be responsible forgiving attention to the students at thesupport poles in the cities. In that

space the student can also count on theservices of secretaries and on thepedagogical and logistic support by thecoordinator of the pole.The coordinator of the pole is

responsible for its management, whichincludes the structuring andcoordination of the actions for theimplementation and maintenance of theactivities at the pole, thecoordination of technological, didacticand human resources in accordance withthose universities working at the poleand the UAB/MEC, to keep the datarelating to the pole updated and,whenever asked, to present toIES/UAB/MEC the report of the follow upof the activities developed at thepole, as well as other information anddocuments.Thus, it is at the support pole that

the face-to-face activities demanded bythe law, as evaluation of the students,presentation of final papers, specificlab classes when demanded, obligatorypractical training – whenever demandedby pertinent law – in addition to theoffering of guidance to the students bythe tutors, videoconference, individualand group study activities with the useof computer labs and library, amongother activities.In face of the diversity of the

offered courses, together with thephysical distance separating each fromthe institution offering the courses,and the different Mantenedores (city orstate), and other aspects thatconstitute the complexity of DE, comesthe need to establish specificmechanisms for the implementation andmanagement of the courses, in whichhuman resources are most important,comprising a multidisciplinary staff“with the functions of planning,implementing and management of thecourses at a distance” [6]. In suchstaff there are, in addition to thoseprofessionals from the Institutionoffering the courses, the technical-administrative workers, the coordinatorof the pole and the face-to-facetutors. So in order to promote the

perfectioning of the coordinators of

the poles, the face-to-face tutors andof other actors involved in theoffering of courses at a distance, aspace was created for their formationand capacitation, in which UFSC andIFSC came to develop, since 2008, aProgram for Continued Formation andCapacitation – Programa de Formação eCapacitação Continuada (PACC/ UAB-UFSC-IFSC). There, one of the lines ofaction is the Capacitation of thePoles, which offers the course“Capacitação de Coordenadores de Polo,Tutores Presenciais e equipe técnica naárea de informática” (Capacitation ofCoordinators, Face-to-face tutors andtechnical staff in computers). For the two institutions in that

partnership the process of capacitationof pole coordinators became a strategicaction in the context of the programfor continued formation andcapacitation (PACC/ UAB-UFSC-IFSC) inface of the need of defining astrategic management of the poleconcerning the needs of the city and ofthe dynamics of the offeringInstitutions and of the UAB/MECProgram. As a result from such a moveto enlarge the critical mass and tocreate a space to divulge the resultsobtained by the many actors involved inthat system, a specific space wascreated, the Research Seminar onDistance Education – SEPEAD (Semináriode Pesquisa em Educação a Distância).In October 2011 happened the III

SEPEaD. During that event, thecoordinators of the support poles andthe mayors of the cities involved wereinvited to follow the presentation ofthemes relating to the reflexes fromthe installation of the poles in theirrespective cities. Two support poleswere selected, those at São Franciscode Paula and at Cachoeira do Sul, bothin the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS),according to the connection with thetwo institutions participating in thePACC, their structures and, morespecifically, the support from localcity halls.As a result of the presentations in

that event, and based on a specifictheoretical frame, a study was made in

which analytical categories wereidentified comprising a model ofrequirements, as illustrated on Table1. Such a model of requirements wasanalyzed and the result was presentedat the 4ª Conferência Internacionalsobre Educação e Novas Tecnologias deAprendizagem - Edulearn 2012 [7]; atthe end of the presentation of thatstudy a final suggestion was made tocarry out new research works includinga greater number of poles.

TABLE I. CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICAL QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATION OF

FACE-TO-FACE SUPPORT POLE

CATEGORY – LIBERATING EDUCATIONAutonomy in building learning

Organization of time and space at the poleCATEGORY – INFRASTRUCTURE DIRECTED AT THE MODEL

OF THE COURSEPossibility of maintaining the course for a long

periodRoom in the marketplaceEconomy of resources

(time/material/transportation)Collective use of laboratoriesStimulus to the local economySocial and cultural inclusion

Social and professional ascensionStimulus to autonomy and confidence

CATEGORY – POLITICAL/DEMOCRATIC IMPACTExtension of social relationsDevelopment of critical thought

Access to computers (digital literacy)Contribution of the students to thesociety/company (research/extension)Participation in community actions

A importância do apoio da AdministraçãoMunicipal

CATEGORY – RESULTS FROM THE COURSEPermanence and success x modelStudents’ reports (insertion)

Extension (activities and courses)Scope of the pole

The mayor/the studentsCATEGORY – DEMOGRAPAHIC DATA

Number of coursesNumber of Educational Institutions in the city

Number of studentsNumber of graduated students

Size of the City/urban or ruralLocal economy

Thus, a new opportunity appeared inJune 2012 with the event of the IVSEPEaD, in which researchers, tutorsand pole coordinators, in addition tothe general public with an interest inDE participated. It was possible, then,

to apply a primary research tool withan enlarged group of coordinators,considering the analytical categoriespresented on Table 1. In all, 27representatives took part in theresearch.The analytical categories present in

the questionnaire were defined based onthe common aspects identified in theliterature on themes relating to face-to-face support poles, and take intoaccount a set of issues for theevaluation of the development of theface-to-face support pole as a centerof convergence in the city in theprocess of technological inclusion.The questionnaire presented 16

questions with answers to mark, so thatthe coordinator of the pole couldidentify within a scale – 1 (little) to5 (much) – at what extent each of theitems was present in the reality of thepole and/or in the reality of thecommunity and of those students whoused the pole. From each coordinatorwas asked to make comments on themarked answers. In the questionnairewere also included 12 questions foreach coordinator to allow their reporton the specificities of each pole. Forthe analysis of the reports presentedthe software QualiQuantiSoft was used,in order to organize the data, whichwere discussed and analyzedqualitatively, and shall be presentedin the following section.

III. ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION – OBTAINEDRESULTS

The analytical categories indicatedon Table 1 allowed the constitution ofa set of questions for evaluating theevolution of the face-to-face supportpole as a convergence center in thecity along the process of social andtechnological inclusion. As a result ofthat research 27 answeredquestionnaires were delivered by thecoordinators. They will now bepresented according to those categoriesdefined in the research.

A. Analytical Category 1: Liberating educationUnder that analytical category, and

according to the classification

criteria (see Table 1), aspectsrelating to the autonomy in thebuilding of learning and theorganization of time and space ofteaching at the pole are presented.Considering that the pedagogical anddidactic autonomy still stands as achallenge for education at a distance,the coordinators presented someimportant reports related to thatscenery. For example:

“That modality develops abilities that areperceived by the students – discipline,autonomy, organization, more reading,flexibility”.

“With time the students came to acquiregreater confidence in the activities, they aremore present, resort to the pole in order toorganize study groups.”

“In the beginning of the first courses at thepole there was some doubt on DE, the majoritydidn’t believe in it. After the installation andalong the courses there was and there still is agreat demand, because all were convinced that itis possible and serious.”

“The pole gave the opportunity for thestudents to gain autonomy in building knowledge,mediated by the teachers and tutors.”

“In the beginning of a course the studentexperiences the conflict of organizing time andautonomy. But right after he is able to defysuch barriers and go on without stress.”

“Many students complain that there is anexcess of activities in the beginning of thecourses, however, when they adapt to themodality and integrate with their colleagues thecomplaints end.”

“Each Day there was something to learn. Welearned together, while structuring the pole ina way to facilitate the students’ access. Wehave courses arranged without schedule clash.”

According to Figure 2 bellow, theresult of the evaluation by thecoordinators about that first itemindicate: a) 81.5% marked 4 or 5claiming that there was an organizationof learning time and space at the pole;and b) 85.2% also marked 4 or 5 thatthere was a promotion of autonomy inthe building of learning. Thus, itreinforces the initial idea that onehas when one thinks of DE, autonomy andflexibility of time and space.

Figure 1. Aspects relative to liberatingeducation. Source: the authors

B. Analytical Category 2: Infrastructure directed to the course modelUnder that analytical category,

according to the adopted classificationcriteria as expressed in Table 1,aspects related to the following issuesare included: possibility of staying inthe course for a long period of time;opportunities in the marketplace;economy of resources(time/material/transportation);promotion of the local economy; socialand cultural inclusion; social andprofessional ascent; stimulus forautonomy and confidence.The staying of the student in the

course depends on a series of factors,which have been a research theme forthose who deal with the DE modality.Some of these research works try torelate the statistical data onpermanence to the success of adeterminate course, with somestrategies for conducting the courseand for the use of educationalmaterial. In the case at issue oneanalyzed how the conditions ofinfrastructure and the installations atthe pole help the students and thecommunity. The coordinators answered bymarking 4 or 5, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Infrastructure directed at the coursemodel. Source: the authors

The main comments presented by thecoordinators in relation to that itemwere:

“The stimulus to those students that stay inthe course is positive. The pole is an agreeableplace, the students feel they belong to the IES,and that’s great.”

“It is gratifying to perceive the degree ofsatisfaction of the students by means of theirtestimonies – a lot of demand for the courses atthe pole.”

“The creation of the pole brings developmentin all spheres, be them social, cultural oreconomic.”

“That modality came to open new horizons,doors for Professional ascension.”

C. Analytical Category 3: Political/democratic impact Under that analytical category

according to the adopted classificationcriteria as expressed in Table 1,aspects related to the following issuesare included: expansion of socialrelations; development of criticalthought; access to computers (digitalliteracy); contribution of the studentsto society/company (research –extension activities); participation incommunitarian actions; the significanceof the support by the city hall.Thus this study tried to find how the

coordinators graded the reflexes of theparticipation of the students in thecourses offered, as well as in otheractivities carried out at the poles interms of the items included in thisanalytical category. The result isillustrated in Figure 3, being thepercentage comprised by the summing upof only the grades 4 and 5.

Figure 3. Political/democratic impact. Source:the authors

The main comments presented by thecoordinators in relation to that itemwere:

“It contributes to the integration andsocialization in our society.”

“Without support we don’t have the conditionsof financial survival.”

“They contribute to social participation.”“Currently the pole includes thirteen cities,

it is acknowledged as offering quality courses,seriousness and responsibility from all thoseinvolved, educators and managers. The city halladministration must give support the poleswithout restrictions, so that the activities canbe sustained with physical, human and structuralresources.”

“We had a lot of problems with the bureaucracyof the Mantenedora in order to receive financialhelp to the pole.”

Still with the goal of analyzingthose aspects relative to thepolitical/democratic impact, otherdissertating questions were presentedto the coordinators. One of thequestions asked information about thesupport by the city hall administrationto the development of the activities atthe poles. Twenty three answers werecollected by the coordinators and theanalysis of such answers lead to 4central ideas, distributed according tothe kinds of presented answers.

1. In 10 (ten) answers it ismentioned that the pole has theadequate conditions of logic andphysical infrastructure, as wellas the necessary conditions tosustain everyday activities. Suchconditions are established andoffered by the city hall and/orby means of an effectivepartnership between the state andthe city administration.

2. In 7 (seven) answers it is saidthat the pole holds the necessaryinfrastructure and physicalconditions and enough support fordaily activities, but that itstill has problems with thelogical part, especially with theaccess to the Internet.

3. In 5 (five) answers it is Saidthat the pole does not have anadequate logic and physicalinfrastructure, due to

difficulties of investment by thecity administration.

4. And there is 1 (one) answer thatindicates the existence ofproblems with the legislation,because the city administrationis only allowed to invest inbasic education.

In the texts presented by thecoordinators the case is mentioned thatin a number of cities the headquartersof the pole was established by anaction by the Secretaries for RegionalDevelopment (Secretarias deDesenvolvimento Regional), which is aspecific structure in the Government ofthe state of Santa Catarina, but evenso many of these poles end up having toresort to the support by the cityadministration for operationalactivities.Another question aimed at learning

what extension activities were beingpromoted by the staff at the pole. Inthis case 25 out of 27 coordinatorspresented their answers, and theanalysis of those 25 answers, inaddition to indicating the use of thepole in support activities inherent tothe offered courses, also lead to 3(three) central ideas that are part inthe answers presented:

1. The execution of activities offraternization during cityholidays and commemorative datesamong the pole staff, studentsand the community, and thecarrying out of campaigns in thecommunity, like the campaign tocollect winter clothes, or todonate blood.

2. The use of the pole for talks andlectures, seminars and culturaland artistic activities, as:autographs events for new books,book fairs, selling of usedbooks, conferences and studygroups.

3. The use of the pole for theexecution of extension courses,like courses of Libras, English,Spanish, the elaboration of

projects, digitalliteracy/digital inclusion.

D. Analytical Category 4: Results of the cousesUnder that analytical category

according to the adopted classificationcriteria as expressed in Table 1,aspects related to the following issuesare included: permanence and successversus course model; students’testimonies about the process ofinsertion; extension activities andcourses with the participation of thestudents; the perceptions by thestudents and by the mantenedores.An institution’s experience with

face-to-face courses that wants tooffer courses in DE does not assurethat it will present educational anddidactic materials of quality by meansof communication and information media.Each resource used, be it the VirtualEnvironment for Teaching and Learning(Ambiente Virtual de EnsinoAprendizagem) (AVEA), or printedmaterial, videos, videoconference andothers, has its own logic ofconception, production, of language,and of use of time. The combined use ofthese materials needs to be harmonicand well-adjusted based oninstitutional plans and conceptualmaps, and will carry the institution’sconception of education.Thus, with the aim of understanding

which strategies and procedures werebeing perceived as efficient by thecoordinators in terms of higherpermanence levels of the students itwas asked to the coordinators apositioning about one of the openquestions. And the analysis of the 27answers presented by the coordinatorslead to 4 central ideas that integratethose answers:

1. That the composition of theeducational material shouldprivilege interactivity, andshould include printed material,AVEA with insertion of videos,and video classes.

2. The interaction process must takeinto account that in addition tothe use of asynchronous resources

of the AVEA, like the use of theforum, and of synchronousactivities of weeklyvideoconference or web conferencewith the presence of the studentsat the pole, there is also thepresence of the teachers in face-to-face meetings with thestudents at the poles.

3. That the process of mediation isfundamental and the role of thetutors, in that sense, isdecisive to show the benefits ofthe courses in the modality at adistance, in addition to the fastfeedback offered to the students,both by tutors and teachers.

4. The presence of an adequateinfrastructure at the pole,especially the computer labs,which must be well equipped andwith a fast Internet available.

Other quotes present some aspectsrelating to the formation of studygroups at the pole, the stimulus andorganization of activities for the useof the library of the pole and theavailability of the pole to thestudents on weekends. Next, some of thetexts by the coordinators arepresented.

“Videoconference, video classes; printedmaterial; the visit of the teacher of thediscipline at the pole; quick feedback by thetutors to the students; physical installationsfor the library.”

“The printed material is a resource that helpsin the permanence of the student, theperformance of the tutors face-to-face and at adistance, the face-to-face meetings with theteachers of the partner IES, the quick feedbackby the involved agents (course coordinator,teachers, tutors), the stimulus of the face-to-face tutors.”

“The printed material is very important, it iswhat they most complain about when it islacking, others are videos of the classes and,finally, videoconference.”

“Motivation; support; follow up; organizationand availability of equipment and materials ofthe pole for the students on work days and alsoon weekends and holydays.”

“Videoconference, structure of the pole,didactic-pedagogical material, library, face-to-face classes, email exchange, devoted tutors.”

“Videoconference, interaction with teachers,doubt shooting in chats with teachers. Face-to-face classes, one for each discipline. Video

with obligatory attendance for the students toknow each other and to promote theirinteraction.”

“Study groups; conferences; printed material;face-to-face classes with the teachers.”

“Integration among the different actors in thecourses and the students of the poles;participation of the face-to-face tutors andstudents in the planning of the activities inthe course; systematic evaluation of the course.Availability of materials as books, videos andothers to help students. Promotion of seminars,study groups.” It was asked from the coordinators a

report on the opinion of the studentsabout the presence of the poles, asdelivered in face-to-face meetings atthe poles. All 27 answers hold only onecentral idea, that is, the pole offersthe opportunity for people to make truetheir dream of attending a public andfree university.There are complements in some

answers; in 5 (five) it is indicatedthat the presence of the pole helps toimprove the quality of life andstimulates the economic, cultural andsocial development in the region, whilein other 3 (three) answers one findsthe information that the students arealready in the work market and aregrateful for the opportunity that thepresence of the pole brought to theirlives. When asked about testimonies bystudents that had unfavorable commentsin relation to the presence of the polein the region, 22 coordinators gave afeedback, with the conclusion thatthere are no unfavorable opinionsagainst the presence of the pole.Some complementary arguments were

used. One of them, in 5 (five) answers,reinforces the importance of increasingthe number of courses offered, and inother 5 (five) answers another argumentstresses the difficulties with logicand physical infrastructure that arestill faced. In 3 (three) other answersone finds the indication that it isnecessary to improve the work modeladopted by the teachers and staff fromthe offering institution, in order togain agility to solve the students’needs and, finally, there is one casethat points at some sectors of society

who are still not in favor to theoffering of courses in that modality.

E. Analytical Category 5: Demographic dataUnder that analytical category are

included those aspects relative to thefollowing points: number of courses;number of offering institutions at thepole; number of regular students;number of graduate students; extensionat the pole; local economy. About theresults from the presence of the face-to-face support pole, and consideringonly those poles, which had theircoordinators participating in thisresearch, the issues raised were thenumber of offering institutions thatuse the pole, the number of coursesoffered, the number or enrolledstudents, and the number of studentswho have already concluded theircourses. The data on these issues arecharted and the information isillustrated on Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7,bellow. The presence of different

institutions offering courses at thesame pole implies a diversity of modelsand of modes to manage the courses,with a consequent increase in thecomplexity of the work to be done bythe coordinator of the pole in face ofaspects like the management model ofthe pole, of the teams, ofinfrastructure and of the institutionalpolitical relations to be established.That is expressed in the majority ofthe poles, considering that there isonly 1 pole in which there is just oneoffering institution working, while onefinds 7 poles with 2 offeringinstitutions, 8 poles with 3 offeringinstitutions, 7 poles with 4institutions, 2 poles with 5institutions, 1 pole with 6institutions and finally, one otherpole with 7 institutions. Such a complexity increases as each

institution offers more than onecourse, as one can see on Figure 5,with an average offer of 2 to 3 coursesper institution.

Figure 4. Number of institutions offeringcourses at the pole. Source: the authors

Figure 5. Number of courses offered at the pole.Source: the authors

The increase in the number ofenrollments is evident, as illustratedon Figure 6. According to datapresented by part of the coordinators,there are 7,845 regularly enrolledstudents at 191 courses that are beingoffered at the 27 poles researched,thus establishing an average of 41students per course. And as a result,according to the coordinators, 2,182students have finished their coursesalong these 4 years of existence of thepoles, as illustrated on Figure 7.

Figure 6. Results from the charting of thenumber of regular students at the pole. Source:

the authors

Figure 7. Results from the charting of thenumber that have already finished their courses

at the pole. Source: the authors

One other information that callsattention in the answers delivered bypart of the coordinators is that 22responding poles did indicate that theytake students from an average of 15cities from the region in which thepole is installed, being that thesmaller number was of 9 cities sendingstudents to one pole, while the largerwas of 30 cities sending students tothe region’s pole. There are cases in adifferent situation, as those poles inthe North region of the country, whichin addition to receiving students fromthe urban centers close to the polealso receive students from the Indiancommunities around.These 22 coordinators presented, in

addition, some comments in an openspace in the questionnaire. Whenanalyzing their texts 2 central ideasin the answers come to the foreground:

1. Divergence of information on theprocess of requiring courses atthe pole, that is, thecoordinator of the pole hasrelevant doubts about the modelto be followed and complains fromthe difficulties to open newcourses.

2. There is a complaint in relationto how the evaluation from CAPESis being made, and about thestrictness leading to thesuspension of courses at somepoles. The complaint claims thatsuch a situation was establishedwithout a counterpart from bothMEC and the offeringinstitutions.

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURERESEARCH

With the goal of suggesting a seriesof requirements to be analyzed, andwhich approach essential aspects for aface-to-face support pole of quality,the present work made evident issuesthat can represent the perception bythe managers and local agents(coordinators, tutors, administrativeand city representatives) about thesocial effects of UAB and the reflexesof the insertion of DE in the cities.The UAB face-to-face support pole is

a fundamental element in the structureof the DE program as it constitutes anoperational extension of the IPESconnected to the system at thestudent’s city or at its region. It isat the pole that face-to-face meetingsoccur, as well as the following up andguidance of the students, the labpractices and face-to-face evaluations.For the UAB Program currently linked toCAPES/MEC it is necessary that eachsupport pole becomes able to meet anumber of references of quality toallow the adjustment and composition ofa model of infrastructure and ofmanagement, which takes into accountthose characteristics for the fulldevelopment of the activities ofcourses at a distance.For the offering institutions it is

necessary for the face-to-face supportpole to sustain a set of elements thatmake possible the adjustment andcomposition of a model ofinfrastructure and of management, whichtakes into account the characteristicsof the course to be offered at thepole’s region, with a view to assurethe integral development of theactivities of the course and theoffering of adequate services to thestudents.The results from the analyses of the

researched categories make evident andcorroborate the initial idea when onethinks of DE, that is, more autonomyand time and space flexibility for thestudent, even considering thatpedagogical and didactic autonomy isstill a challenge for the modality ofeducation at a distance. Moreover, the

permanence of the student in the coursedepends on a series of factors, whichhave been a research object for thoseresearchers in DE. In the case atissue, one tried to evaluate how theconditions of infrastructure and theinstallations at the pole bringbenefits to the students and thecommunity by means of stimulatingentrepreneurship, promoting digitalinclusion and digital literacy, whichwere pointed as some of the socialeffects of UAB and of DE at theanalyzed cities.In this study one acknowledges that

the experience with face-to-facecourses does not assure for aninstitution that wants to offer coursesat a distance the quality of didacticand educational materials to bedelivered to the students by means ofdifferent communication and informationmedia. Each course has its own logic ofconception, production, of language,and of use of time. The value is in thecombined use of these materials, and inthe adjustment following theinstructional plans and conceptual mapsthat shall translate the concept ofeducation from the institutioninvolved.It becomes evident that the shared

use of the pole by the IPES creates ademocratic and plural space forexperiences of formation, which, on theone hand reflects the complexity in themanagement model of the pole and itsofferings, but that also indicates theweaknesses of conception and executionof the models of the offered courses,be it in the composition of thelearning activities and availability ofevaluative and educational material, beit in the activities of interaction andmediation and feedback applied.In addition, it was possible to make

evident that in a number of cities, inspite of the fact that the program hasbeen functioning for the last 4 years,the conditions of logic and physicalinfrastructure were still not assured,especially those conditions to accessthe fast Internet, which constitutes afundamental tool for the efficientdevelopment of the process of

interaction and interactivity, and ofmediation and feedback to the students.One other point to be stressed is the

fact that the face-to-face support polehas expanded its range of execution andhas become more than a strategic centerto support capacitation, formation andspecialization at higher educationlevel; it has also become a referencecenter for the execution ofcomplementary formation of citizens bymeans of short term extension courses,and social, cultural and artisticactivities. From that one can concludethat the support and maintenance andimprovement of the conditions at thepole, as well as the continuity in theoffering of courses reflects directlyin the quality of life of thepopulation, and as result has apolitical and social impact, thuscontributing for a consolidation ofdemocracy and citizenship, an effectnot foreseen when the program wasconstituted.However, from the analysis of the

case at issue, that is, the reflex fromthe implantation of the face-to-facesupport poles on its immediatesurroundings – city and/or region – itis possible to infer that in offeringcourses at a distance some issues arise– are the programs of distanceeducation necessary due to the lack ofcapacity by the current educationalinfrastructure to meet the demand? Orare the students looking for moreflexible courses due to the difficultyto enter the more traditional coursemodels? Or, still, are the courses at adistance destined to only meet theneeds of minority representatives, oradults who did not have the opportunityto attend the so called conventionaleducation?Such questioning arises curiosity and

stimulates one to proceed with theresearch, not only with thecoordinators of the poles, but tryingalso to reach the other agents,especially those students who finished

the first courses, and who are nowbeing tested by the work market, andwhose success or failure may functionas a measure for the success or failureof the UAB system itself.

REFERENCES[1] I. B. Nunes, “Noções de Educação a

Distância. Educação a Distância, INED, Brasília,v.3, n.4/5, december 1993/abril 1994.

[2] Uab, Universidade Aberta do Brasil. In:http://uab.capes.gov.br/index.php. 07 may2012.

[3] Capes, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal deNível Superior, Novo Portal Capes. In:http://uab.capes.gov.br. 15 april 2012

[4] Capes, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal deNível Superior. In: J. Clerk Maxwell, A Treatise onElectricity and Magnetism, 3rd ed., vol. 2. Oxford:Clarendon, 1892, pp.68–73.

[5] D. S. Ramos, A Expansão do Ensino Superiornos Governos Lula (2003-2010):caracterização a análise de suasestratégias. Monografia. Curso de CiênciasEconômicas, Universidade Federal de SantaCatarina, Florianópolis, 2011.

[6] Mec, Ministério da Educação. Secretaria deEducação a Distância (2007). Referências deQualidade para Educação Superior a Distância.Brasília: 2007.

[7] J. L. S. Hermenegildo; E. M. F. Vieira; M.Moraes; J. Rossato, Social Effects: UAB’sReflexions on Cities and Local SupportCenters, Edulearn, 2012.

AUTHORSJ. L. S. Hermenegildo is with the

Federal Institute for Education,Science and Technology of SantaCatarina, Department of Health andService, Florianópolis, Brazil (e-mail:jorge@ifsc.edu.br). M. Moraes is with the Federal

University of Santa Catarina,Department of Economics, Florianópolis,Brazil (e-mail: mmoraes@gmail.com).J. Rossato is with the Federal

University of Santa Catarina,Department of Engineering of Knowledge,Florianópolis, Brazil (e-mail:jaqueline@egc.ufsc.br).E. M. F. Vieira is with the Federal

University of Santa Catarina,department of Accounting,Florianópolis, Brazil (e-mail:eleonorafalcao@gmail.com).