Check out the full interview with Eliana Amaral, dean of Undergraduate Studies at Unicamp, given to Rádio Unicamp.
With the suspension of face-to-face teaching activities, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Unicamp has been looking for ways to ensure that academic activities are maintained, without compromising the progress of courses and student training and fulfilling its social function of promoting education and science. One of the options found is encouraging the use of digital teaching technologies, enabling teachers to carry out remote classes and activities. The measurement was determined through the Resolution GR 25/2020.
According to Eliana Amaral, dean of Undergraduate Studies at Unicamp, the initiative is a way of changing the university's educational strategies so that undergraduate courses can go through this exceptional period, compromising schedules as little as possible and maintaining the quality of teaching. Because of this, she explains that all proposals for teaching activities through digital media must be in accordance with the curricula and pedagogical projects of the courses and require the consent of the coordinators and directors of the teaching units at Unicamp. Discussions to survey projects and alternatives to face-to-face activities for the period are already underway at faculties and institutes and all proposals will be forwarded to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (PRG).
Eliana clarifies that courses that require the structure of laboratories or practical activities that are essentially face-to-face will not be affected and can be carried out as soon as the suspension period ends. "In these cases, teachers can choose to work on theoretical content with students through video classes and, after face-to-face classes return, they apply what was worked on online in the laboratory", explains the dean.
Support from (EA)² and GGTE
For teachers to formulate their proposals for adapting activities to the online environment, they can count on the work of the Teaching and Learning Support Space - (EA)² and the Educational Technologies Management Group (GGTE) from Unicamp. The two bodies work to find solutions for the professional development and improvement of university teachers and the development of new methodologies that can explore the potential of digital tools.
Soely Polydoro, coordinator of (EA)², highlights that the mission of the space is not only to encourage the incorporation of new technologies and methodologies in courses, but also to offer teachers content that encourages reflection on their pedagogical work and the importance of quality in teaching-learning practices, promoting constant training of teaching staff. "It's not enough to do a different class, with technologies. This must be foreseen in the planning and pedagogical projects of the subjects", comments Soely. The coordinator also explains that (EA)² advises teachers to plan these activities considering the limitations that students may have due to not being present at the university and the pandemic situation itself. To this end, it encourages constant dialogue with students and the establishment of a relationship of trust.
She also highlights that the digital tools available to teachers also have space for discussion groups between teachers, where they can exchange experiences, and also communication channels with the (EA)² team, who are ready to answer questions and guide whatever is necessary. Teachers will also have access to e-books and teaching materials that can enrich the proposed activities and content.
Tools accessible to everyone
Despite being a practice encouraged at Unicamp for some years, the use of digital technologies in teaching is still new to some teachers. With this in mind, the (EA)² website was created in a way that was accessible to all teachers, always with the aim of facilitating access to tutorials and content and digital tools. "We have a wide variety of teachers, from those who are more unfamiliar with the use of technology to those who are more experienced, who participate in the activities of the univesp (Virtual University of the State of São Paulo), so the page is simple and direct", highlights Marco Antonio de Carvalho, coordinator of GGTE.
He explains that the digital platforms available to teachers, mainly the Moodle and Google Classroom systems, allow teachers to create virtual environments for interaction with students, through audio and video channels, record video classes using slides and explanatory screens and publish this content and make it available to students or the general public, as is the case with courses in the form of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). Marco also highlights that teachers can access activities and content already made available online by Univesp. According to him, the university has made available around 300 subjects, from different areas of knowledge, from which teachers can get ideas for strategies to also use in their subjects. "Something of quality, produced by a public institution and in partnership with Unicamp, needs to be recognized", he comments.
Marco also highlights that GGTE professionals are also available to teachers who have questions regarding the use of the tools and possibilities for action. Contact can be made by phone or email.
