The Teaching and Learning Support Space - [EA]² Unicamp launched a special page for Support for Digital Teaching. It brings together content, explanatory materials and tools that help teachers and coordinators of University courses in planning, curricular adaptation and execution of subjects and activities remotely. The use of technologies and virtual learning environments were already encouraged at Unicamp, but with the new coronavirus pandemic and the need to interrupt in-person activities, the incorporation of these resources was intensified. According to information from the Educational Technologies Management Group (GGTE), the number of subjects that started using digital resources increased by around 40% between 2019 and 2020. According to the organization, approximately 83% of Unicamp teachers already use Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in their subjects.
"The interruption of teaching was abrupt, generating a rupture in the mediation of the teaching and learning process. This has a very important impact on the conduct of this process, so replanning, new decisions are necessary and at this moment important dilemmas arise for teachers to respond to , which is something very unprecedented", analyzes Soely Polydoro, coordinator of [EA]². According to the teacher, the need for teachers and coordinators to replan involves a series of issues that go beyond the specificities of each subject, such as the conditions of production and access to content and even the effects that the pandemic brings to the learning process. . Therefore, in addition to being a space where teachers can find materials and content for their classes, the page allows for dialogue and the exchange of experiences.
The page provides teachers and other interested parties with content that helps from the planning and organization of subjects, tutorials on how to use virtual learning environments, such as Moodle and Google Classroom, and other technological resources, class banks that can be used by teachers and suggestions on how to rethink assessment processes. Soely emphasizes that it is important to offer content for all levels of familiarity with these technologies, so that all teachers can benefit from the page. "We had new users, who needed to know how virtual environments work, but also users who had already been working with these environments in their disciplines, but who did not use all the tools, activities and resources available, so they needed to know all the versatility of these platforms", he comments.
The space also allows access to e-books and periodicals, with the support of the César Lattes Central Library (BCCL), and also recordings of webinars, promoted by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (PRG), which include the participation of experts in curricular innovations and hybrid teaching and discuss forms and strategies of action during this period. Other important content gathered on the page are the resolutions and announcements from the Unicamp Rectory on the suspension of face-to-face activities and practical guidelines for teachers and students.
Unicamp was the first public university in the country to suspend in-person activities shortly after the WHO declared the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, it has been building experience and producing important knowledge about remote teaching and the use of educational technologies that are a reference for other universities in the country. According to Eliana Amaral, dean of Undergraduate Studies, many institutions have taken advantage of the content made available by [EA]² and incorporated Unicamp's experiences into their adaptation and replanning processes.
"Many people participated in our webinars, events with more than 300 people, with a large proportion of people from outside, and now at this specific moment when federal institutions are also moving to remote teaching, they will start to prepare for this, they have called us because our teachers have acquired experience in the field that is being recognized. So those from IMECC, IQ and many other units have been invited to discuss with other institutions and we have always made the [EA]² address available to that these institutions support each other", reports the pro-rector.
