EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA É PARA TODOS? UM ESTUDO EXPLORATÓRIO SOBRE POSSÍVEIS PREDITORES DO SUCESSO ACADÊMICO

Abstract

In this study, part of a research to identify possible predictors of academic performance in distance education, aimed to explore the link between academic performance, certain social characteristics and skills with information and communication technology of students enrolled in specialization courses offered by the Universidade Aberta do Brasil System. 288 students of specialization courses from a Public University in Minas Gerais state, all basic education teachers (8.7% early childhood education; 59.4% elementary school; 26.7% high school; 5,2% didn’t declare) took part in this survey. The age ranged from 23 to 60 years old, which 52.1% up to 34 years old and 78.5% women. Contrasting groups were assembled, one with course’s initial module graduates (N=188) and the other by students with poor academic performance and received lower grades (N=100). It was used the following materials, computerized test “Escala de Desempenho em Tecnologias de Informacao e Comunicacao (EDTEC)”, average academic scores obtained by the evaluation method established in the pedagogical project and extracted from the Institution academic control system, as well as the social data was obtained using a computerized questionnaire. The results indicate the gender has no effect on academic performance, but the age and the monthly incoming seems to impact it. Also, a possible link between technology resources use skill and the student’s academic performance on the overall average score on the disciplines taken was showed. The prediction method related to technology performance was more expressive in the students’ group with poor academic performances (β=0,48).