Tutoring in Distance Education: New Proposals, Challenges and Reflections

Distance Education has expanded in the world, due to the democratization of knowledge mediated by technologies for accessing different levels of education. Online and classroom tutoring systems have been a source of research and discussion on redefining roles in distance education. It's understood that the role of the tutor must be intrinsically linked to the political-pedagogical project of the course, regardless of their nature: graduation, specialization, etc. The mentoring held in the fifth Specialization Course in Distance and Continuing Education (University of Brasilia, Brazil) had its assumptions and guidelines, grounded in the CTAR-Community Work and Learning Network, which advocates a proactive tutoring, with engaging and emancipatory character, valuing collaborative knowledge construction. It was essential to ensure the basic and continuing training of selected tutors to favor the formation of networks in the realization of the activities and actions that promote learning. With this perspective, mentoring can take an active, collaborative and intervening role as the knowledge mediation, employing strategies and facilitating technological resources. It was important to consider in the formation of selected tutors and the tutoring supervision of the course, the articulated monitoring of the team, encouraging a coordinated and concerted action of the various actors of the course, specifically, the general coordination, tutoring coordinator, the classroom tutor and pedagogical assistant, seeking to prevent evasion. Knowing the profile of the participants and their difficulties, it is possible to act in a preventive manner, anticipating assistance, encouraging the participation in discussions and diversifying strategies and technological resources to respond to the various identified needs and motivate their permanence on course. We emphasize that this tutoring proposal is a pioneer to the extent that the tutor is part of a team responsible for the course, where he is a specialized teacher and well aware of his role in developing a quality in Distance Education.