For about two months, undergraduate distance learning students at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte were invited to participate in the webinar series “How are we living in times of pandemic: are we going to talk about us?”, An initiative of the Pedagogical Coordination of Distance Education at UFRN and which had the support of the management of the University’s Distance Education Department.
From September 16, 2020 to November 11, 2020, when the last edition of this first series was held, a total of eight webinars were broadcast live over the internet, with the Pedagogical Coordination Room as a virtual meeting point within the Academic Mandacaru . For the UFRN Pedagogical Coordinator of Distance Education, Lilian Giotto Zaros de Medeiros, this was an important moment for students to speak and listen.
According to Lilian Zaros, the Coordination was receiving many messages from students related to psychological, family problems and even anxiety about returning to school. In this sense, “the discussions were rich, addressing stress, anxiety, physical exercise, false news in the areas of Health and Science and the history of pandemics”, evaluated the Coordinator.
The series was successful among students. According to Maria da Conceição Silva, an academic in the Biological Sciences Course in Guamaré / RN, Wednesday nights became special, as it was possible to dive into the current situation of the pandemic and all its impacts and, at the At the same time, renew your hopes for better days. She was one of the people who hoped that this initiative would be repeated.
And in response to the call of several students who expressed this interest through the webinar chats, the UFRN’s Secretariat of Distance Education, through the Pedagogical Coordination, is already preparing a second edition of these virtual seminars for February 2021. “In addition to all learning, the legacy of this experience is the rapprochement between students and the team that works in the Coordination, concluded Lilian Zaros.
Three years after receiving, in Natal / RN, as face-to-face editions of the Brazilian Congress of Higher Distance Education (ESUD) and the International Congress of Higher Distance Education (CIESUD), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), once again, the venue for these two simultaneous events that are among the largest EaD congresses in Latin America.
The announcement was made on Friday evening (13), during the closing announcement of ESUD / CIESUD 2020, promoted by the Association University in Rende (UniRede) and organized by the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). Because of the covid-19 pandemic, an error occurred, entirely, through online transmissions, in web conferencing rooms and on the YouTube channel of the Integrated Network Learning Center (CIAR / UFG).
The Secretary of Distance Education at UFRN and representative of Federal Institutions at UniRede, Carmem Rêgo, spoke about the organization’s expectation: “In such a difficult time for humanity, we have a huge challenge, which is to host an event of the magnitude of ESUD. But UFRN, I always work with dedication to carry out great events with quality and, in this way, represent the best society in Rio Grande do Sul ”.
“In 2018, UFRN was the host of the Brazilian Congress of Higher Distance Education (ESUD) and it will be an honor for our institution to host the event again in 2021, which is the result of the credibility achieved nationally, over the years, by our Secretariat of Distance Education (SEDIS) ”, said the Dean of UFRN, José Daniel Diniz Melo, commenting on the choice.
The central theme of ESUD / CIESUD 2021 has not yet been defined, but there is a perspective that they address in “Education and Health”. Within this context, the Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health (LAIS / UFRN), which, in 2018, supported the holding of the two Congresses, next year, when the 10 years of creation of LAIS / UFRN will be celebrated, will assume the role of organizer event, in partnership with SEDIS and UFRN.
The central theme of ESUD / CIESUD 2021 has not yet been defined, but there is a perspective that the discussions address “Education and Health”. Within this context, the Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health (LAIS / UFRN), which, in 2018, supported the holding of the two Congresses, next year, when the 10 years of creation of LAIS / UFRN will be celebrated, will assume the role of organizer event, in partnership with SEDIS and UFRN.
According to Professor Ricardo Valentim, LAIS coordinator, organizing ESUD in the year that the laboratory completes a decade of existence has important symbolism and relevance.
“For LAIS it is a remarkable moment, where we will celebrate our 10 years with the simultaneous holding of the most important event in the field of distance education in Brazil, and also one of the most important in the world, which are ESUD and CIESUD, respectively . In this spectrum, we have been working in human training in health for years, through the SUS Virtual Learning Environment (AVASUS), a tool that today has almost 700 thousand active users, from all regions of Brazil and on all continents. This role gained even more strength during the covid-19 pandemic, where we developed training tools for health professionals and users in general, which through AVASUS, became universal. It is a protagonism that we conquered through the continuous work of a multidisciplinary team, which has in technology-mediated education a foundation to build a more egalitarian society “, he said.
According to the president of UniRede, Alexandre Martins, it is always a pleasure to be able to count on the partnership of SEDIS, LAIS and UFRN. He recalls that the election of ESUD / CIESUD, in Natal / RN, took place in 2019 in Teresina Piauí, when UniRede members considered the realization of a new edition of these congresses in partnership with the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), which would be held, in person, in the year 2021.
“Unfortunately, in 2019, we did not imagine that today we would be living in such a delicate moment of a pandemic, which ended up canceling the event that would happen in person”, clarified Alexandre Martins. The president of UniRede announced a new configuration of these events, in virtual format, and took the opportunity to congratulate the commitment of UFRN and ICDE in maintaining the offer of events of such great importance to the national and international community that works, researches or develops activities in the field. open and distance education.
Source: Bruno Cássio – SEDIS / UFRN Media Sector / Arthur Barbalho – ASCOM / LAIS
Check out the video with the launch of the ESUD / CIESUD 2021 logo.
The Distance Education Secretariat of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (SEDIS / UFRN), created in 2003, plays an important role in the promotion of distance education and in the use of information and communication technologies for teaching and learning. This attribution goes beyond the walls of the University and attracts the interest of several institutions. The most recent was the Military Police of Rio Grande do Norte (PM / RN).
At the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, virtual contacts began to be established and with the support of UFRN’s Secretary of Distance Education, Carmem Rêgo, the SEDIS Information Technology team was made available to the PM’s Teaching Directorate / RN to collaborate with some updates to the Corporation’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The AVA of the PM / RN is based on the Moodle platform that allows the customization of the functionalities, according to the needs of the users.
Distance Learning at PM / RN
SEDIS has great expertise in the use of this platform and in the development of several AVA’s. According to the Cadet of the PM / RN, Regivaldo Sena da Rocha, this motivated the search for this technical cooperation. For the Auxiliary Manager of the AVA Moodle Platform of PM / RN, “the exchange of experiences and the guidance given by SEDIS were extremely important for the continuity, development and improvement of this platform”.
Distance education has presented itself as an important tool in the training of state military police. In August 2020 alone, 831 students completed the Sergeants Training Course. Another 600 are in the process of being completed at the Military Police Training and Improvement Center (CFAPM). Another qualification opportunity, offered in the distance modality, is the Training Course for Unmanned Aircraft System Operators.
Recognition
According to the Network Administrator at SEDIS, Artur Nobre, information about the specific settings and behaviors of the AVA was given, “as the doubts arose, the SEDIS team came forward to resolve them”, he clarified. Pedagogical guidelines were also shared for the better use of the Virtual Learning Environment.
On October 13, 2020, the partnership developed was recognized by the Education Directorate of the Military Police of Rio Grande do Norte. When forwarding a letter to the UFRN Rectory, gratitude was registered for the commitment of the SEDIS team in training on the use of the PM / RN AVA and the availability to provide technical support throughout this process, opening the door for future collaborations.
Which artist does not dream of being recognized for his talent? First, in your country of origin, then, with the help of the internet, to win audiences from other parts of the world? For Luiza Fonseca, this dream begins to be realized. The 24-year-old, born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, has just been selected, through virtual voting, to exhibit her work at the Brick Lane Gallery in London, England.
The news was released last Tuesday, October 6, 2020, on the profile of the gallery on Instagram <@bricklanegallery>. The dispute, which took place on the social network, made Luiza receive the support of many admirers, some who until then did not know: “this achievement is a direct result of this mobilization, of the people who believed in my work, it makes me emotional, knowing that my art can touch people with that breadth ”.
First opportunities
Work done for SEDIS
Between 2017 and 2018, Luiza served as a fellow in the Publishing Sector of the Distance Education Secretariat of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (SEDIS / UFRN), when she was an academic in the Design Course. In 2019, she completed college, but in 2020 she returned to UFRN to study Visual Arts. After participating in a new selection, he returned to the Secretariat’s Publishing Sector to learn more and, at the same time, improve the features.
“My work carries a realistic style and I usually rely on photographs that I take, so I also see my work with a strong autobiographical character”, this is how she defines her art. When referring to SEDIS, she highlights creative freedom and speaks proudly of a book she illustrated: “the theme of the work involved the body, I did both the diagramming of the core and the cover. I dedicated myself to making a gouache painting on paper to integrate the cover and the chapter pages, I loved the final result ”.
Bet on new talents
Self Portrait
The Brick Lane Gallery features a wide variety of contemporary and street art by British and foreign artists. The gallery’s focus is on supporting emerging artists. In the hall, innovative works in painting, sculpture, photography, performance, video and paper are presented. Luiza Fonseca’s exhibition still has no date set, but, until the definition, she enjoys this expectation talking about the work that stamped her passport to England.
According to her, “the work that participated in the vote is an acrylic painting on canvas and was the first in a small series of self-portraits that I made during the quarantine”. Now, she plans to run virtual kitties to get the resources to cover the costs of tickets and accommodation. If you want to know more about the trajectory of this artist from Rio Grande do Sul, visit <http://luizafs.iluria.com/>.
