TIM Tec program held a training on the platform for teachers at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo (IFSP). The event was held on November 17 at São Paulo (SP) campus of IFSP and was attended by 45 teachers from 11 campuses in the state. IFSP is one of 25 institutions from Rede e-Tec Brasil that adopted the TIM Tec software to create its own MOOC courses platform (Massive Open Online Course).
The persons who conducted the training were Fabio Flatschart, Paula Furtado and Ana Rute Mendes, teachers of the MOOC e novas formas de aprendizagem course (MOOC and new forms of learning), available at TIM Tec platform. “Today everyone is connected and several segments had to reinvent itself. The classroom is the next big thing”, said Fábio, member of the Conselho Consultivo TIM Tec (Advisory Board TIM Tec). He highlighted the importance of MOOCs as a new approach to democratize and expand the education. “College is no longer the owner of the knowledge. Knowledge is in the network and it is open”, he said.
Paula noted that today there are many contents available on the internet, but not all of those can be used by students. With TIM Tec, teachers can create customized materials for their students and make them available for future classes. They can make changes on the platform, such as new versions of courses in order to adapt it to each group.
Subsequently, the platform was presented in detail for the teachers. Paulo José Evaristo da Silva, director of Distance Education from IFSP, ended the training and invited the teachers to explore the courses, bring usage suggestions and develop lesson plans involving the platform. He said that he is already showing some TIM Tec courses, such as HTML5 – Introdução ao front-end (HTML5 course – Introduction to the front end), in addition to the computer classes.
The IFSP platform will focus on internal community and on São Paulo campus, but should involve other campuses in the state of São Paulo in the production of new courses, which will be available to any interested person. Paulo said that IFSP opens extension courses regularly but cannot meet all subscribers. The purpose is that the platform also contemplates these people.
For Eduardo Antonio Modena, dean of IFSP, the proposed methodology provides an opportunity to improve teaching within and beyond the classroom. “We can create quick and interesting courses. For those who produce knowledge, there is this additional tool available. The range of possibilities is very large,” he said.
Some teachers who were present at the event are already developing ideas for interactive lessons with their students. Cícero Lima Costa, from Boituva (SP) campus, used videos, forums and chats in his course about programming and database and approves the initiative of Instituto TIM. “This platform is interesting to meet the new generation, which is closely connected to the technology area”, he said. Teachers Emanuel Fabiano Menezes, from Mathematics Department, and Robson Ferreira Lopes, from Information Technology, had thought of platforms opportunities to work with their students on the Guarulhos (SP) campus. “This tool fits what we want to do”, said Emanuel.
