Gestão do conhecimento aplicada ao gerenciamento de cursos técnicos na modalidade a distância : caso do IFPI

Abstract

The acceptance of the open distance learning by the institutions and the society, in general, has improved throughout the years. In Instituto Federal do Piauí (IFPI), this modality offered its first enrolment chances in 2008, and along the time it has augmented the number of courses, remote centers, and registrations. The most significant expansion happened in 2013 when more than 13,000 (thirteen thousand) students were enrolled, creating vast data and the need for a good management to control the large volume of information. The Knowledge Management is the way of the companies organize knowledge and how to use of them to improve their performance and achieve their objectives. In this way, can contribute to the organization of the data and help the decision making, both in administrative matters and in the learning and teaching processes of the institutions. The aim of this study was to investigate the way the tools of knowledge management can contribute to improving the activities of course coordination in distance education modality. To the construction of a theoretical background, many authors were studied, and important themes were mentioned about Knowledge Management, such as human capital, collaborative learning, knowledge sharing and the tools that can be used by the companies to manage this crucial intangible active. The methodology for data collection was based on interviews with the sixteen course coordinators and mentoring coordinators of the courses that were active, where, with the results, it was observed that the exaggerated expansion and the lack of initial training of the coordinators caused damage to the information management and the correct execution of their activities. The absence of regular meetings, communication issues, the lack of structure of the remote centers, and the adequate formation for the mentors also influenced the management of the courses. As a final product of research, a Knowledge Management System for the Distance Education of IFPI was created. This system is available in the Virtual Learning Environment and is composed of four items: an open document (to be improved in a collaborative and evolutive way) with instructions to the coordinators, permanent discussion forums, virtual meeting forums, and space for models of documents used in the program.