Characteristics of Remote Education in a Time of Pandemic: An Analysis of Transformative Teaching Practices in a Higher Education Institution

Abstract

The SARS-COV 2 disrupted all sectors of the economy and education was no different. We saw a shift in educational paradigm: new technologies were developed, others revised, and new learning formats created. The goal of the present article is to analyze, based on the results obtained from an internal survey, the educational practices used in an IHE of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the pandemic. The methodological structure contemplates a brief literature review, a contextualization of the complex educational environment of Brazilian society and a quantitative analysis of secondary data. As a result, the data we presented allows us to gauge the wide variety of tools utilized and the several distinct forms of the diffusion of teaching used by professors. To maintain the effectiveness of this learning process and to absorb/transmit the necessary knowledge, extra effort from students and professors is needed as well as a redesign of personal and institutional processes. We concluded that the new process that emerged from this period, if well-adjusted and understood by all parts, can reinvent the global education ecosystem. To that end, the introduction of new tools and a cultural shift of institutions, professors and students will allow the constructing of new educational spaces.