Thursday May 10th

We went to one of the University branches today and were introduced to the director Mauro. He explained the Distance Education program and explained some of the difficulties that the program has encountered. Students that live out in more remote areas depend on small campus computer labs for internet access. Few of students have a computer in their home. Students also have to have more detail instruction on how to navigate in an online class. Designers have need to make classes simple and direct, enough to be downloaded by students using dial-up. Mauro was very welcoming.
Next, we were introduced to the Solar “tutor” team. They use the term "tutor" for those who create and monitor the pedagogical aspect of design. This team receives the raw subject material from the professors and then creates the distance education course design plan in word documents. This plan includes design instructions for programmers who build the course using html and flash.
The programming team is about eight people. They function very similar to instructional designers except for the fact that part of the pedagogical side is done by the tutors. There are two lead programmers that interact with professors and provide explanation and support.
The ProActiva team creates various learning objects. They are a group of students who have designed various learning objects, three of which have received awards. They are also very familiar with David Wiley's definition of learning objects.
Afterward, we spent time with Henrique the coordinator/administrator of Solar. He explained the program in-depth and explained the programming process of the courses. The main subjects they design are Portuguese, English, Math, Chemistry, and Administration. Since I have experience in both areas of design and actual creation, Henrique suggested I should spend more time with the tutors to experience more of the pedagogical side. He thought I could mediate between programmers and tutors. I could give suggestions as to what is feasible to create and what would be more time consuming. With the constraints that have been mentioned, I have noticed no one really has any ambitious online designs.