Federal institutes in the Universidade Aberta do Brasil: a brief portrait

Abstract

On line education has been growing significantly in Brazil since the creation of Universidade Aberta do
Brasil (UAB). Most of the institutions who offer graduation and post-graduation have been increasing their
participation on this program throughout new offers, new courses, new teaching centers and much more
students. On this scenery, the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology (IF) participation,
however, is still small. Only 17 out of the 103 institutions that participate of UAB are Federal Institutes. This
article tries to draw a brief portrait of the insertion of the Federal Institutes in the UAB, pointing out their
different offers and different levels of courses. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to analyze official
documents, as laws and decrees as well as use the SisUAB (http://sisuab.capes.gov.br/sisuab) as a source of
information. SisUAB is an on line platform that gives data support to managers of UAB all over Brazil as
well as helps its control by the agency of government responsible for this program, the Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). To conclude this study, it is also necessary to build
a brief history of IF, such an old and new institution, discussing its social functions and identity as well as
other on line education offers that are more common to the Federal Institutes than UAB. All these data will
provide the construction of the participation of Federal Institutes in the UAB system.