Tutor Teacher Training Course: a Focus on Pedagogical and Technological Skills

Abstract

Distance Education (DE) has enabled significant changes in the ways of teaching and learning, highlighting the need to deepen the knowledge about the Professor Tutor. This professional usually finds situations that require different pedagogical and technological skills to overcome the difficulties of acting in DE. In this sense, the need for training tutor teachers, with a focus on pedagogical and technological skills, is pulsating in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) that offer this modality. This article is an excerpt from a master's research, which sought to present an applied proposal that trains tutoring teachers for DE, entitled "EuTutor", aiming at the improvement of pedagogical and technological skills, and to present the perceptions of involved after the completion of the course. The interactions and activities proposed in the training course, based on elaborated materials, were analyzed using the Content Analysis methodology. The research was defined by a qualitative approach, of the action research type. As a result, the time proposed for the course in the Schoology (Learning Management System), was adequate, as well as the use and application of the proposed tools and actions were sufficient to identify reflections and production of materials that indicated the improvement of the pedagogical and technological skills of the course participants, minimizing the initial difficulties raised in relation to the skills. It is considered that the training course allowed directing participants to valid and enriching reflections aimed at a teaching practice appropriate to the DE modality and to the particularities of the tutoring function.

Keywords: Distance education. Training tutor teachers. Technological and pedagogical competences.