Assessment of the Use of Online Comunities to Integrate Educational Processes Development Teams: An Experience in Popular Health Education in Brazil
Author: Barilli, Elomar Castilho
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Health Education,Communities of Practice,Familiarity,Critical Theory,Teaching Methods,Program Descriptions,Health Personnel,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries,Management Systems,Teamwork,Health Services,Problem Solving,Alumni,Qualitative Research,Program Evaluation,Surveys,Questionnaires,Intervention,Computer Mediated Communication,Attendance,Popular Education,Art Products,Politics,Social Integration,Educational Policy,Cultural Pluralism,Professional Education,Disadvantaged,Access to Health Care,Specialists

This paper is intended to share the results of the assessment of the use of the Online Work Community (OWC), developed in the Moodle technology that was used as an instrument to facilitate the educational and operational processes, intended to share problems and proposals for solution among the 470 members of the development teams, made up of educators, experts, technicians, managers and supporters, connected to the Popular Health Education Qualification Program, aimed at the qualification of the Basic Healthcare (&quot;Atenção Básica à Saúde&quot;--EdPop-SUS), through the examination of the issues concerning educational practices related to health in the disadvantaged communities of the Federal District and 8 other Brazilian states. The Program, based on critical pedagogy (FREIRE, 1997), sets forth three stages of a familiarization course aimed at 17 thousand healthcare professionals, and another one for a deeper level of understanding, for 8 thousand alumni of the first course. The assessment methodology is based on the Dialogue Assessment (ROMÃO, 2005), in which the assessment took two paths for analysis, a quantitative one and a qualitative one. The first one occurred by means of a survey of the perceptions of the participants, recorded in two online self-applied questionnaires, with open and closed questions that focused on the access, guidance/navigation and functionalities. The other one through the observation of the posts and interventions in the different online spaces of the OWC. The quantitative analysis ratified attendance as a still important characteristic in the Popular Education field, due to the difficulties pointed out by the participants regarding access (31%) and navigation and guidance (42%). The qualitative analysis, having as Speech Analysis as basis, revealed the wealth of the construction process by means of the shared statements and productions, totaling 159 products connected to culture and art. In addition, it evidenced the problems faced, the &quot;political&quot; category being the most significant one for the participants. Thus, the assessment concluded that the OWC allowed social integration between educators and team members, contributing to the implementation of the National Popular Health Education Policy, a government action that brings care, absence of centeredness, dialogue and respect to the community cultural diversity as premises for its implementation. [This research was funded by the Strategic and Participative Management Office (SEGEP) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. For full proceedings, see ED557189.]