A INTERAÇÃO EM FÓRUM DE AMBIENTE VIRTUAL DE APRENDIZAGEM

Abstract

The great expansion of distance learning, in Brazil and in the world, has created the need of more studies in the area, not only to describe teaching as it is, but also, and mainly, to describe it as it should be. One of the essential aspects in distance learning involves the issue of interaction between teachers, students and the tools that make up this kind of teaching, with special emphasis on the discussion forums. The objective of this study is to describe interaction in a Learning Management System (LMS) forum. The investigation has its basis on Activity Theory, as proposed by Vygotsky, Leontiev and Engestrom, which claims that all action is motivated by an objective and mediated by a tool. The study, using a qualitative approach, tries to describe how ideas are exchanged in the Moodle Learning System, along with a definition of the linguistic factors that may impact them, using conversation analysis. The data from three forums in a distance course, with university students of Spanish, were collected and analyzed. The results showed that teaching, in spite of all the resources provided by the new technologies, is still centered on the teacher