Abstract:

Distance Education (DE) has been gaining more and more space in the reality of Higher Education. Its pedagogical model allows the broad exchange of knowledge, supporting the collaboration of different agents around the world. The participation of individuals in different social and cultural contexts, made possible by these connections, requires an understanding of different perspectives on the design of teaching and learning processes. The understanding of existing cultural differences, the establishment of an empathetic and inclusive communication, the recognition of common problems and the collective construction of viable solutions, are some affairs to be considered when formulating an international education project. The global dimension of distance learning courses, based mainly on the use of digital media and access to digital information, reflects the universal character of knowledge and meets the new demands of social dynamics for the 21st century. As the number of newcomers in this modality grows, it is necessary to articulate competent cooperation projects that guarantee the integral training of individuals, enabling them to act responsibly in the most diverse social and cultural contexts. Taking these circumstances into account, the study aims to present and discuss the investigations produced from the intertwining of the themes of Distance Education and the internationalization of Higher Education. Based on a survey carried out on the CAPES journals portal (Brazil), the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), investigations were selected that address the DE modality as a potentializing element in the internationalization process in Higher Education. Although the internationalization process of Higher Education is not an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of education, the survey results shows that its link to distance courses is still recent and little explored. One of the hypotheses for this fact would be the Distance Education modality itself, more recent in developing countries, which leads to the expectation that investigations of convergence between these two themes are yet to emerge. Considering the research context, it is understood that the internationalization of Distance Education brings benefits to the qualitative growth of Higher Education, as it enables the cooperation of individuals and institutions in the construction of a more humanized education, accessible to all, intercultural, and with technical excellence. Distance Education must be understood as an educational process that can favor the consolidation of elements related to internationalization.

Keywords:

Distance Education, Internationalization of Higher Education, State of Knowledge.