Abstract:

The present study aims to discuss the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic in the educational scenario, focusing on the accessibility of distance education, based on a case study verified on the 22 campuses of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) among high school students in 19 municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte - RN, a Federation Unit located in the Northeast of Brazil. As a data source, a questionnaire answered by IFRN students was used, made available by the course coordinators of each campus, without identifying respondents in compliance with image preservation. The Exploratory Analysis of Spatial Data (AEDE) was used as a methodology in order to identify clusters and verify their relationship between the 19 municipalities of RN in view of the difficulties / obstacles faced by students regarding distance learning in the Covid-19 pandemic. The results indicated spatial concentration for the index of students who do not have internet or that it does not have remote learning platforms, in all municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte. In this sense, the significance of the data presented on the maps, according to the distribution of the four spatial associations, showed a high number of students in the Alto-Baixo (AB) quadrant in their analyzed variable of interest, indicating in absolute numbers that more than one thousand and three hundred students do not have an internet that supports learning platforms. Having its largest concentration in the capital of RN, Natal, followed by Parnamirim and Mossoró respectively. Indicating that the socioeconomic conditions to accompany classes through distance learning was a major obstacle for students of the object of study.

Keywords:

Education, digital technologies, COVID-19 pandemic.