DISTANCE GRADUATION DEGREE IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AT UNIVERSITY OF BRASILIA, BRAZIL: REALITY, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The distance education is a major innovation in education that brought the democratization of education worldwide. In Brazil, we have several distance courses, including graduate courses at federal universities (public). The Distance Graduation Degree (Higher Education) in Biological Sciences by "Open Uinversity of Brazil (UAB) - University of Brasilia (UNB)", proposes the training of teachers in the Biological Sciences area, able to develop and discuss the content of the disciplines of elementary and high school, in an interdisciplinary way, exploring basic aspects related to the understanding and analysis of problem situations, both proposed by the teacher, such as those experienced by the local community, or global. Teacher training in Biological Sciences in general is far behind the Brazilian educational needs. The new dynamics of Distance Education, provided by advances in scientific and technological development, leaves no doubt as to their use more frequent, which is contributing to the necessary process of democratization of education. Here I will present the course and present our main challenging aspects for teachers, students and tutors. But above all, show that it is worthwhile to innovate in education and especially democratize it, without losing the quality of education.