Chats e e-fóruns na Ead virtual: links entre mediação pedagógica e hipertextualidade

Abstract

Based on the concepts of interaction and pedagogical mediation by Bakhtin and Vygotsky respectively, the aim of this research was to investigate how the hypertext nature of educational chats and e-forums influences the pedagogical mediation and interaction among the participants of online courses. The hypothesis was that the hypertext resources available in these educational genres would foster the development of learners’ autonomy and support successful mediation by the tutor in virtual learning environments. In order to collect data for this research, the methodology employed some qualitative characteristics of ethnographic research and participant observation techniques along with the quantitative mapping of hypertext resources used during interaction and pedagogical mediation. According to the analysis of the data, hypertext resources were used by tutors and students to demonstrate: curiosity, worry, stimulus, satisfaction, enthusiasm, surprise, constraint, happiness, and attempts to belong and share with the groups, among others. The analysis also showed that the tutors were successful in enhancing pedagogical interaction and making it dynamic when they enabled the students to effectively use the hypertext resources of these two digital genres – chats and e-forums. At the same time, the students used the same tools in their interactions to clarify doubts and to contribute to the development of the group, proving that interaction in the digital environment is a two-way road, in which both tutors and students learn together. This indicates that the use of multiple hypertext resources might enrich interactions and contribute to the construction of mediated knowledge.