Educação a Distância: valores que norteiam a escolha

Abstract

Nowadays, we are experiencing a digital society, characterized by the use of computers, cell phones and the Internet, enabling mobility, inclusive in the construction of knowledge. Educational institutions are adopting methods of distance education, transmitting their courses by digital means through computer networks. It is important to stress the progress of the country in this educational modality that had 2,261,921 students in 2010, according to the Associação Brasileira de Educação a Distância (Brazilian Association of Distance Education). Using the laddering research technique, this paper sought to identify which values are behind this choice, instead of classroom education, hierarchically representing the connections between attributes, consequences and values. The article begins drawing an overall panorama of EaD focusing its evolution and importance as a form of education. Later, it deals with the theoretical background of means-end chains and their influence on consumer choices, as well as the values that permeate this choice. In the sequence, it explains the adopted methodology and the results and discussions about the research. The results of this study show that family, self-realization and quality of life, understood as comfort and pleasure, are decisive values for the choice of the distance education modality. That kind of studies can subsidize the management of higher education institutions in their decisions, enabling greater assertiveness and competitive advantage.