ICML 9

9º Congresso Mundial de Informação em Saúde e Bibliotecas

Salvador, Bahia - Brasil, 20 a 23 de setembro de 2005

BVS4

4ª Reunião de Coordenação Regional da BVS

19 e 20 de setembro de 2005

P131 - The uses of the PROFORMAR Academic Management Information System: limits, possibilities and challenges

Participantes:

The PROFORMAR Academic Management Information System is a set of informatics and Internet resources conceived to improve the decentralized process of Academic Management of a distance learning course that involves eight-five thousand students, one hundred and five Administrative Tutors, three hundred and sixty administrative persons, twenty and seven State managers and a team of technician-pedagogical coordination, all distributed in about 3500 municipalities of the country. PROFORMAR is the Formation Program of Local Agents of Health Monitoring, promoted for the federal health department, with the logistic support and infrastructure of the FUNASA/MS. The pedagogical proposal is developed by the Joaquin Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health of FIOCRUZ, in partnership with the of distance learning program of the ENSP/FIOCRUZ. In the original conception of the program, it has been cons idered th e possibility that users might have difficulties with the use of the new technologies of information and communication (NTIC), and other options were considered, as letter, fax and telephone, in order to avoid these difficulties. Despite those alternatives, an insufficient dynamism on the flow and organization of information, necessary to make it available for all the users, was noticed. The involved numbers and the concurrence of formation of thousand of students each month justified the use of the NTIC in an integrated way. What we have found is that there are situations that are not dependent on the information system in use or the educative program chosen: a significant number of users do not have enough ability in computer use and Internet. To shorten the problem we started to select the Tutors who had computer and Internet skills. During the qualification process of the Tutors we have included a supervised training period of use of the Information System, beyond optional nocturnal training per iods, for four nights, for who wanted to have more familiarity with the NTIC, also under orientation. More than half of Tutors have frequented the nocturnal training, demonstrating to disposal and interest in developing abilities with these new tools. We have noticed that a significant part of the professionals use the NTIC only with PROFORMAR and, exactly thus, eventually, demonstrating to many difficulties in the period of use and few chances for working with computers and Internet. The challenge that we have faced is the promotion of the digital inclusion of these professionals, closing them of these technologies. It will go to collaborate with our program and, certainly, with others depend also on the use of the NTIC and with their professional development.