O PERFIL DA PESQUISA ACADÊMICA SOBRE EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA NO BRASIL E NO MUNDO¹

ABSTRACT

The Distance Education gained prominence with the advancement of Technologies, which drew the attention of researchers to the topic. Therefore, it justifies the importance of understanding the dynamics of this field of study to the progress of science and identifying gaps and different points of view in knowledge production. This study aimed to analyze the international profile of academic research about Distance Education and, more specifically, Brazilian contribution on the subject. Bibliometric techniques were used in the study since the scientific production’s indicators portray the development of an area of knowledge. The research gathered the terms Distance Education, E-learning and Elearning at the database Web of Science (WoS). The following procedures were performed: (1) determining the most appropriate terms for extracting data concerning the interests of research; (2) search and extraction at the databases; (3) cleaning and organizing data, and (4) bibliometric analysis and interpretation. The results showed that the issue is a global concern and presents interaction between some countries, especially the United States, as it is the country that published the most on the subject. A great number of authors, who together are 17.789, indicating that the subject is moving towards maturity regarding international analysis, is researching the Distance Education. The results also showed that papers about Distance Education in Brazil have international cooperation, which may indicate that Brazil is publishing alongside the main countries researching on the topic. From this evidence, the research could contribute to the map of academic research profile on Distance Education in Brazil and in the world that can be useful to researchers.

Keywords:
Distance Education; Research Profile; Bibliometric