Remote learning in rural schools: a look at digital technologies in rural schools and households in Brazil

Abstract

Faced with the scenario of social emergency triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil in 2020, which directly had an impact on the educational field, especially in the need to implement remote Learning as a strategy in public and private networks. In this context, the discussion emerges about how the use of digital technologies is being used in various educational contexts, especially in education in rural areas that historically highlights social and structural demands related to the process of digital exclusion. This problematic, highlighting the possibilities and challenges of using Information and Communication Technologies in distance Learning in the context of suspension of school activities and lockdown, brings in its core principles that guide the Brazilian public education as the offer of a universal, egalitarian and quality education. Based on surveys conducted between the years 2019 and 2021, an analysis of the situation of rural schools and households was carried out shortly before the lockdown. In this way, it was possible to measure and correlate how scientific indicators demonstrate that public policies for the insertion of digital technologies in rural schools in recent years have achieved ineffective results, especially in light of the resurgence of digital exclusion in the context of public education in Brazil. In this sense, there was a need for a broad theoretical and practical discussion about the agenda of public policies for digital inclusion, aimed at the expansion of Digital Technologies in rural schools.