Factors that enhance the participation and communication of higher education students in distance learning

The increase in the offer of distance learning higher education courses is a growing reality that requires a careful look at how communication takes place between those involved. Thus, the objective of this article is to investigate the factors that in distance education enhance the participation of undergraduate students in synchronous and asynchronous communications, based on the assumptions of the theories of learning by Lev Vygotsky and Paulo Freire. Therefore, as specific objectives, the profile of students was also drawn in relation to the investigated sample, as well as a diagnosis made in undergraduate courses at a Brazilian State University about the current conception of students about the types of communication that occur during his academic training. background, revealing the frequency of use of communication tools and the frequency of interaction and level of influence between the actors involved.With the structuring and analysis of the data carried out, the following factors were identified as factors that enhance participation: expansion of synchronous interaction with the professor who authored the course; the need for a quicker return to messages that are posted on the forums; improving the administrative / didactic-pedagogical organization of the dissemination of lives; change in the schedule of lives or better sizing of schedules; and lives with exercise resolutions and on-call doubts. In addition to providing students with a more active participation in this communication process in the context of distance education, considering that the teaching and learning process occur in a mediated, collaborative way and through social interactions in the midst of the knowledge society.