EDUCAÇÃO E TECNOLOGIA, E SUAS ABRANGÊNCIAS NO CONTEXTO EDUCATIVO

The technologies have been incorporated into face-to-face and distance education with the aim of enriching the teaching-learning process. One of these innovations is the virtual learning environments (VLEs), which are virtual spaces in which users, educators and students can interact through various tools. The idea is that these environments create new learning possibilities for the student in view of the technological changes that have been taking place in society. In this perspective, a VLE is the main mediator instrument in a Distance Education system that combines unprecedented possibilities of mediated interaction (teacher/teacher and student/student) and interactivity with different materials of good quality. The problem to be investigated in this article is to demonstrate the importance of virtual learning environments for distance education. The main objective is to define the functionalities that must exist in a virtual learning environment, to support the process of distance education. To do so, it presents and discusses theories that show how Virtual Learning Environments and their functionalities contribute to the teaching-learning process, based on a bibliographical research.