Responsible teachers for the content provide the courses tutoring. Machine tutoring is not 

used. The tutoring is provided to a student or to a group of students. Answers to students 

queries are dealt with in a maximum of 24h. 

The LED offers different types of courses: 

1) Doctorates 

2)  Masters and Specialization s (500 students ) 

3)  Continuous Training Courses (Capacity): 

60h 80h courses spread along 3 months  

a total of 160 000 students enrolled in the last 3 years. 

In Masters and Specialization courses they use mainly TMA (Tutor Mediated Assessment) 

and local examinations (the student must go to the nearest evaluation center and in the 

presence of the evaluators give a seminar or do an examination or present a paper). 

In the Continuous Training Courses they use TMA (Tutor Mediated Assessment) there is no 

CMA (Computer Mediated Assessment) and no examinations. There is no peer assessment, 

but occasional collaborative work. 

In the Masters and Specialization courses a diploma and a certificate are provided and the 

course is recognized by the Federal Government and the Brazilian Ministry of Education and 

Culture. In the Continuous Training Courses a participation certificate is provided to students. 

The costs are calculated by groups of students and negotiated with the client which can be an 

institution, a university or an enterprise. On average, a 2 years Master course will cost the 

client 157 120 EUROS for a group of 20 students. 

Enrolment is not flexible. It begins and ends on fixed dates. 

Globalization 

There is a steady growth of institutions that offer online courses to students in other countries. 

Some provide courses to one institution in another country, others enroll students dispersed in 

many countries, and finally, there are institutions that support their countrymen abroad. 

In the preface to her book Global Education, Robin Mason (1998) stated: 

I find no evidence for the emergence of one or even several global players preparing to 

take over higher education on a global scale. Unlike the soft drinks market, education 

is unlikely to be dominated by a few giant providers. Why? Because it is too difficult; 

there is too little money to be made, too many complex issues to handle, and too great 

a need for `people skills' rather than technical skills. 

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