WORK-BASED LEARNING: a nova geração do E-learning?

Abstract

Work-Based Learning or Learning through Work is not a new concept. It emerged in the United Kingdom at least 20 years ago as a scheme for making higher education much more accessible to the adult working-class. It is still an unfamiliar concept in Brazil where it is often confused with Cooperative Education or even elearning. However, there are many crucial differences, as in Education through Work, "The work is the curriculum". Work itself and the work environment comprise the syllabus and provide the occasion and learning methodology for those who are already in the labor market but don't have the academic knowledge to understand and improve what they are doing at work. It is very different from Cooperative Education which is based in training the employees thorough e-learning or, even, e-learning in higher education, which courses model is still based on traditional teaching methods or rather a course with a format, subject-areas and content prepared in advance. It is neither one thing or the other. The idea of "separating" the time allotted for learning from work is now outmoded because the experience of learning is increasingly becoming a feature of all of our lives and it is hard to separate it from everyday activities. The aim of this article is to make the reader acquainted with the concept of Work-Based Learning and to make suggestions about how the methodology can be applied as an alternative to traditional e-learning.