A inserção da educação a distância no ensino superior do Brasil: diretrizes e marcos regulatórios

This article aims to critically review the regulatory frameworks that guided the institutionalization of distance education (DE) course offerings in higher education institutions in Brazil, taking as a reference 50 (fifty) documents which were analyzed for the research titled Expansion of Higher Education pos-LDB 96. The need for systematization of DE, legitimated by this Act (LDB-96), proved to be part of the guidelines of international agencies as a strategy for expansion of higher education and that the first initiatives of the Brazilian government were associated with the use of technology in education. A contextualized analysis of regulatory frameworks showed, initially, the quantitative and massified explosion of DE, without the state having proper instruments for its effective regulation. From 2005, new regulatory acts and the creation of the Open University of Brazil seek to maintain this expansion without losing quality.