Teacher professional development in the Amazon region: strategies to create successful learning communities

The Faculty of Education, University of Brasilia, implemented an online undergraduate degree program for the 1501 acting teachers in the Amazon region, state of Acre, who have not yet completed their studies. We describe the challenges to implement the program and how these were addressed to have a successful outcome: the first group of 810 acting teachers will graduate in March 2010. The dropout rate was very low, at 5.5%. A collaborative learning strategy was used to create learning communities and to bridge participants, allowing them to feel integrated despite distance, cultural diversity, language, and religion.