Higher education and educational convergence

This paper presents arguments from a Ph.D. proposal analysing both face-to-face and long distance educational modalities in higher education, and the possibilities of convergence between them. Using a theoretical and document-based methodology, documents produced between 1996 and 2011 concerning Brazilian public policies for higher education were analysed; theoretical references to the modality's effectiveness in Brazil, and notions of convergence in educational foundations were sought. Among these documents, Decree 4.059/2004 proved particularly important. This analysis, coupled with dialogue with theorists, sought to answer the following questions: 1) Why is a proposal regarding educational convergence imminent? 2) What primary public policy changes were introduced in recent years related to Brazilian higher education? 3) How was distance learning constituted in Brazil? 4) What are the possibilities of educational convergence? These questions encompass an argument under development designed to theoretically discuss convergence modalities in higher education and, consequently, unveil its various legal, institutional, communicational, educational, and conjunctural dimensions