the university

Since its foundation, in 1988, Universidade Aberta, the vocation of which is to train large and geographically disperse audiences, has given new opportunities for higher education training in around 24 countries. Up to the present it has graduated more than 8 thousand students, post graduated (master's) around 1100 and conferred 90 PhDs in different areas.
Universidade Aberta, pioneer in distance education in Portugal, has been promoting actions related to higher and continuous training. It has also contributed to the active dissemination of the Portuguese language and culture, especially in Portuguese speaking countries and communities.
Through out the years, UAb has developed scientific research activities through information and communication media. It has designed and produced pedagogic materials in the areas of teaching technology and multimedia educational communication. With more than 400 published titles, 3500 audiovisual productions and more than 6000 hours of TV programs, produced in its studios, Universidade Aberta has promoted knowledge appropriation and self construction, designed and taught courses, trained experts and teachers, in the spirit of public service.

Pioneer in Distance Higher Education
Universidade Aberta, as a pioneer institution in distance higher education in Portugal and the main national centre of expertise, in the area, developed the know-how that allows it to be the biggest provider of on-line courses in the country. Nowadays, UAb is considered to be amongst the European mega-providers of e learning. It plays a prominent role in 1st cycle (graduation) and 2nd cycle (master's) teaching, in the domains of Humanities, Education Sciences, Exact, Technological and Environment Sciences, Management, and Social Sciences.
Universidade Aberta gives an important contribution to the knowledge society, the building of which is one of its main tasks, by defining as its core strategy the digital inclusion.
Studying in UAb is a social inclusion factor due to digital literacy: since on-line teaching requires specific skills from the students, all its certified programs will include a free preparatory course. Therefore, students are able to acquire the necessary skills before entering the program in which they have enrolled.

Flexibility and Innovation in Learning
Distance education refers to a whole set of teaching and learning modalities in which teachers and students do not share the same physical space and time. These modalities explore the possibility of building up non face-to-face learning environments, through the use of different types and degrees of information and communication technology.
Universidade Aberta's pedagogical model is based on e learning and on the intensive use of new tools for on-line communication. This model, which promotes the interaction between students and teachers, is centred in the student, as an active individual and builder of her own knowledge. It also allows for a bigger flexibility in learning, where communication and interaction take place according to the student's possibilities, sharing resources, knowledge and activities with her peers.
The evaluation of knowledge and skills, centred in continuous evaluation, assumes different forms. In graduation programmes, students have a learning card where they invest through out the course, preparing e-folios, crediting e-values and sitting for face-to-face tests. In post graduation programmes, evaluation is done in very different forms, using, for instance, portfolios, blogs, projects, essays, problem solving, participation in discussions, reports and tests.