Chapter 23: Fostering Digital Literacy of Primary Teachers in Community Schools: The BET K–12 Experience in Salvador de Bahia

In Brazil, the federal government’s law n. 4019/2004 requested teachers to obtain a university degree in order to keep on teaching. Even if the first foreseen deadline—year 2012—has been postponed, this law has promoted an important and positive mobilization among teachers, which resulted in a significant growth in the demand for updating courses, especially for in-service teachers who do not own the required university degree and need preparatory courses for the Vestibular (Pre-Vestibular courses), i.e., the exam for accessing university. These courses usually last no longer than 12 months and are promoted either by public and private universities or by private institutions other than universities; institutions are starting to test the use of ICTs to deliver their teacher-training curricula (Marinho et al., 2004; Magalhães & Schiel, 2004; Prata Linhares et al., 2004; Modro, 2002; Bof, 2004). However, attending these courses and passing the Vestibular is still a big problem for teachers of disadvantaged schools because of their inadequate background; in addition, these teachers are excluded from the teacher-training programs sponsored by the federal government, because these kind of courses are only for public-school teachers.