The Open Courses Portal (PoCA) is a platform for open and free distance learning courses available in the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment. The activities are part of the extension program of the same name, developed by the General Secretariat of Distance Education of the Federal University of São Carlos (SEaD-UFSCar) and registered with the Dean of Extension of UFSCar.

The courses offered on PoCA provide an opportunity for training and updating in various areas of knowledge, including those aimed at promoting innovations in teaching and learning processes. These courses have specific characteristics: they are massive, as they can be taken by a large number of people; free, as there is no charge for participation; online, since they require internet access; distance learning, as there are no face-to-face meetings planned; and open, allowing anyone, in Brazil or the world, to participate.

The realization of this project was funded by CAPES, through Notice No. 03/2015 – Promotion of innovation for the development and application of Information and Communication Technologies in Education, within the scope of the Open University of Brazil System. The objective of this notice was to encourage pedagogical, technological, and educational management innovation through the development, application, training, dissemination, and evaluation of the use of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICT) in education. The initiative seeks to contribute to improving the quality of public higher education through innovative teaching-learning methods and practices, promoting convergence between face-to-face and distance education.

The choice of the portal's name sought something that was easy to remember and promote. From the idea of the Open Courses Portal (Portal de Cursos Abertos), the acronym PoCA emerged. The word has Tupi origins and gave rise to the verb pocar, which means to hit hard or burst. The choice of the acronym represents the portal's purpose: to provoke changes and stimulate new possibilities in education. The name also pays homage to the sabiá-poca, a bird very present on the UFSCar campuses, a symbol of freedom and inspiration — values that dialogue with the proposal of open courses offered by the portal. These ideas guided the creation of PoCA's visual identity.

This portal is managed by the following teams from the General Secretariat of Distance Education of UFSCar (SEaD-UFSCar):

Pedagogical Team
Ana Paula Rodrigues da Silva
Cleide de Lourdes da Silva Araújo
Maria Angélica do Carmo Zanotto
Priscila Cristina Fiocco Bianchi
Luciene Aparecida Gouvêa Nogueira

Audiovisual Team
Paulo Roberto Montanaro
Ian Rittmeister Mazzeu

General Secretariat of Distance Education
Cleonice Maria Tomazzetti

Course Evaluation Committee
All courses are evaluated by reviewers in their respective area of knowledge.