Datafolha: Rafaela Lima is the main education influencer – 06/28/2023 – Tech

Teacher Rafaela Lima was surprised when she received an email from Sheet. The text said that 10% of respondents to a Datafolha survey had stated that it was the main digital influencer of education in Brazil. Rafaela was ahead of names such as philosopher Mario Sergio Cortella.

“I imagined that I would be mentioned because I am one of the references in the area, but I didn’t imagine myself in the first place”, she says.

The Best of the Internet survey was carried out between March 2nd and 9th and received responses from 1,500 people from all regions and social classes in the country. Twenty-six percent of them said they did not know or remember education influencers, and 10% cited Rafaela Lima.

Raised in the community of Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, she graduated in biology from the State University of Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Since then, she has taught science in public schools in Greater Rio.

Her presence on the internet began in 2015, when she created the Mais Ciência channel, on Youtube, to host videos on topics discussed in the classroom “I did this so that students who didn’t go to class could watch it; that way, there would be no excuses.” Back then, however, few had enough internet to watch the videos.

Recognition really came in 2017, when his channel accumulated 20,000 subscribers – currently, there are more than 200,000. Most of them are teenagers who want to study for tests.

Today, Rafaela has videos with 400 views and others with almost 500,000 —the most watched is “Class: Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins”, with 489,000 views. The variation happens because, she says, the audience is slow and continuous; thus, the video published this week, for example, will be watched for years, which contributes to a greater number of views.

Such recognition makes her an edutuber, as youtubers in the area like to be called. “Today, I see myself as an influencer because I see that, in fact, I influence teenagers and teachers in pedagogical activities and strategies”, she says.

The teaching public also explains the fact that Rafaela is cited by 12% of respondents aged 35 to 44, 11% of those aged 45 to 54 and 11% of those aged over 55. “Probably, the students’ parents also mentioned me in the research,” she says. The study heard over 16 years old.

Rafaela takes advantage of success on the internet to increase her income. She is a master of ceremonies and gives lectures and courses for teachers. She also usually makes money doing what an influencer does: advertising. She has already released content for the Book Biennial, Museum of Tomorrow and two scientific Olympiads.

Still, most of her income comes from the classroom; Rafaela is a teacher at a state school in Duque de Caxias and a municipal one in Queimados. The sum of her salary at both schools is R$ 6,000 per month. “The internet is unstable; we have really good periods where internet income will be much higher than classroom income, but there are times when it will be really bad,” she says. “I can’t leave the classroom and I don’t feel like it.”

Now, she is doing graduate work in neuroscience. The course makes her reflect on how to motivate her students. “It’s no use just working with spit and chalk, as I learned, so I intersperse with ludic teaching, games, activities and videos.”