La educación a distancia: orígenes, características y nuevos retos

Abstract

To continue educating in the traditional way within the universities and educational institutions in a world in constant evolution, is the equivalent of pretending that disciplines such as medicine, architecture or engineering continue to use the methods with which they worked during the decade of the fifties. It is evident that our environment is in constant evolution and that for a couple of decades, these changes have become increasingly evident. It is enough to take a look around us to realize how technology has become a factor that significantly influences people's daily lives to the point of transforming their environments and making them rethink the ways of carrying out everyday activities and jobs. However, in educational settings this reality has not been as evident nor has it been changing with the same speed. Within some universities and institutions you can still see some resistance towards the use of new technologies and an even greater refusal (mainly among older teachers) about the implementation and use of distance education. This, probably due to the fact that historically this modality has been considered a form of inferior education and low quality compared to the advantages and virtues offered by face-to-face or traditional education. All this despite the fact that, undoubtedly, distance education has collaborated since its inception to reduce problems and inequalities that traditional education systems face worldwide in relation to the growing demand of opportunities by students who intend to continue their studies mainly within the upper middle level.