The Growth and Challenges of Online Learning for Practical Careers in Chile

Central Theme

Author: Ivan Urbina, published on 2023-05-01 at 4:10 am

This modality of teaching has grown exponentially in the last five years. However, it gets a bit complicated when studying careers that have a lot of practice involved.

The irruption of the pandemic forced society to use more technological tools for tasks as daily as working or studying. This caused an exponential growth of the online study modality in recent years.

According to the 2022 Report on Higher Education Enrollment in Chile, published by the Higher Education Information Service (SIES), in 2018 there were a total of 35,459 students with an online modality. Meanwhile, by 2022, 112,062 students have already enrolled in this modality of study, which reflects an increase of 216%.

We must also consider blended education, which had 6,377 students enrolled in 2018, while in 2022 the figure increased to 8,284.

And it is that distance education has many advantages, among which we can mention the following:

– Study from anywhere in the country or the world. Only internet connection is required.

– Greater compatibility with other activities, such as work, taking care of children, etc.

– Saving money by not having to spend every day on locomotion.

– Saving time, by not having to travel to study.

– Option to study asynchronously. In other words, you can see the classes at any time and study at any time of the day, when it suits the student the most.

José Ignacio Torres, director of the Construction School of the University of Las Américas (UDLA), pointed out that “online training allows us to carry out this activity without the need to travel to the study center, since the teacher transmits the class, and the student, in general, the presence from home”.

“There are also asynchronous classes made up of capsules, exercises, readings and/or videos that are prepared for the student to do whenever they want. This helps the student to manage the time available to attend the class”, she added.

And how do I study a practical career?

The subject gets a bit complicated when the knowledge that must be acquired in a certain career is, for the most part, practical. This is the case, for example, of careers linked to construction.

“It is possible to carry out some practical activities, such as handling software or simulating management processes within the construction. Also theoretical contents, which are possible thanks to information technologies, which allow the creation of courses to deliver knowledge and control student learning”, explained Torres.

“Now the issue is that not all knowledge can be successfully transmitted online. It is impossible when they are practical activities with equipment that the student does not have to have, such as a materials laboratory or surveying equipment. Nor can practical field activities be carried out, such as controlling the quality of a work or building something, the quality and result of which must be reviewed,” said the teacher.

In that sense, it would be impossible to study a construction career completely online. However, for some cases it is useful to take hybrid or blended modalities of education, which allow the student to enjoy the best part of both methods: comfort from home, and practice in the field when necessary.