During 2020 and 2021, almost all work and educational activities in the world were carried out remotely. 2022 was the year in which, finally, schoolchildren and university students returned to the classroom, once the fear of contagion from Covid-19 diminished thanks to the extensive vaccination days.
However, there were those who did not return to face-to-face… because their studies would have remained in the virtual field with or without a pandemic; These are the students, faculty, and administrative staff of online universities.
These organizations grew significantly during the lockdowns. Between 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the best known in Colombia, the National Open and Distance University (UNAD), presented an increase of 20.6% in the number of enrollments, which is equivalent to more than 165 thousand students. (Also read: Absolute Pitch: The note that marks genius).
At the same time, according to the National Higher Education Information System (SNIES), 789 new virtual programs were registered in 2020 alone, an increase of 17% compared to 2019. Although its growth may slow down now that the health emergency officially ended, it is undeniable that the pandemic boosted virtual education in Colombia to levels that until recently seemed distant.
In addition to the above, it is noteworthy that there are other signs that the global industry has not been immune to these changes. A survey carried out by the FutureLearns educational platform showed that the attitude of managers towards online diplomas was changing: 75% of the more than 1,000 respondents were positive about the possibility of hiring a person with a degree obtained virtually .
ADVANTAGES
The main attraction of virtual programs is their greater accessibility: anyone interested with a stable internet connection can enroll in them and get a degree that has nothing to envy to one obtained through face-to-face lessons (of course, not all careers lend themselves to this mode). Today, anyone can pursue degrees, diplomas, master’s degrees and even doctorates with foreign universities without leaving their country. For students, this represents cost savings in transportation and even in materials (since most of them are hung on the platforms). For administrators, however, it represents a great saving in operational costs, since the physical plant is essentially reduced to the servers and the sites where they are located. (See also: ChatGPT Friend or rival?)
DISADVANTAGES
Still, the drawbacks that have accompanied virtual education remain: some places are less willing to hire graduates with online degrees, the educational experience is entirely contingent on well-functioning wireless networks and electrical power, not all Students perform well in an environment where they have peers and teachers with whom they interact directly, and not all teachers are well-trained to teach effectively in this modality. Virtual education is still a relatively young possibility and has not taken real prominence until now. Only time will tell if students, teachers, and administrators are able to take advantage of the momentum that the pandemic has given them to continue perfecting it.
2023-05-28 11:01:29
#BOOM #virtual #universities #Colombia
