Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

In this study we describe the process followed to construct an instrument to guide evaluation of teaching strategies for online university courses. We also present the results of our application of the instrument to analyse teaching strategies used in 31 online university courses taught from a constructivist and research perspective, oriented to the innovation and improvement of the online processes.

The growing use of ICT in distance education and the emergence of new social dynamics are leading us to question the original purpose and characteristics of the field. The answers challenge the logic of the organizational and communication models of distance education traditionally characterized by mass communication, central-remote administration and the excessive independence of students. Our analysis points to limitations of this logic, suggesting a need for a reconceptualization of the distance education model and highlights four points: the role of ICT from a critical and contextualized perspective; the redefinition of the social meaning of distance education; changes in the relationship between the educational institution and society; and the integration of new institutional roles. These points are associated with principles of openness to new possibilities, collaboration, participation, contextualization, and the strategic coexistence of technology and communication.

Editorial de la RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 14.1

This study focused on the role of cognitive processes (reasoning, problem solving and decision making) and performance practice in the formation of attitudes and behaviours related to health issues. It was conducted to evaluate the effects of pedagogical experiences on students who participated in the course in radiography in the Nervous System Imaging Unit (RSN) at the Lisbon Health School of Technology. Hybrid (face-to-face and virtual) teaching methodologies were used in theory and practical sessions. Honey and Munford’s method was used to evaluate the learning profile of students. To monitor and evaluate students’ knowledge acquisition, check lists based on program topics were applied. Other information was supplied through the Moodle learning platform. The student group with mostly a reflective learning style increased their knowledge. The asynchronous method was shown to produce a  higher success rate and more flexibility in accessing content but also registered some limitations such as resistance by students, increased workload for teachers, lack of access on the platform and inexperience of all parties involved in handling the platform.

In contrast to other distance educational systems, tutors in the Brazilian Open University (UAB) play an essential role as mediators of the students’ construction of knowledge. Nevertheless, few empirical studies focus on the tutoring of undergraduate distance courses. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study, obtained through interviews, that aims to increase understanding of the meanings of the tutoring activity constructed by three tutors of the same UAB undergraduate course. We analyzed two generative categories: (1) tutor functions in relation to student knowledge construction; and (2) the tutors’ pedagogical mediation in discussion forums. The results indicated, on the one hand, that tutors value their function and recognize themselves as important mediators of knowledge promotion. On the other hand, we noticed difficulty, indicating the need for further research of the interface between psychology and education, in order to improve the quality of undergraduate distance teaching. 

Although online collaborative learning presents new opportunities to promote regulated behaviors to support the joint construction of meaning, in teaching practice, this aspect can present several difficulties. The purpose of this article is to explain, from a sociocultural perspective, some of the strategies employed by students when engaged in cooperative learning tasks. A virtual university course was studied empirically to evaluate and promote cooperative regulated behavior during argumentative tasks based on written argumentation in virtual and asynchronous communication environments. 

The knowledge-based society has altered the way in which humanity works, plays, and learns. The ‘innovation’ of so-called e-learning has been challenged by the tendency to simulate traditional ways of teaching. This study explores the concept of e-learning 2.0, connectivist principles as a framework, and the role of online social networks in this form of education. The study was conducted with a group of 14 students and 7 graduates from a specific degree and 13 lecturers in a private higher education institution. The main objective of this study was to identify the competencies that university students need to respond to what the e-learning 2.0 modality has to offer.

Editorial de la RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 14.2

Recensiones publicadas en la RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 14.2

Recensiones publicadas en la RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 14.1