Are students prepared to learn in virtual environments in the context of the European Higher Education Area?

Abstract

New technologies are creating a revolution that affects not only the world of production but also educational training, in this way diversifying sources of knowledge and democratizing teaching. We are in an era of enormous potential for generating, sharing and communicating information and knowledge, and thus overcoming barriers of space and time. E-learning particularly is becoming an attractive way of teaching and learning with widespread acceptance and a growing presence at traditionally attendancebased universities. This might be because of its inherent advantages, especially considering the pressing challenges posed by today’s information society and by the knowledge and needs arising from the convergence process to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). We present a case study as a result of a broader inter-university research in which the overall aim is to examine e-learning implementation strategies in universities, preferably with on-campus face to face teaching, focusing specifically on one dimension or category of analysis: training in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). To meet the goals outlined in the study, we used quantitative technique for data collection: a questionnaire. With regard to this research tool, closed questions were included (with different response alternatives and a Likert-type scale) as well as open questions. The results derived from the study show that the university students surveyed do not have sufficient ICT skills to work in successful virtual learning environments, and even experienced some solitude with regard to specific training proposals or means of assessment.

Keywords

• e-learning
• eees
• formación
• aprendizaje
• tic
• estudiantes
• universidad