Abstract:

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 led educational institutions to use digital technologies to continue their pedagogical activities. At the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), a federal public higher education institution in Mexico, professors were invited to migrate their courses, mostly face-to-face, to the distance-education structure, either synchronously, asynchronously or mixed, with the use of any digital media. Thus, professors used from email and social networks; instant messaging platforms (WhatsApp or similar); videoconference platforms (Zoom, Meet), or learning management systems (Moodle or Classroom), among others.

The sudden change in the educational structure (from face-to-face to distance education) did not give the institution time to prepare professors in the knowledge of the different digital media, specifically in the understanding of the communication tools that favor the one-to-one, one-to-many, and group interactions; or, in the languages that these tools provide (textual, audiovisual, hypertextual), which promote student learning. Since the start of online instruction in May 2020, diverse problems appeared in the professor-student interaction, such as the teachers' digital ignorance, limited pedagogical structure in the educational use of technologies, constant communication difficulties between the professor and the students (doubts of the students who did not receive answers or received them late, insufficient feedback on the work submitted, unclear instructions on the tasks they had to perform or little interaction between all the participants in the class).

In this context, the objective of this research was:
(a) to explore the digital media used at the UAM, Cuajimalpa Campus, during the confinement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,
(b) to analyze the communicational use that the professors gave to the digital media and the scope they have, this in order to show greater qualities in the design of activities.

During this process, 240 surveys were applied to students and 46 to teachers. For qualitative data, there were 3 focus groups with students and 6 semi-structured interviews with teachers.

The research found that learning communication media have different strengths and weaknesses. Email enabled asynchronous communication, allowing students with little access to new technologies to follow up on their schooling process; instant messaging platforms allowed an agile process to answer questions and solve exercises; learning management systems (LMS) promoted a structure and sequence for remote teaching; and the videoconferencing platforms provided immediate feedback and follow-up on student needs.

Finally, textual, audiovisual and hypertextual languages have the power to appeal to emotions, since education is not only about the transmission of content, but also about the ways in which knowledge, skills and values are communicated. However, the emotional competencies were not fully exploited.

Keywords:

Digital media, long distance education, communication, teaching learning process.