Abstract:

Everyone’s access to information encourages us to think about the democratization of knowledge from the perspective of use of new technologies in university curriculums. It seems necessary, then, to read about online resources and contents critically. This task is highly complex and universities have a crucial role.

In this research we should ask ourselves about the ways that professor's pathway is achieved, in their roles as students, when they major as Bachelor's in Education, in technological platforms. In general, these populations continue with their on-campus teaching, and simultaneously, with their higher studies in virtual learning. What characteristics do those experiences have in common and what facilitating or blocking aspects do they find in this pathway? This is an interesting issue as it presupposes an initial acknowledgment of the experiences in virtual environments from those professors who are in charge of the education of children, adolescents and young adults. We are aware that the virtual training processes are the preferred options by adults who must respond to the ongoing training requirements in order to provide answers to both the labor demands and the challenges imposed by the educational reality. The options proposed in virtual environments are feasible for those subjects who have diverse and assumed obligations, such as family or work, since this type of access minimizes the investment of time, or maximizes its use, if compared with the times that the on-campus learning does require.

Some of the results obtained from a research on the different experiences in a group of professors are shared among those who are taking the Bachelor's in Education as the ongoing training program in the EPIC platform. The research was carried out with a population of 400 students at Universidad Siglo 21, located in Argentina. To summarize, results indicate that, for the majority of professors, technology-mediated training is novel. The most relevant virtual resources in learning are those linked to evaluative instances. As positive aspects, they could highlight the aspects that this training has given them: an opportunity to give continuity to training, a higher autonomy in the organizational processes and a balance between studies, family life and work due to time flexibility. As negative aspects, they admit the following aspects: isolation and lack of contact with peers and professors, the limited debates in the forums, and the confusion on the use of the platform at the beginning of their majors. This research was mainly intended to systematize aspects related to educational experiences in virtual environments, in the university's object of study, which aimed at feeding, reviewing and transforming praxis.

Keywords:

University, e-learning, students, education.