Abstract:

The present article describes in general the research proposal raised for mastery of systems engineering and computing at the National University of Colombia. It carries a review of the state of the art research problem. It describes research on the topic of interest, issues relating to identifying and implementing models of learning styles. It presents the theories and methods that have been established and evaluated by different researchers on the impact on educational virtual spaces, which allows a focus on a wide range of alternative teaching / learning, whose proposals go beyond the traditional paradigms of training and instruction. Finally, the research proposal presents a model of identifying learning styles in virtual training environments.

People perceive and gain knowledge in different ways, each one has its own method or strategy to learn, think and act different. This means that each individual responds to various situations and learning environments, according to certain preferences, also called learning style. Learning style is defined as every method or strategy a student uses to select process and assimilate the information.

Virtual learning environments could take into account the different ways people acquire knowledge. Making a customization of these systems will allow taking benefit from the knowledge derived from the learning style of a student to adopt a model that improves virtual education strategies.

Education programs currently developed in virtual learning environments have a high dropout rate and many of the students who don´t drop out and continue with the training process, don’t achieve an adequate assimilation of the training content. The theoretical subjects are converted into something hard and challenging, and exceed virtual educational programs with a medium score level, without reaching a deeper understanding and conceptual issues.

Although, there are many papers that have made adaptive systems that incorporate learning styles, which mostly based their designs on models of learning, defined by different authors to face education. Although, these models for identifying learning styles have been considered for many years, in traditional classroom education and in some implementations of virtual training systems they were defined taking into account factors and characteristics of classroom education and neglected features, which have emerged along with virtualization processes of education, such as synchronization and the integration of social networks.

In addition, identification systems of learning styles are designed in general manner; this research aims to evaluate and implement the model in adult learners, supported by the adult learner theory provides written by Malcolm S. Knowles.

Moreover the adaptive models that incorporate models of learning styles, are designed to be adjusted to the preferences of the student according the behavior and results that are observed. Although these systems can give results for long-term forming, they are not so significant in short runs of 40 hours or a month, due to the limited time does not allow tracking and analysis to adjust the learning style.

It is therefore important to identify the learning styles of virtual training environments, considering behaviors adopted with processes of virtualization of the education, all this in order to improve standards of curriculum content in virtual learning environments and decrease the dropout education model.

Keywords:

Innovation, technology, virtual learning environments, learning styles.