Abstract:

Technological advances have allowed education to be given to any individual regardless of place or time, and overstepping the physical and temporal boundaries of the classes. Thus the New Information and Communication Technologies of (NICT) have played a key role in the dissemination and accessibility to educational resources, accelerating the advancement of virtual means of learning through constant introducing new learning technologies. Further flexibility in the schedule and study methodology allows cognitive processes based on cooperation, collaboration and communication. However, in Colombia the number of virtual academic undergraduate and graduate programs is still very low compared to Latin America, which evidences the need for better use the increasing connectivity to virtual means of learning that students currently possess.

This research aims to identify the perceptions, motivations and expectations that students have of Technology Management program taught at the Metropolitan Institute of Technology when choosing virtual means of learning as an educational option. The methodology for conducting this research is based on an exploratory, transversal and field approach, supported by a quantitative study design. The study population consists of selected 97 undergraduates belonging to the Technology Management program. The applied methodological tool is a self-administered questionnaire, as it is an appropriate method to collect opinions, perceptions and beliefs of the respondents.

Among the results is show that the surveyed students preferred the modality of classroom study (53%), followed by a mode of study that combines the virtual with face (43%) and 4% opt for the fully virtual mode. On the other hand, 33% of students believe that the quality of virtual education is less than the face; However, 47% of surveyed students feel that the use of virtual tools improves their academic performance which shows that these tools are seen as an important complement to the classroom academic processes but students are not motivated to take classes or fully online courses as they express the need to have the support of a classroom teacher.

Keywords:

Virtual learning tools, e-learning, education, student perceptions.