Abstract:

García Arieto said decades ago that the elements of the distance education model include: digital resources, pedagogical theory, administration, content design, philosophy. However, documentary research indicates that the main educational institutions, mainly at a higher level, adapt these elements to their own educational model, generating differentiated models. The National Polytechnic Institute (Instituto Politécnico Nacional-IPN), one of the important institutions of higher education in Mexico, offers distance education programs at the high school level, as well as postgraduate. The Center for Economic, Administrative and Social Research (CIECAS) belonging to the IPN offers courses and the Master in Scientific and Technological Teaching (MDCyT) in the modality of distance and mixed education since 2011. However, although the educational model institutional, it has served as an educational regulatory framework for the MDCyT master's degree, it is considered that its implementation after almost 10 years, needs revision because although the educational model is institutional, it is necessary to reflect on its implementation at the master level. For a distance education modality to function properly, the educational level must also be taken into account. In the world the model of education for the level of higher education has been privileged, there are not many studies regarding the own needs that must be fulfilled at a postgraduate level, where it is not a matter of students' age, but of the required training and skills as well as the level of reflection necessary. That is, a review of the Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) is required. Thus, this paper will present the first advances of an investigation registered in the IPN SIP 20195640 that deals with distance education models particularly at a higher level and postgraduate level in different renowned institutions worldwide to compare them with the distance education model of the IPN. The most representative results of documentary research will be presented as to whether they have currently been innovated worldwide with distance education models and in particular at the graduate level. Likewise and with qualitative research instruments, in order to understand the phenomenon in its real context, interviews will be applied to key officials to identify the official distance education model of the IPN. With qualitative interviews and focus groups with teachers and students of the MDCyT, it will be investigated how it is applied and if it responds to postgraduate needs, identify how it is put into practice, its integration, advantages and limitations, which will provide support for a conformation of an own model for postgraduate level in this institution and modality. The results of this research will allow updating and proposing an updated Differentiated Distance Education Model for Postgraduate level in CIECAS-IPN with a student-centered vision.

Keywords:

Distance education model, master's level, postgraduate level, Upgrade, Pedagogical elements, qualitative study.