A COMPARISON BETWEEN A FACE TO FACE AND A DISTANCE LEARNING ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM IN MEXICO

Transcription

1 A COMPARISON BETWEEN A FACE TO FACE AND A DISTANCE LEARNING ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM IN MEXICO Deisy Valencia Juan Contreras-Castillo Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, México Norma Baron-Ramirez Antonio Guerrero-Ibanez Alejandra Rocha Silva Ricardo Acosta-Diaz ABSTRACT Adult Education is an important topic, which has served as a support in the literacy of most of the adult population in Mexico. However, the geographic reach reduces its scope, therefore, the INEA proposed the creation of another educational program but online. The online version will allow for farther-reaching and avoiding people interested in completing their primary studies to attend a physical classroom. This raised the necessity of evaluating the usefulness and effectiveness of this new program and possible benefits that this modality might develop for users. Consequently, we proposed a research study involving two groups of students, one face to face and one online from the IEEE Colima. Their opinion in a questionnaire, showed that online students were more satisfied with the course and also the additional benefits they obtain which are: acquisition of technological abilities on the use of Internet and the computer in general. However, both groups of students suggested several aspects susceptible of improvement in the educational model focusing mainly in the tutoring process, exams, computer equipment and Internet connection. KEYWORDS Adult Education, online Learning, comparison, face-to-face. 1. INTRODUCTION In Mexico and other countries, education for adults is an important issue that raised interest and concerns in several government institutions, since illiteracy is seen as a world problem that hinders country development. Furthermore, society demands that people learn and are in constant preparation to keep in line with this ever changing world and economies. Thus, adults education is seeking to eliminate the educational gap existing between young students attending school and adults whom did not finished their formal education, regardless of their motivations.

2 This research focuses on the importance of adults education, mentioned and highlighted with the creation of global conferences that UNESCO has conducted to analyze their problems and determine what is preventing optimum development. Also, this organization supervises the steps taken by each country to benefit the education of the adults. Mexico has supported many research grants on the topic, which have proven their relevance and importance to achieve a fair and square society, as part of continuing education, but also make clear that there is still much to do, since it has not received the importance it deserves and in some cases is considered a secondary issue in education. However, the government has been looking for strategies to provide stronger support to this population sector, provide them with adequate quality education to succeed in their personal environment and in their workplace. Among those strategies is the use of alternative modalities for course content delivery, so the National Institute for Adult Education (INEA in Spanish) sought the implementation of the Model of Education for Life and Work (MEVyT in Spanish) in an online modality; it is important to point out that this model is already operating in printed mode. INEA saw a need to diversify educational opportunities for adults and adapt to technological changes that are surging everyday. However, it is important to mention that since its inception, the MEVyT have been piloted only once; this pilot test evaluated the impact of this model at national and state levels. Therefore, in this study we decided to investigate students satisfaction with the educational process with both MEVyT models, printed and online, aimed at finding their differences and to identify additional benefits students can obtain while studying online. 2. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK As Bates (1999) mentions, education through technological means, by itself, will become even more powerful as artificial intelligence and virtual reality develops, which is exactly what is happening faster and faster. We can see great advances each day regarding technology and as mentioned before, education is not exempt of new technology developments. It is important for teachers to be permanently trained; educational institutions must renew their educational offerings and technological means, increasing their capacity to attend more and more students interested in alternative means of delivery. Such changes and indicators that technology has risen are reflected in diverse educational modalities, and adults education is not free of them. This paper, presents a research work, which attempts to collect students opinions of both online and print versions of the MEVyT educational model, regarding different aspects, the tutoring process, individual work, evaluation, among others, and based on those, identify the obtained benefits in each model and rescue additional ones, which every students could get if they study online. It is important not to forget the main objective that INEA in their state offices (2007), specifies for the MEVyT, which is to offer different educational options, focuses at enrich and develop knowledge, experiences and skills, competencies of young adults and adults, as well as strengthen values and attitudes to improve their personal and family life, labor environment and community participation. This research is important to provide new insights into the benefits of the MEVyT online, and the comparison between models, as well as students opinions about them, which in the medium term will provide with the necessary body of evidence to improve the contents and the delivery times of each model. 2.1 Previous work In the international context, there have been several research reports on education for adults, one authored by Arandia and Alonso (2002) in Spain, which points that adult education is a difficult topic as a knowledge area, but rescues the importance of studying it given its social relevance. In the same line, it mentions that adult population training guarantees the general wellness of citizens at all levels as well as the community progress, also that the knowledge society we are immerse in, requires people to develop and use a different set of skills aimed at processing information, which most adults do not have given the gap between their educational background and the current school system. For those reasons, adult education research must focus on a social, interpretative model for people and institutions with the purpose of influence the transformation process. Authors also reported that adult education requires an open, modular, flexible and

3 specific curriculum, which could be based on the previous acquired skills in other learning contexts, as well as the preparation for lifelong learning including formal and informal learning experiences. UNESCO also shows directions on this topic in the Fifth International conference on adult education (1997). One of the main findings of the conference was related to the accessibility of the education: lack of available time to attend the face-to-face tutoring sessions, due to long work hours and the fact that education for adults should be a joy, and instrument, a right for citizens and a shared responsibility. In Mexico, Pieck (1997) reported results on Education for adults: characterization, impact and positive considerations, based on research centered on adults in the Mexiquense College since One of the first aspects that he considers is the non-formal education, which in the adults education has a marginal position and the national policies on education. He also points out that it is necessary to decentralize and diversify adults education to satisfy the basic needs of different illiterate adults sectors. In 2001, Ibarrola highlighted the importance of continuous education and training for a life long improvement, and also points out that most people that truncate their studies, are people with low monetary resources, reason for a more involvement from the government to provide the transformation of the pedagogical proposal and the basic curriculum for adults, with the objective of providing a modular, open, flexible and pertinent education. In conclusion INEA and those researches promote the necessity of incorporating educational alphabetization as an integral part of the basic knowledge for the young and the adult. In the next section we will focus on the applied methodology for the research at hand. It is important to mention that we are focusing on the recommendations of the aforementioned authors. 3. METHODOLOGY This research focused on adults education provided by the IEEA Colima, in both modalities, printed and online. When analyzing both models we found several differences, mainly in the tutoring process and the educational resources used. We used a mix methodology, qualitative and quantitative, aimed at complementary results to obtain a more complete information body. 3.1 Sample In the printed MEVyT, we used a probabilistic approach given the fact that all students have the same probability of being selected, in the online model, we used the whole population due to the small number of students and the newness of the model (44 students). For the interview stage the sample was non probabilistic, we selected random students from the printed and online models. On this stage, we only considered relevant cases that arisen during the questionnaire application, meaning strong negative or strong positives and to select the students we considered the place where the questionnaire was filled, because even we do not have the name of the person answering, we have the place and the number of questionnaire. It is important to point out that IEEA population is highly variable; given the personal improvement of each student and the time it takes for them to finish their modules. The communitarian places where most students are registered are: IEEA Colima, Zone II, Tecoman and San José, and Villa de Alvarez all located in the Colima state in Mexico. In the printed version we considered 75 students that means approximately 15 students per place. To obtain the printed MEVyT sample we considered the following formula used for populations smaller than 5000 members. where n is our sample size, Z is the level of confidence, for a normal distribution, generally considered as 95%, the value in this case was Z=1.96, p is the probability of people answering positive to the instrument, E is the precision level and N is the population size. The result of this formula was 62.9, rounded to 63 students. 3.2 Instruments

4 For the qualitative phase, we used the structured questionnaire with formalized and standardized questions, asked in the same order and offering the respondent one option among several (Verdugo et al, 2006). The questionnaire items are two open questions and the rest is closed for a total of 19 questions after the pilot study. The open interview was applied only to two students and helped us to understand more fully some of the questionnaire results. 4. RESULTS The obtained results will be shown as descriptive tables and numbers for each model and section and also a brief discussion regarding those results. In both models, the results are similar to the question; Select the appropriate level of computing knowledge that you consider to have? Most of the students answered full and regular (57% for the printed model and 77% for the online version), we provided them with several options regarding online chat, search engines usage, use of office software and electronic mail. Regarding their use of the Internet, 60% of the printed version students answered low or not use at all, and for the online version 70% selected a high usage. In this two first responses, we can infer that most online students have more contact with the technology due to the modality they are studying in and also, most respondents were in the age rank of years old, indicating a more technology prone population sector. We also questioned students regarding the course contents in both models, in the printed version 54% responded very good or excellent and in the online version 83% selected very good or excellent options. It is important to mention that the interactivity of the modules and the shorter contents could have been an influencer for the better opinion of students. Regarding the tutoring and teaching work, most students in both model opined it was from vey good to excellent, accounting for a 68% in the printed version and 84% in the online version. We consider that this increment in the positive responses from the online students could be to the fact that most are not very skilled in online learning and are not that critic o severe in their appreciation of the tutoring process, specifically in the attitudes or the availability to provided the advisory, on the contrary this is highly appreciated in a faceto-face setting, since students can detect bad attitudes of low availability from tutors or advisors. Students also reported that tutors and advisors used additional educational resources to support their teaching, in the opinion of 73% of printed version and 79% in the online version. When questioned regarding the responses obtained from the advisor, most students considered adequate to satisfy their information needs, as shown in table 1. Table 1. Responses to the question of the appropriateness of advisor responses to students questions Model Adequate Incomplete Printed MEVyT Online MEVyT Regarding the open question why did you choose the model you are studying in? In the printed version, most of the students responded: for academic improvement, preference for face-to-face settings and because they have time availability to attend the tutoring and advisory process. Some mentioned the economic part, because its easier to obtain a free book from the IEEA than paying for a computer and internet connection at home, when the community plaza is far to attend and use the computers provided by the IEEA. Another opinion focused on the personal development and friendship motivation from other students and to increase the confidence in the teacher. Other student mentioned an easier way to learn and to have a more exact knowledge. In the next question, we asked Which aspects do you consider are susceptible to be improved? Results were as shown in table 2. Table 2. Responses to the question of aspects that require improvement Aspect Printed MEVyT Online MEVyT Contents 9.52% 6.82% Tutors 4.76% Teaching strategies 17.46% 15.91% Educational resources 11.11% 2.27% Tutoring process 6.35% 9.09% Exam 7.94% 25% Nothing 36.51% 36.36%

5 Other 3.17% 4.55% 3. Other question that we used was would you recommend this course to others? Results are shown in table Table 1. Responses to the question of recommending the course to other students Model Yes No Printed MEVyT Online MEVyT CONCLUSIONS In recent years, adults education has increasingly been considered as an important topic worldwide, and seen as an opportunity for several countries as a development strategy, helping young and adults to restart their studies to increase their personal and workplace opportunities. The main objective of this research was to gather students opinions on the MEVyT model in Mexico, in both, printed and online versions. To determine which group is more satisfied and if the online group receives additional benefits regarding technology use. It is notorious that most students think highly of both models as they mentioned to be satisfied and thankful for the opportunity to study again. But as mentioned in the result sections there where several complains in the printed version regarding the tutor and advisor work, which points an improvement area for them. It is important to mention that both groups obtain benefits, in the printed version, students can easily interact with their classmates; they receive tutoring when they need it and the communication is closer with classmates and the tutor. In the online version they learn how to better use the computer and the Internet, gaining better skills and they can work in their assignments at any time and in any place. However, both models require a revision of their contents, educational processes and performance in the online version; we are seeking to propose intervention strategies to improve them. REFERENCES Arandia, M and Alonso, J. (2002). Investigación en educación de personas adultas. No España: Psicodidáctic Magazine. Bates, A. (1999). La tecnología en la enseñanza abierta y en la educación a distancia. México: Trillas. Cabero, J. (2001). Impacto de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en las organizaciones educativas. España: Grupo editorial universitario. Ibarrola, M. (2001). Educación permanente. Retrieved on march 10, 2011, from INEA. (2006). Ser asesor en línea. México: INEA. Pieck, E. (1997). La educación para adultos: caracterización, impacto y consideraciones propositivas. Retrieved on march 10, 2007 from UNESCO. (1997). Quinta conferencia internacional sobre educación de adultos. Alemania: UNESCO. Verdugo Lucero, J., Ochoa Alcaráz, S.G. and Alveano Hernández, J. (2006). Elaboración de cuestionarios. Colima: Universidad de Colima. Mexico

6

7 IADIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE e-learning 2011 part of the IADIS MULTI CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS 2011

8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IADIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE e-learning 2011 part of the IADIS MULTI CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS 2011 Volume II Rome, Italy JULY 20-23, 2011 Organised by IADIS International Association for Development of the Information Society iii

9 Copyright 2011 IADIS Press All rights reserved This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Permission for use must always be obtained from IADIS Press. Please contact e-learning Volume Editors: Miguel Baptista Nunes and Maggie McPherson Computer Science and Information Systems Series Editors: Piet Kommers and Pedro Isaías Associate Editor: Luís Rodrigues ISBN: iv