"We are facing a massive and urgent adaptation"

Juan Lazo, head of the Open University, tells us in this interview how this department in particular, and the University in general, had to adapt to the new reality imposed by the pandemic.

From the first course for teachers in March, to the current training sessions, all efforts have been aimed at preventing the quality of teaching at our institution from suffering from the forced reforms that this period of quarantine and social distancing brought with it.

Along these lines, Professor Lazo gives us an account of everything that happened since mid-March of this eventful year.

With the drastic change in the modality of studies, we went from being a face-to-face university to an online university; We had to find a way for teachers to adapt, it had to be a massive and urgent adaptation, so it was proposed to train all teachers in the use of the virtual campus and in distance education methodologies.

We had two weeks to do the training, which was the period in which the university postponed the start of classes.

More than 70% of teachers had already had some previous training and a good group used the virtual campus for their classes, some of the teachers knew it very well.

With these premises, the professors who knew the campus were asked to become tutors, groups of between 5 and 20 professors were assigned to them so that they can guide their learning and material was developed so that each week they could be socialized among the tutors, and these in turn will socialize it with their tutors.

ZOOM tool licenses were contracted so that teachers could give their classes without interruptions and they were also given training in the use of it.

What was the result of that first experience?

The experience was very effective, more than 80% of teachers followed the training and even obtained a certificate for it, the classes began with few conflicts that were resolved in the following weeks.

Furthermore, the Campus had already been adapted in previous years to be correctly linked to the enrollments handled in the IT Department, so the teachers accessed their virtual classrooms where they found their students.

Once the semester started in this modality, it was seen convenient to give teachers more digital tools to improve their interaction with their students, as well as online assessment possibilities.

That is why every week an expert professor in a tool creates tutorials that are placed on the Virtual Campus, and feedback is given on it through forums and classes to resolve queries about the tool.

What are the plans for the future?

In a few weeks, a second part of the training will begin, this time focused on collaborative tools and learning objects.

It is a course that will also have a certification, again addressed to all university professors, which will be given at the end of this semester and which hopes to prepare us for the possibility that online education will continue to be necessary for an indeterminate time.