The UOC and UniAndes are leading a research project on the use of ICTs in Colombian universities

Coordinated by the UOC and Universidad de Los Andes (University of Los Andes, UniAndes), this project is to analyse the implementation of ICTs in Colombian universities, as well as their relationship with teaching methodologies and impact on academic performance. The international research team expects its results to help improve Colombia’s higher education model, with a better-defined integration of the online methodologies for which the UOC is renowned.

This research, titled “La Universidad colombiana en la Sociedad Red” [Colombian universities in the network society] will study the teaching practices, learning strategies and academic results of different university education models, in relation to the degree to which technology is used in Colombian higher education.

UOC researcher Josep M. Duart is directing the project internationally, while in Colombia Álvaro Galvis, from UniAndes, is fulfilling the role of co-director. Between them they are coordinating a team including UOC researchers Julio Meneses and Sergi Fábregas, as well as professors from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and from twelve of Colombia’s leading universities: UniAndes, Universidad Nacional, Universidad de la Sabana, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad EAFIT, Universidad del Valle, Universidad del Norte, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, and Uniminuto.

“We have major universities from all across Colombia taking part, universities which are mainly based on traditional classroom models but also with some virtual and distance learning, and which are accessible to different socioeconomic groups”, explains Josep M. Duart. The project’s director is hoping to get the first results in the spring and to publish the project’s findings worldwide next year.