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The opportunities that online education offers today to millions of students in Latin America

The university on the Internet reaches where the traditional one does not, especially in emerging countries, and offers opportunities to people with difficulties to access face-to-face education

Luis Dorado no longer has marks on his face from the masks and the screen that he has worn up to 24 hours in a row during the toughest moments of the pandemic. Nor in the elbows of the long periods that he has spent studying, when his two children and his work allowed him, to obtain a master’s degree, as they say in Ecuador, in Occupational Risk Prevention.

In May, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Dorado delivered his final master’s thesis (TFM) dedicated precisely to the biological risks to which hospital staff are exposed. “I was able to apply the knowledge I had acquired in my master’s degree to my job,” recalls this 29-year-old doctor from the Monte Sinaí hospital in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil.

A decade ago, Dorado traveled to the Andean country from his native Colombia to study medicine. “There were more opportunities here,” he confesses. With limited financial resources – one night she had to choose between having dinner or buying a candle to continue studying when there was a blackout – she managed to finish her degree and find work in the hospital, she also started a family.

Despite his obligations, Dorado was not satisfied and decided to expand his studies. He opted for an online university of Spanish origin with a presence in Latin America, the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). “I chose it because it gave me the flexibility I needed with children and a very demanding job. Furthermore, it is a title that works for me in Spain ”, he acknowledges. Now he is responsible for epidemiological surveillance of the hospital thanks to the knowledge he acquired in the master’s degree and has been recognized by the National Government of Ecuador for his work on the front line of battle during the pandemic.

Since 2010 online education in Latin America has grown by 73%, while face-to-face education has only grown by 27%. That year, around 2.5 million of the 21 million university students studied at a distance, which was 11.7%. In 2017, it reached 15.3% to 4.3 million students, according to data from UNESCO and the Carolina Foundation. Brazil is the country with the highest penetration of this type of education, followed by Colombia and Mexico.

The number of university students in the region will double in 20 years, according to a projection by the Population and Society Study Group. It is expected to go from the current 30.4 million to 65.6 million. Although the pandemic will lower the forecast figure, it continues to be an opportunity for university expansion on the Internet, believes Francisco Cervantes, rector of UNIR Mexico, one of the three centers that the Spanish university has in Latin America, where, in addition, it collaborates with seven other institutions of higher education on both sides of the Atlantic. “The traditional university is making efforts to assimilate the increasing number of students and that is where online universities come into play, which enhance that absorption capacity,” he explains.

Online education is inclusive
Digital education is also a very useful tool for groups that for various reasons cannot attend university in person. Among them are the inhabitants of rural populations far from educational centers and people with some type of disability that prevents them from moving around or following the rhythm of a traditional class. Also for those who have fewer resources.

According to data from the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), which has 29,000 students in Latin America, 68% of its graduates in that region improved their working conditions after completing their distance studies: they achieved a salary increase (61% ), a promotion (40%) or changed to a job with better conditions (36%).

“It is more accessible for smaller economies, like many that we have here in Latin America, and specifically in Ecuador,” says Rosalía Arteaga, former president of Ecuador, who currently chairs the Foundation for the Integration and Development of Latin America (FIDAL), a non-governmental body for the advancement of education. The face-to-face student has to leave their environment, find a place to live away from the family, which also implies higher expenses. The distance university comes to fill a very big void “.

People with disabilities find in online education a model that adapts to their needs. “There are tools that allow a visually impaired student to listen to the lessons. They no longer have to concentrate their learning in classroom hours, they can advance at their own pace ”, explains Francisco Cervantes, from UNIR México, a university that has a support service that adapts materials and exams to the particular needs of the student .

But distance education, Cervantes emphasizes, offers other advantages such as cultural exchange, so important in a globalized world. “The students share classes with students who are in the United States, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Mexico or Peru and with teachers from different countries, which enriches the experience,” says the rector of UNIR Mexico and former rector of the Open and Distance University from Mexico.

Today, a student in Latin America can enroll in universities anywhere in the world, since digital distance learning does not require visas. What they should bear in mind is that, if they want to practice the profession for which they are studying at a foreign university in their country, they must look for degrees that are also recognized in their country of origin.

Long way to go
The expansion of online education in Latin America and the Caribbean runs up against the use of the Internet in a large part of the region’s households, which is limited to communication tools and social networks. Utilization of applications for healthcare, education, finance and e-commerce operations is low. This is demonstrated by the index of digital resilience of the home, which is calculated from the use of this type of apps in everyday life. In the region it has an average of 30.70 out of 100, while in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) it is 53.78, according to the Digital Ecosystem Observatory of the Development Bank of Latin America CAF.

“Telecommunications coverage in some areas of Mexico is almost nil,” says Cervantes. For this reason, the expert praises the measures that the governments of various populations are taking to turn Internet access into a citizen’s right. Mexico City offers free Wi-Fi in various parts of the capital.