CHARACTERISTICS OF DISTANCE LEARNING AND THE ROLE OF ICTs AND AGENTS INVOLVED IN THE STUDENT LEARNING MEDIATION PROCESS

Abstract

The search for the Distance Education (EaD) modality is growing every day to the detriment of the evolution of technologies and various aspects that make the student's life easier. The student, in this modality, interacts with the online teacher-tutor, with materials and other agents of this process, through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), answering questions, attending classes, participating in forums, taking quizzes, among other planned activities and prepared to help you in your search for learning. The online teacher-tutor participates in monitoring the student's development, providing support and being a mediator in this process. Distance Education is an attractive proposal for students, as it provides more interactive classes, through active media and methodologies, making classes more enjoyable. Distance learning students need to be more autonomous in their pursuit of learning, organize themselves in time and space to be successful in their journey, since, in this modality, they become the protagonist of their learning. The objective of this work is to show the characteristics of distance learning, with advantages and challenges and its importance for the democratization of teaching, presenting ICTs as driving forces of this growth and the agents involved in this educational modality. The world evolves and education needs to keep up with this growth, as these students will be future professionals who will work in an increasingly demanding and technologically advanced job market.