Virtual education in Colombia: explanatory models of dropout
Keywords:
Distance education, virtual education, dropout from higher education, information, communications technologyAbstract
Virtual education has taken hold within the Latin American educational system as a methodology that provides vocational training to people whom, for various reasons, cannot access classroom education. This paper aims to review the literature on the current state of virtual education in Colombia and the factors associated with dropout in Virtual Learning. As findings during the literature search, we encountered that during the period between 2000 and 2012 in Colombia 38,136 students were enrolled in this modality, demonstrating the immense acceptance of these programs and the impact thereof. However, despite the number of enrolled, dropout rates are high. According to the System for Dropout Prevention in Higher Education, in 2013 there were a total of 48,850 students who dropped out of distance education programs, which represents 38.2% attrition and therefore a retention index of 61.8%. These figures suggest the need for studies to determine the factors that lead students to make the decision to desert. In this regard, the Colombian context studies of this phenomenon are in very early stages and most have adopted theoretical models grounded in distance-traditional education. However, some factors that may be associated with dropout in this modality are related to technical aspects and socio-cultural characteristics of students.
References
Adelman, Clifford. (1999). Answers in the tool box: Academic intensity, attendance patterns, and bachelor's degree attainment. Washington D.C.: US Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Alvarado, Mauricio y Calderón, Irma. (2013). Diagnóstico estadístico y tendencias de la educación superior a distancia en Colombia. En Arboleda, Néstor y Rama, Claudio (Eds.) La educación superior a distancia y virtual en Colombia: nuevas realidades (pp. 31-47). Colombia: ACESAD/Virtual Educa. Recuperado de http://virtualeduca.org/documentos/observatorio/la_educacion_superior_a_distancia_y_virtual_en_colombia_nuevas_realidades.pdf
Bean, John. (1980). Dropouts and turnover: the synthesis and test of a causal model of student attrition. Research in Higher Education, vol. 12, núm. 2, pp. 155-87. doi: 10.1007/BF00976194
Brunsden, Vivienne; Davies, Mark; Shevlin, Mark & Bracken, Maeve. (2000). Why do HE students drop out? A test of Tinto’s model. Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol. 24, núm. 3, pp. 301-310. doi: 10.1080/030987700750022244
Cárdenas, Jorge y Tovar, Carolina. (2012). NTIC y competencias en la educación superior a distancia virtual en Colombia: una revisión de la literatura. Educación y Territorio, vol. 2, núm. 1, pp. 113 – 146. Recuperado de http://www.revistasjdc.com/main/index.php/reyte/article/view/196
Carr, Sarah. (2000). As distance education comes of age, the challenge is keeping the students. The Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 23, núm. A39. Recuperado de http://chronicle.com/article/As-Distance-Education-Comes-of/14334
Carter, Vicki. (1996). Do media influence learning? Revisiting the debate in the context of distance education. Open Learning, vol. 11, núm. 1, pp. 31-40. doi: 10.1080/0268051960110104
Castaño, Elkin; Gallón, Santiago; Gómez, Karoll y Vásquez, Johanna. (2004). Deserción estudiantil universitaria: una aplicación de modelos de duración. Lecturas de Economía, núm 60, pp. 39-65. Recuperado de http://aprendeenlinea.udea.edu.co/revistas/index.php/lecturasdeeconomia/article/view/2707/2162
Coelho, María de Lourdes. (2002). A evasão nos cursos de Formação Continuada de pro¬fessores Universitários na Modalidade de Educação a Distância Via Internet. Brasil: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Recuperado de http://www.abed.org.br/site/pt/midiateca/textos_ead/626/2004/12/a_evasao_nos_cursos_de_formacao_continuada_de_professores_universitarios_na_modalidade_de_educacao_a_distancia_via_internet_
Decreto número 1820 de 1983 [con fuerza de ley]. Por el cual se reglamenta la Educación Superior Abierta y a Distancia. Julio 21 de 1983. D.O.N°36298.
Drago, William & Peltier, Jimmy. (2004). The effects of class size on effectiveness of online courses. Management Research News, vol. 27, núm. 10, pp. 27-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01409170410784310
Echeverri, Beatriz. (2005). La educación virtual: aportes y realidades. En Fundación Universitaria Católica del Norte (comp.). Educación virtual. Reflexiones y experiencias. Colombia: FUCN. Recuperado de http://craig.com.ar/biblioteca/Reflexiones%20y%20Experiencias%20sobre%20Educaci%F3n%20Virtual%20-%20Universidad%20Cat%F3lica%20del%20Norte.pdf
Facundo, Angel. (2003). La educación superior a distancia/virtual en Colombia. UNESCO-IESALC. Recuperado de http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001399/139922s.pdf
Fozdar, Bharat; Kumar, Lalita & Kannan, Srinivasan. (2006). Study of the Factors Responsible for the Dropouts from the BSc Programme of Indira Gandhi National Open University. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, vol. 7, núm. 3, pp. 1-15. Recuperado de http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/291/755
Frankola, Karen. (2001). Why online learners dropout. Workforce Management, vol. 80, núm 10, pp. 53-58. Recuperado de http://www.workforce.com/2001/06/03/why-online-learners-drop-out/
Galusha, Jill. (1997). Barriers to learning in distance education. Interpersonal Computing and Technology Journal, vol. 5, núm. 3, pp. 6-14. Recuperado de http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED416377.pdf
Giovagnoli, Paula. (2002). Determinantes de la deserción y graduación universitaria: una aplicación utilizando modelos de duración. (Tesis de maestría). Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recuperado de http://www.alfaguia.org/alfaguia/files/1318958623Determinantes%20de%20la%20desercion%20y%20graduacion%20universitaria%20una%20aplicacion%20utilizando%20modelos%20de%20duracion.pdf
Jaén, Darío. (2002). Instructivo de apoyo al diseño de estrategias formativas según el Sistema de Estudios de la Fundación Universitaria Católica del Norte. Documento de orientación interna de la FUCN. Medellín, Colombia: Fundación Universidad Católica del Norte.
Jiang, Mingming & Ting, Evelyn. (2000). A study of factors influencing students: Perceived learning in a Web-based course environment. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, vol. 6, núm. 4, pp. 317-338.
Kember, David. (1989). A longitudinal-process model of drop-out from distance
education. Journal of Higher Education, vol. 60, núm. 3, pp. 278-301. Recuperado de https://www.jstor.org/stable/1982251?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Ministerio de Educación Nacional. (2009). Deserción estudiantil en la educación superior colombiana. Metodología de seguimiento, diagnóstico y elementos para su prevención. Colombia: Ministerio de Educación Nacional. http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/sistemasdeinformacion/1735/articles-254702_libro_desercion.pdf
Nora, Amaury; Attinasi, Louis & Matonak, Andrew. (1990). Testing qualitative indicators of precollege factors in Tinto's attrition model: A community college student population. The Review of Higher Education, vol. 13, núm. 3, pp. 337-356.
Park, Ji-Hye. (2007). Factors related to learner dropout in online learning. En Nafukho, F.,Chermack, T. & Graham, C. (Eds.). Academy of Human Resource Development Annual Conference (pp. 25-1–25-8). Indianapolis: AHRD. Recuperado de http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504556.pdf
Parra, José. (2005). Aproximación a la virtualidad desde la propuesta educativa de la Fundación Universitaria Católica del Norte, FUCN. En Fundación Universitaria Católica del Norte (comp.). Educación virtual. Reflexiones y experiencias. Colombia: FUCN.
Rama, Claudio. (2003). Economía de las industrias culturales en la globalización digital. Buenos Aires: Eudeba.
Rama, Claudio. (2013). El contexto de la reforma de la virtualización en américa latina. En Arboleda, Néstor y Rama, Claudio (Eds.). La educación superior a distancia virtual en Colombia: nuevas realidades. Colombia: ACESAD/ Virtual Educa.
Roblyer, Margaret & Wiencke, William. (2004). Exploring the interaction equation: Validating a rubric to assess and encourage interaction in distance education. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 8, núm. 4, pp. 25-37.
Rossett, Allison & Schafer, Lisa. (2003). What can we do about e-dropouts? Training and Development, vol. 56, núm. 6, pp. 40-46.
Rovai, Alfred. (2003). In search of higher persistence rates in distance education online programs. The Internet and Higher Education, vol. 6, núm. 1, pp. 1-16. doi:10.1016/S1096-7516(02)00158-6
Shea, Peter; Fredericksen, Eric; Pickett, Alexandra; Pelz, William & Karen Swan. (2001). Measures of learning effectiveness in the SUNY Learning Network. En Bourne, John & Moore, Janet. (Eds.). Elements of Quality Online Education (vol. 2, pp. 31-54). Massachusetts: SCOLE.
Silvio, José. (2004). Tendencias de la Educación Superior Virtual en América Latina y el Caribe. En IELSAC. La educación virtual en América Latina y el Caribe (pp. 5-27). Recuperado de http://www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/index.php?option=com_fabrik&task=plugin.pluginAjax&plugin=fileupload&method=ajax_download&element_id=22&formid=2&rowid=43&repeatcount=0.
Spady, William. (1970). Dropouts from higher education: an interdisciplinary review and synthesis. Interchange, vol. 1, núm. 1, pp. 64-85. doi:10.1007/BF02214313
Stamato, Vicente. (2005). Días de radio. Revista Credencial Historia. Edición 186. Recuperado de http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/junio2005/radio.htm
Sweet, Robert. (1986). Student dropout in distance education: An application of Tinto’s model. Distance Education, vol. 7, núm. 2, pp. 201-213. doi: 10.1080/0158791860070204
Tinto, Vicent. (1975). Dropout from higher education, a theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, vol. 45, núm. 1, pp. 89-125. Recuperado de http://www.jstor.org/stable/1170024
Tinto, Vicent. (1989). Una reconsideración de las teorías de la deserción estudiantil. En Trayectoria escolar en la educación superior. México: ANUIES/SEP.
Tinto, Vicent. (1999). Taking student retention seriously: rethinking the first year of college. NACADA-Journal, vol. 19, pp. 5-9.
Tyler, Keith. (2006). Early Attrition among First Time eLearners: A Review of Factors that Contribute to Drop-out, Withdrawal and Non-completion Rates of Adult Learners undertaking eLearning Programmes. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. Recuperado de http://jolt.merlot.org/Vol2_No2_TylerSmith.htm
Vásquez, Claudio y Rodríguez, María. (2007). La deserción estudiantil en educación superior a distancia: perspectiva teórica y factores de incidencia. Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos (México), vol. 37, núm. 3, pp. 107-122. Recuperado de http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=27011410005
Wang, Greg; Foucar-Szocki, Diane; Griffin, Oris; O’Connor, Carey & Sceiford, Erin. (2003). Departure, Abandonment, and Dropout of E-learning: Dilemma and Solutions. James Madison University. Recuperado de http://www.academia.edu/1217610/Departure_abandonment_and_dropout_of_e-learning_Dilemma_and_solutions
Xenos, Michalis; Pierrakeas, Christos & Pintelas, Panagiotis. (2002). A survey on student dro¬pout rates and dropout causes concerning the students in the Course of Infomatics of the Hellenic Open University. Computers & Education, vol. 39, núm. 4, pp. 361-377. doi:10.1016/S0360-1315(02)00072-6
Published
Issue
Section
License
The copyright belongs to the authors of the text. In case the manuscript is accepted for publication, the Sistema de Universidad Virtual of the Universidad de Guadalajara (UDGVirtual) is authorized to modify the text in the correction of style, translate, fix, disseminate, reproduce, publish and market with this. Likewise, the Universidad de Guadalajara is authorized to carry out the above described jointly or through possible third parties. (See the detailed authorization in the copyright letter.)
The authors guarantee to Apertura the right to be the first means of publication of the work. The reproduction of the texts published in the Apertura is authorized, in whole or in part, as long as it is non-profit, the source is cited and the content or design is not modified. Authors may exclusively distribute the final editorial or postprint version in any medium and at any time.
Apertura, its editors and UDGVirtual dissociate themselves from the information provided by collaborators or advertisers. The articles of the contributors do not necessarily represent the point of view of the publisher or UDGVirtual and the content of the advertisements are the sole responsibility of the contractors.
Apertura is registered in the National Institute of Copyright with the ISSN number: 1665-6180 (printed version) and e-ISSN 2007-1094 (electronic version), and with the Certificate of Reservation of Rights to the Exclusive Use of the Title: 04 -2005-120212472000-102.
It is also certified by the Qualifying Commission for Illustrated Publications and Journals of the Ministry of the Interior with the Licensed Certificates of Title number: 13449; and Content Legality: 11022.
