RETOS Y OPORTUNIDADES EN LA FORMACIÓN DE TUTORES VIRTUALES: LO QUE HEMOS APRENDIDO EN ENTORNOS MIXTOS CINCO AÑOS DESPUÉS

Abstract

It is offered a comparative study related to our own teaching experience in the subject of Virtual Tutor Training courses at the “José Antonio Páez” University. The investigation started in 2004, when we designed the first courses, mainly focused in the technological formation. Nowadays, we all know most participants have already developed some basic technological skills (Cabero, 2007). So that, the approach has been changed towards the development of the social constructivism’s communicative didactic competences to focus on the increment of learning communities. (Pallof, 2007). Results of recent experiences analyzed under the phenomenological paradigm led us to conclude about the relevance of learning by doing, and the possibility of the application of knowledge in real contexts. That is why today the main idea of the instructional design of the Virtual Tutor Training course relays on the reflection of interactive didactic possibilities of synchronous and non synchronous tools in blended environments, in which in person and virtual elements are complemented each other (Bustos, 2005). The focus is no longer on the knowledge itself but on its practical use. Hence the teacher makes his own decisions based on the complexities of competences he wants students to develop, and orientates such selection toward the construction of interactive activities.