Limitations

LearningSpace

Blackboard

The databases are intercon­nected and permit students to easily switch between them.

Students can work online or off-line, thereby allowing more flexible use. The operation of the tool is distributed and centralized. The content is portable and highly accessible.

It uses the Web to allow one to design a course that uses electronic resources. It is compatible with interna­tional standards related to the development of online content.

It allows both synchronous and asynchronous communication. It has a simple interface, which does not require much training.

It provides a work space that gives users access to all the courses in which they are registered using a unique account.

One is supposed to work off-line with a replica of the system and then synchronize the two systems periodically. Sometimes the synchroniza­tion of information fails to work properly. It is a complex tool that requires training for its use. It is not very feasible to use the platform through Web. The administration of course accounts is complex. A strong investment in infrastructure is required.

Working with this tool

requires being connected to

the Internet.

The areas of information are

not highly interconnected,

which reduces speed of

access and overall navigation

capabilities.

The simplicity of the tool also

means that it may not be as

powerful as more complex

online tools and management

systems.

(Marin, 2002). In response, the online learning resources and overall support and infrastructure within the ITESM are evolving based on the internal requests of the institute and the work of the professors and their students. Currently, the desired infrastructure is more similar to what is offered in Black­board than LearningSpace. From an administrative perspective, a few of our goals for implementation of this system are:

Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico

• To store the knowledge that professors generate in the process of establishing the blended educational model

• To fortify the process of evaluation by offering students the opportunity to know their learning growth, while providing the professor with ways to monitor and assess individual student progress

• To handle international standards of learning objects by using the knowledge base of other educational companies

• To offer greater integration and better control of course content

• To deliver specific courses to the students with virtual spaces that enable both synchronous and asynchronous interaction

The use of technology in the institution is now oriented toward centralizing and unifying the administrative processes, the television communications infra­structure, and computational services while simultaneously reducing the costs of operation. To achieve all of this, we are attempting to define uniform and effi­cient processes across all the campuses, develop an information system tailored to our needs, create a single center of computation that gives service to the entire system, and install excellent systems of telecommunications and computational networks.

Student and Faculty Roles in Blended Learning

The experience of generating blended learning through the use of virtual spaces offers enormous potential in Mexico, including significant educational benefits for students as well as professors and for improving the educational process itself.

The educational model used by the Tecnologico de Monterrey involves an ac­tive blended learning approach that is centered on the student. Participating in a course in this network requires that the student be continuously involved in rele­vant and meaningful activities. We also believe that student learning requires so­cial interaction, collaboration, and reflection by learners. As evidence of this social and cognitive commitment, the online activities we employ include actively con­tributing to and engaging in online discussion, responding to companions, mak­ing valid arguments, and coherently sharing ideas in writing. To participate in such a manner fosters cognitive depth while fostering shared knowledge and a sense of community among the students. These activities help students order their thoughts and improve their written communications skills. At the same time, it requires that students competently process, monitor, filter, and evaluate information.

Blended learning offers educational opportunities for students that are not typically available through traditional face-to-face instruction alone. In an

358 The Handbook of Blended Learning

environment of online or networked learning, there is more equality as all stu­dents participate when they desire and wherever they are located. The fact that the learning content and associated activities are available all the time and from any geographical location with an Internet connection permits students to reflect more on their ideas as well as the ideas of their peers and to engage in learning according to their own rhythm or preferences. Such systems of learning stand in sharp contrast to those that assume, incorrectly, that all students advance at the same time and with the same antecedents.

Blended learning can change the relationship between professors and stu­dents. In fact, it can break typical learning hierarchies, forcing the professor or course expert to be more of a facilitator in the process of learning than an au­thority figure. In our blended learning approach, the professor defines the objectives of a course, suggests texts and other materials of study, gives in­structions and guidelines, fosters collaborative teams, and supervises continu­ously what occurs.

Conclusion

There is a wealth of technological innovation in Mexico, in both formal and in­formal settings. As the number of Internet users in Mexico has increased during the past few years, the Internet has played an increasing role across the entire spec­trum of the Mexican educational system. For instance, with the innovative and expanding use of resources in the Red Escolar program, the integration of the Internet in K-12 education is having a significant impact on young learners in Mexico. Such students will soon enter higher education with expectations for similar engaging and personalized learning opportunities. At the same time, the evolving educational model of the ITESM is highlighting the success of blended learning approaches in Mexican higher education.

When successful, authentic communities of learning are formed in blended environments. The enormous possibilities of communication technology com­bined with the opportunities brought by endless seas of online information offer personal enrichment as well as innovation within a group. The communica­tion that flows is an intellectual stimulus and source of personal satisfaction for all participants. In the virtual community, members share interests, knowl­edge, and ideas and begin to self-reflect. We have found that both professors and students declare that interaction and learning are more frequent, deeper, and more personal than in a traditional course. So onward we happily push into this age of blended learning.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX