Learning in the Virtually

 

Fiorela Anaa Fernandez Otoya

Professor assigned to the Department of Science Education

Member of USAT Distance Education Unit

Learning in the Virtually

The implications of the new information and communication technologies in education take diverse meanings  to discover and develop new ways of broaching the Teaching Learning Process (TLP) . The Virtually is a concept, which although is not the same, is associated with this technological impact into the educational world, whose applicability brings a benefit to education and other sectors, that means,   through this a new space, that computer and telecommunications have made ​​available to us, is promoted. The reflection on the educational use of virtual environments has just begun. Today researches are setting off on this important issue due to the demands that society requires.

"The technology that enables virtual communities to have the ability to bring to any citizen an enormous power at a relatively low cost: intellectual, social and commercial power, etc. But technology will not fill this potential by itself; this latent technical power has to be used intelligently and deliberately by an informed population. Everyone has to learn about this power and learn to use it, while we still have the freedom to do it, to live up to its potential." ( Howar Rheingold )

The potential of the virtually lies in people’s imagination or ideas, because nowadays technology  gives us the opportunity to glimpse, to rebuild the imagination, that is, to make visual reality our ideas. It is what we call virtual reality, but we can still go further through this technology because virtual communities can be formed, that means spaces that allow human interaction through asynchronous tools such as email, forums, ads etc., which do not require real-time in other words no coincidence of time and space. From my experience, being a member of a virtual community: UNED - Spain , it is a great challenge : first, because the people who interact have  their own thoughts, their own style of learning and teaching, to transmit a message, your style sociability, design projects , etc , ie every day thanks to the interaction and communication that take place in virtual communities, new windows  of how learning and teaching are opening .