Educational Strategy based on Connectivism and Problem-Based Learning: Design of a Virtual Classroom

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused teaching-modes adaptation challenges that higher education institutions had to face when they had to transferred face-to-face courses to virtual modalities. This required pedagogical innovations that demanded the implementation of information and communication technologies to teaching-learning processes. A virtual classroom was designed for an interdisciplinary course leaded by occupational therapy professionals. It proposes a community project based on flipped classroom and problem-based learning (PBL) strategies, conceptualized under the connectivism theory. It encompasses 5 categories: design and user experience, communication and interaction, intellectual property, pedagogy and didactics, and learning assessment and continuous feedback. The proposal uses the LMS Moodle platform to facilitate feedback options and multimedia content access, and it uniformly organizes the learning thematic route. The flipped classroom and PBL strategies promote the development of learning skills such as critical and analytic thinking, collaborative and interdisciplinary work, and self-adoption of the learning process. Connectivism proposes the use of tools which enhance peer and instructor interaction due to familiarity with habitual communication contexts. From the perspective of the instructor, challenges to be updated on the use of technological resources oriented to significant learning, and that address current social needs are highlighted. From the standpoint of the student, challenges point to the need to strengthen leadership and formative process appropriation.