Origins and transformations of online learning (E-learning). Educational innovations mediated by technological paradigms

Abstract

The pandemic associated with COVID-19 has consolidated the use of online learning (E-learning) as the educational means that all educational institutions in Colombia must adapt in order to continue with the teaching and learning processes through virtual classrooms to guarantee the isolation and lockdown of students regarded as vulnerable population. This article aims to describe the history of instructional connectivism as an educational alternative mediated and subordinated to changes in paradigms and technological devices. A comparative analysis of the history of computer-mediated education and a chronological account of the learning transformations mediated by electronic devices is presented in this qualitative study, as well as the challenge in terms of connectivity in E-learning intended as an educational innovation in times of crisis and not only as a technological means to continue with the face-to-face classroom practices and traditions. The conclusions of the article reaffirm the importance of technological paradigms and the access to personalized and interconnected devices to ensure online learning processes, asynchronous accessibility of individuals or isolated groups and instructional design through platforms that encourage collaborative learning.