MOTIVATION IN TELEMATIC ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

Internet opens multiple possibilities to the educational system. The pedagogic community has to set itself in tune with that situation. Time and space obstacles to study disappear. Distance learning has a new resource to be able to develop globally. Educational platforms and technologies arise, but there is no doubt about the need to develop them on a pedagogic basis. Constructivist theories give us a frame that interrelates with these digital resources. We can take them as a starting point, but that does not mean new theories may crop up from the use of these digital tools in distance learning. Technology moves on faster than faculty reaction. The aspects to investigate are varied in these environments. I have based this article on my personal experience as a virtual student in several distance programs. I have attended short courses, a degree course and a post-graduate course on-line. I have been able to keep motivation in some of them, and I have dropped out in one of them. I hope this material becomes useful as a starting point for debate and as a way to get contributions from other colleagues who are geographically distant, but close through the net.