Social representations of university students during distance education by covid 19 pandemic

Abstract

The objective of this communication is to know the social representations (Moscovici, 2013) that students from two public universities have had during their distance education due to the pandemic and how their learning practices have been transformed through the use of different tools. The methodology used is qualitative with a descriptive approach using in-depth interviews. The research participants are 4 students from two public universities in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, who studied remotely for four semesters (2020-2022). The study allows us to understand the meaning of social representations considering their interests, needs and motivations that respond to socio-cultural-economic patterns established since the confinement due to the COVID 19 pandemic, it is emphasized in identifying teaching and learning situations from experiences that they assume as a social group (Jodelete, 1986). The main results are disclosed organized into three themes: 1. Use and employment of educational technologies used remotely during the pandemic; 2. Developed digital skills; 3. University experiences in the use of educational technologies in their teaching and learning processes. The conclusions are presented, recognizing in a comparison the challenges, difficulties, convergences, divergences and areas of opportunity that the students lived in both universities during this important stage of their university education, ending with the bibliography consulted in the present study.