Virtualization of presential classes at the university

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought substantial changes in ways of life; and education as a fundamental part of cultural transformation has not been left out of the maelstrom of adaptations to new ways of life. The present work proposes the readjustment of the academic management of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the National University of Asunción (FCQ-UNA), through the creation of the Virtual Classroom 2020 as an integrating platform that allowed the continuity of the academic processes of the seven careers offered only in presence-based modality. For its proper execution, trainings have been carried out for teachers and students, which have been addressed with the objective of achieving digital skills in virtual teaching-learning environments. A survey of the teachers’ perceptions about the implemented mode was carried out, the results of which are presented in the paper, to report the effectiveness of the system for the achievement of the objectives. The results indicate a high satisfaction of the teachers about the implemented strategies, which have served to give a new, more dynamic, and open approach to their classes, both in theory and in laboratory practices and problem solving.