The Future of Education

Online education has undergone major developments in recent decades. This is due not only to the need for training and updating of skills to face the labour market, but also to the advances that technology has achieved. Nowadays, more and more higher education institutions, and not only these, are resorting to this type of education. For its main frequenters, this modality has been a powerful ally that allows them to face the challenges of society and, at the same time, reconcile the different aspects of their personal and professional life. Allied to the development of online education, it was necessary to work and adapt the pedagogical issues that arise from it. It was in this context that we sought to identify the perception of a group of first-year undergraduate students in online learning modality of this education system. Thus, our sample was composed of 84 students, 89.3% female and 10.7% male, with an average age of 40.2 years (SD=8.5). As an instrument for data collection, we used a questionnaire with 3 questions - Defining online teaching in 3 or 4 concepts; what the added value of online teaching is and whether it allows for the development of digital skills. The thematic analysis of the answers points to a concept of online teaching which emphasizes Flexibility and the possibility of managing time and spaces, the learner's autonomy, but which does not take away discipline, focus and the need for self-regulation. Technology has an important weight and allows a practical, dynamic, asynchronous teaching, an opportunity. Finally, 61.9% of students totally agree that online teaching allows the development of digital skills. In short, our students seem to be aware of the characteristics, and advantages, of online teaching, as well as of the demands that exist, as learners, who attend it. It is also worth highlighting its role at the societal level in helping to develop skills - digital skills - that are transversal to the global society and one of the key skills for the 21st century.