It may only be a matter of time before some of the age-old hallmarks of a university education become obsolete, with early morning lectures and packed classrooms going the same way as blackboards, chalk and lessons in Latin.
As the digital revolution reaches the higher education sector, pioneering online universities are endeavouring to ensure that this new breed of institution retains the best characteristics of a traditional university while letting students benefit from all the advantages of digital technology.
Online university UNIR, the largest in the Spanish-speaking world, aims to give its students the same level of personal attention and support as they would enjoy at a physical university. Each student receives the support of a personal tutor who accompanies their progress and guides them through all stages of their journey at UNIR.
Meanwhile, because of the transparency of online classes, staff at UNIR believe that the quality of education at these new universities could surpass the level seen at traditional institutions.
Elena Martinez Carro, education faculty dean at UNIR, details the institution’s focus on academic excellence and explains the benefits of the online revolution for students and members of faculty.
How does UNIR guarantee the quality of the education it provides?
All our teachers are required to take immersive courses in online teaching. It is not as easy as it seems. Not all teachers can do it. An online teacher has to learn how to communicate through the webcam and how to build empathy with their students.
That is the first step. Then we carefully evaluate the teachers’ performance, based mainly on feedback from students. Students have to fill in evaluation forms about their teacher, asking them about their technique, the quality of their presentations and how well they correct their students’ mistakes. The faculty director, the continuous improvement department and the content department also provide their feedback. With the information received from all these players, by the end of the course we have a very clear image of each teacher. Based on this evaluation, we can plan to support and help improve teachers where necessary.
How do you reward the best teachers?
When a teacher has worked with us for between two and three years, and has also put in a strong research performance, we may choose to award them an indefinite, open-ended professional career at UNIR. We only do this with teachers who have worked for us for two or three years and after intense evaluation. This guarantees the quality of our faculty members.
How does the quality of the best online education compare with traditional universities?
I believe that the quality at online universities can be much higher than at in-person universities. I like to say that our team are in a fish tank, because they teach in a completely transparent classroom. This is not the case for traditional universities.
How important is research to UNIR?
UNIR’s strategy is to support teachers in their research. Not all teachers are able to undertake teaching, researching and administration at the same time. Some members of our faculty are more interested in developing their teaching career, others prefer to concentrate on their field of research whilst some are more focused on developing their managing skills. At UNIR we aim to identify and help our talent.
How will UNIR improve its position in the university ranking tables?
Most university rankings measure research. We believe rankings are important, but we also believe that this is not the only thing that makes a great faculty. The Dean of a very important national public university told me recently that some of their departments do not have faculty members teaching classes as they all want to focus on research.
They never actually step into a classroom. That is not the UNIR way. We do not believe in theoretical research that will not have a positive impact on society. For us, the transfer of knowledge from research to classroom is more important
