Live virtual class attendance as a factor of academic success in distance postgraduate studies Asistencia a clase virtual en directo como factor de éxito académico en estudios de posgrado a distancia

Abstract

The irruption of technology in the different fields of society not only generates additional needs but also allows for new training tools, such as virtual education, which overcomes the barriers of time and space. At present, the number of people who decide to complete their major studies with postgraduate virtual training has increased considerably, so in order to improve these training environments, it becomes necessary to delve into certain aspects. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to analyze whether attendance to live virtual classes is one factor that positively influences performance. For this purpose, we used a non-experimental methodology with a non-probabilistic sample of 458 students from the Special Education Master’s Degree Program at the International University of La Rioja. After using the Mann-Whitney U test as a hypothesis contrasting technique, it is concluded that students who attend live virtual classes obtain higher grades in the exam than those who do not attend. At the pedagogical level, the results show that whether the student is able to attend the class synchronously; it is a relevant factor to be considered by the teacher when planning the teaching of subjects in the virtual format.