DISTANCE-EDUCATION EXTENDS ACADEMIC LEARNING AND INTEGRATE A TECHNICAL-PROFESSIONAL SECTOR TO AQUACULTURE WORK

• Published in: Revista iberoamericana de educación a distancia 2001-12, Vol.4 (2), p.137-150
• Main Authors: Beatriz Graciela Banno, Jadranka Juric, Eduardo A. Vallarino, Juan Carlos Mallo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acuicultura; educación a distancia; formación continua; maricultura; microemprendimientos
• ISSN: 1138-2783; 1390-3306
• DOI: 10.5944/ried.4.2.1187

The Extension course develops from 1998 to present days, as an inter-cooperation program between the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Open University, both belonging to the Mar del Plata National University. This course was useful for 163 students of all the country, beig introductory to general aspects for people of initial of middle educational level. The course is based on 4 practical task, 3 integrity activities, and a pre-project on aquaculture enterprise. Total duration is about 6 months. Students belong to different parts of the country, 64.5% of the Central region, 28.2% from the south, 4.4% of northwest and 3.1 % of the northeast. Cultures of fishes were selected in 59%, 22% in mollusks, and 19% in Crustaceans. About 80% of students have a technical or professional formation. This allows qualification on aspects not included in traditional carriers. The course have more acceptance in traditional aquaculture zones, and also in the central region, due to the presence of about 20 educational university centers (Buenos Aires Province). Distance education is a good tool, that can be useful for development in new production areas, generating work for peoples out of the educational system due to work needs, distance to educational centers, and lack of interest.