At the University of Seville, we have temporarily resorted to distance learning (during the period of the “state of alarm” decreed by the government). I keep track of teaching through the virtual teaching platform, with two fundamental tools so far: the forum and the delivery of case studies.

In the forum we maintain continuous communication with students, answer questions and review the theoretical content. We have also created a section entitled “studying in quarantine”, where students can exchange their impressions on the confinement. This section has been especially used by Erasmus students and Latin American exchange students so far. They especially value having the opportunity to contact with other students, in these stressful circumstances. Complementarily, I have published several blog post on “how to reduce the psychological impact of quarantine”, “how to prevent infectious disease transmission” and “how negative information is disseminated in Twitter”. This is theoretical content for which they are especially receptive now.

The delivery of case studies by students is working very well. While participation in the forum was difficult to start, with the case studies everything has worked well from the beginning. Possibly, it is because they are very important in the final evaluation of the subject. This shows how critical evaluation is for learning.

One last experience has to do with external practices. We are trying to turn them into research practices or “telework”. In this area we have the experience of “cybervolunteering” practices, which some students have been doing in recent years. For example, two students have created a blog with information to prevent child labor. Through cybervolunteering, educational materials can be designed for community prevention and promotion. Students can also work remotely with families at social risk. Quarantine can become an opportunity to enhance virtual teaching and to innovate with teaching-learning practices.

Shared by: Isidro Maya Jariego, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)