Bridging the gaps between technology and engineering education

Laburpena

The great technological development in which we are immersed has changed the scenarios, tools and forms of learning. Inthe light of those challenges, engineers must be able to develop new skills and abilities to face them, through plannedtechnical pedagogical training that allows them to link technology with engineering education. As a result of previousresearch, the need for a link between technology and education in engineering was evident, as was the need for training inplatforms for the creation of virtual learning spaces. To this end, the proposal was applied to a case study involving a groupof engineering educators from the Escuela Polite ́cnica Nacional de Quito. This research aims to present the results of theimplementation of a training programme for engineering educators to improve their competence in new technologies andthe teaching design methodologies applied to the design of online learning environments for engineering. To achieve thisgoal, the training included a framework based on pedagogical foundations, instructional and learning strategies, onlinelearning technologies and good practices of engineering design activities, as well as a Learning Management System (LMS)platform adopted by the institution. The results of the implementation of this pedagogical technical training strategy showthat 92% of engineering educators confirmed that the proposed framework helped them to develop online courses. Inaddition, 83% of engineering educators confirmed that the training course in the LMS tool was useful. Additionally, it wasconfirmed, with an acceptance of more than 90%, that the inclusion of the recommendations for the design of theengineering activities was relevant. These results confirm the adaptability of engineering teachers to the application of newtechnologies and methodologies, and will enable the production of better qualified engineers to pursue this profession andface future challenges.