Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja thirty years of providing distance education

Abstract

The Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja has thirty years of experience in Distance Higher Education expressing, in some way, the actual status of Distance Education in Latin America. We discuss, from the point of view of our history and the dual educational system in our University, the most outstanding milestones of Distance Education in general (which is the most important educational breakthrough of the twentieth century) and propose future research lines. We must also mention the need for a genuine systemic approach for Distance Education and its integration with the different elements of a University which is focused on the development of research, linked to society and open to the world. The Educational Model of the University must be focused on a prospective and humanistic approach, away from theoricism, integrating all the aspects of the educational context in an organized way.