Migrating from Old E-Learning Platforms to New Ones: A Mexican Experience.

For more than 5 years, Mexico's El Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterey (ITESM) has offered distance education programs in addition to traditional face-to-face programs. ITESM has recently begun migrating to new e-learning platforms (Blackboard and Web Tec) that are more user-friendly and flexible than its previous e-platform (LearningSpace). Besides raising a number of technical issues, the migration has raised a number of educational/instructional issues. The biggest reason for the switch to new platforms was that some courses--especially those related to areas such as the social sciences, arts, and critical thinking--do not lend themselves to the LearningSpace platform, which is best suited for subjects that can be taught in a lineal and mechanical way. One big problem in the migration process has been professors' unfamiliarity with details of the new platforms' operation. Another area of concern has been that Blackboard can be too flexible and thus confusing for organizing the content of certain courses. Although Blackboard's instructional design is good for a constructivist and humanist educational approach, it is not good for a mechanical and behaviorist approach. Blackboard has also been criticized for not organizing students' assignments well and being too confusing. Nevertheless, the general consensus is that migration to new e-learning platforms will be positive for ITESM's distance education programs. (MN)