From face-to-face to virtual learning: lessons learned and challenges faced by the Online Secondary Education Institute

Abstract

This article analyzes the implementation of the online secondary education model at the Georgino Andrade Online Secondary Education Institute, focusing on the lessons learned, institutional transformations, and challenges involved in the transition from face-to-face to virtual education. A qualitative study with a documentary, descriptive-interpretive design was conducted. The corpus included regulations, lesson plans, curriculum designs, academic records on enrollment, retention, and platform interaction, as well as written testimonies from students and teachers. The information was examined through document analysis, content analysis, and critical discourse analysis. The findings show pedagogical and organizational reconfiguration supported by teacher training, tutorial guidance, formative assessment, and the production of digital resources. Institutional records indicate enrollment growth and high retention rates; these data are interpreted descriptively rather than as evidence of causal relationships. Connectivity gaps and difficulties related to academic Spanish among students from the Caribbean Coast were also identified. Concrete actions are proposed, including low-data materials, offline access, support for devices and connectivity, glossaries and linguistically accessible resources, targeted tutoring, and territorial monitoring. The study concludes that the model constitutes an educational inclusion alternative whose consolidation requires simultaneous attention to pedagogical, technological, territorial, and linguistic dimensions.