Since the beginning of the coronavirus SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) pandemic, a number of teachers have created a wide variety of materials to teach their classes in Zoom, classroom, made presentations in programs such as PowerPoint, collected videos and carefully edited them, transformed their studies or bedrooms into places of material production or into small laboratories; later, at the end of the pandemic, they had to return to the classrooms.

Upon their return, they recognized the value of the materials and determined that it would be unwise to send them to a repository¹ for semi-independent learning. Similarly, they recognized that the classrooms were not adequately equipped to utilize such materials, so they have invested in their own equipment to enhance the scale of understanding in their classes.

The UAM Azcapotzalco campus (UAM-A) is analyzed as a case study. The objective of this text is to provide a general description of the existing equipment situation in the Azcapotzalco campus with regard to the use of multimedia equipment in the classroom. In this context, it is first necessary to reflect on the meaning of modernity and to provide a brief description of the use of computers. Secondly, three distinct educational stages at UAM-A are referenced. PEER, PROTEMM, and PROPAE: PEER corresponds to the beginning of the pandemic, PROTEMM concerns the return to classes with a mixed proposal for teaching one class per week of each subject remotely; educational proposals that were implemented and point to the last one as an example. The PROPAE program is currently in the pilot phase. In this setting, the modernization of technology in the classroom, the current situation, and the institutional efforts at the level of general infrastructure with which it provides teachers and students of the unit in different sites² are discussed. The teaching body is perceptibly classified into three general categories following the pandemic. Finally, some issues that are difficult to resolve due to the use of technology are presented.

The etymological root of the word modern refers to its origin in the Latin word “modernus”, which in turn comes from “mode”, and it indicates that something is happening in the present. Since the 14th century and especially before the Renaissance, it has been used to indicate that something is current or recent. (Diccionario Etimológico Castellano Moderno, 2024) .

Historically, modern refers to that which is in accordance with the present time, that which is not yet part of the mediate past and which could be said to be in vogue. Modern ideas or customs are those that break with what was hitherto believed or tradition.

In contrast, modernity is a historical period distinguished by profound changes in various domains, including infrastructure, technology, the perspective of perceiving a new reality, haute couture, design, music, and clothing. Since the 1960s, the hippie social movement has played a pivotal role in shaping the collective consciousness, fostering a consumer sentiment towards products, a vast appetite for the modern, the novel, and the ephemeral (Depeche Mode), while simultaneously denigrating the past. This has led to the intensified ascension of youth culture in various domains.

In essence, the modern is the antithesis of the old, that which is already obsolete and was once modern (Diccionario de la Lengua Española, 2024) , given that everything is contingent upon the passage of time. What is perceived as modern today will inevitably become obsolete in the near future, as new developments emerge to supersede it. The concept of modernity can be understood in relation to accelerated industrial or technological development and epistemology, which is the study of science and knowledge. The study of these two concepts allows us to gain insight into the evolution of both knowledge and subjectivity in different historical and cultural contexts, which are currently influenced by marketing manipulation.

In light of the ever-evolving landscape of technology and its integration into the classroom, a gradual evolution of modernity in educational settings and the utilization of diverse devices has been observed over the past several decades. With respect to the nexus between teaching and learning, this technological advancement has consistently been perceived as a catalyst for both the advancement of modernity and the advent of a novel approach to learning.

It is worth doing a little object archeology to understand how this myth was created. Originally the term “personal computer” appeared in print in The New York Times on November 3rd, 1962 , which according to the minutes issued at a meeting of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. John William Mauchly noted, “There is no reason to suppose that the average boy, or girl, could not own a personal computer.” It certainly took decades for that dream to become a reality.

The personal computer was first introduced in the 1970s. Companies such as Apple, IBM, and Microsoft played a fundamental role in the development of both hardware and software, thereby giving the modern computer its distinctive form. The Apple I and II personal computers were already established in the collective consciousness as the archetype of what is commonly understood as a personal computer.

At that time, the mere possession of a computer prompted a multitude of interpretations. It was commonly believed that individuals who owned such devices were wealthy, that both the device and the user were intelligent, and that they were familiar with mathematical concepts. Consequently, there was a great deal of apprehension about interacting with computers, due to the possibility of damaging them or appearing foolish³.

From this premise, multimedia education⁴ has been taken as an almost mythical point of arrival, as if it were the wonderful philosopher’s stone of the alchemists that transformed any metal into gold and cured all kinds of diseases. In recent years, multimedia has become a viable option in various contexts and economic settings, serving as a didactic resource. Its use in teaching and learning has become a near-universal requirement in educational institutions, particularly those with a reputation for excellence⁵.

Since the 1990s, with the advent of the Internet, there has been a great deal of discussion about the potential impact of information technologies and the development of various multimedia components in the form of software that could be used as tools for communication in the classroom. At all educational levels, institutions have sought to leverage the advantages and possibilities offered by these resources to enhance their teaching-learning processes.

PEER, PROTEMM and PROPAE: A Teaching Continuity at UAM-AZCAPOTZALCO

In December 2019, the SARS-CoV2 Coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in China, subsequently spreading globally and precipitating the first pandemic of the 21st century. In light of the circumstances, UNESCO called upon the highest educational authorities to devise creative solutions to ensure the continuity of student education. This entailed the utilization of all available institutional capacities and various resources, including information and communication technologies. In essence, it was evident that the interruption of education was untenable and that efforts should be made to enhance efficiency to the greatest extent possible (UAM, 2020) .

In light of the unprecedented situation, the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) approved the Emerging Remote Education Project (PEER) with the objective of ensuring the continuity of university education and the continuation of the University’s core functions, including teaching, research, and the dissemination of science and culture. Despite the closure of the facilities, the University remained operational (Ibid) ( Table 1 ).

Secure access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) was established. The technological platforms and options proposed were designed to provide, to a certain extent, privacy protection, data security, technical assistance, and institutional formalization. The various units had already established technological infrastructure, which was further reinforced through PEER. This infrastructure was extended to encompass the university units and academic divisions (Ibid).

Two years after its emergence, the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) had become less prevalent, prompting the authorities to relax some sanitary restrictions. Consequently, the Mixed Modality Teaching Transition Program (PROTEMM) was approved at the 500th session of the UAM’s collegiate body. In this context, the five university units will offer and teach teaching-learning units (UEA) in a face-to-face mode, in accordance with the approved study plans and programs. In certain instances, the divisional councils were able to determine

that certain UEAs would be programmed in a mixed and hybrid mode⁶ (UAM, 2021) .

In the event that students are unable to attend in person for extraordinary reasons, the coordinating departments will consider the matter. If necessary, the divisional councils will then consider scheduling mixed and hybrid mode options. The academic staff were grateful for the university’s support in attending academic activities in any modality. (Ibid)

In our estimation, the PROTEMM initiative represented an effort to firmly integrate hybrid teaching methodologies⁷, which included one online session per week and the remainder as one or two face-to-face classes. The CAMVIA platform was employed to accommodate the disparate configurations of virtual classrooms devised by individual teachers, which included exercises, videos, and tasks (UAM, 2022: p.2) . For some teachers, this platform served as a support⁸, while for others, it functioned as an ad hoc space for following up on classes and observing a light follow-up. However, the precise manner in which the evaluation process was carried out remains unclear. This represents a spectrum of flexibility for the student body that is opaque and difficult to assess.

It is in this context that the Universidad Autónoma de México (UAM) Azcapotzalco is able to comprehend the various scenarios that may arise in the event of an unforeseen health crisis. At the end of April 2022, the Academic College recommended that the relevance of taking advantage of the learning and experiences derived from PEER and PROTEMM be analyzed with the purpose of promoting the necessary changes for the innovation and strengthening of current study plans and programs. In addition, the creation of alternative study plans and programs, tailored to the local and national context of higher education, is encouraged⁹ (Ibid).

In accordance with the provisions of the 2024 Annual School Programming Criteria, which were approved on February 1st, 2024, by the Divisional Council of Social Sciences and Humanities (DCSH) in its session No. 634, the Pilot Program for Student Support to Improve the Academic Career Path (PROPAE) is hereby initiated. The aforementioned objectives are aimed at maintaining quality through innovation in teaching practice¹⁰ (UAM, 2023) .

In this sense, each Division: Engineering Sciences (CBI), Sciences and Arts of Design (CYAD) and Social Sciences and Humanities (CSH) divisions will rely as much as possible on the CAMVIA platform as an alternative solution to address the unit’s long-standing challenges, including the lack of classrooms, crowded schedules at certain critical hours from 10 am to 1 pm, and the inefficient use of space in the classrooms (Ibid). This includes small classrooms that are often overcrowded with students, or conversely, large classrooms with few students taking classes. In other words, classrooms of varying sizes and configurations are observed, with some containing a large number of students seated on the floor, while others are much larger with a smaller number of students.

Now, in 2024, after 60 years of development of a cyberculture¹¹ around the computer and with the explosion of knowledge that constitutes the Internet, the broad panorama of what is happening positively becomes almost impossible to narrate in a single article. The development of machines interconnected in networks amplifies the work of human thought with its peers. The computer has contributed to the creation of educational theories for implementation in school environments, such as the cognitive approach, the learning to learn approach and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning¹².

In those 60 years, a wide variety of programming languages, platforms, devices, screens, and applications have been created; each component promotes a particular advancement through privilege:

It could be said that there are many positive things thanks to the mythical object that is a computer, but on the negative side, this way of conceptualizing the modern world inscribed in a digital culture has several undesirable aspects to varying degrees, such as:

It is commendable to note that despite all these factors, public universities have taken extraordinary measures to provide computerized spaces to their students to improve their performance, in the case of UAM Azcapotzalco, where we can observe the creation, adaptation and underutilization of these virtual environments.

Clearly, the Computer Center of UAM-A¹⁵, known as Building T, stands out as the greatest institutional effort for students who lack equipment to be able to do their school work; it is a vast space located on the second floor called John Von Newman Room, which is composed of 350 computers distributed for the work of students of the three divisions (CYAD; CBI and CSH), contains 64 Mac-Apple computer machines for CYAD students and 296 PC computer machines equipped with Windows, which are used for mass testing of various subjects as well as for foreign language placement exams and survey voting( Image 1 ).

The first level of the facility contains two computerized rooms for CBI students, each with a flat layout. The second level comprises three computerized rooms, two of which are programmed by reservation only according to the number of attendees, with a flat layout. The third room is of a stadium type and is designed to accommodate 36 attendees ( Image 2 ).

All of the above-mentioned classrooms have air conditioning, videoconferencing equipment and a 60-inch flat screen for videoconferencing, as well as a motorized retractable screen. In short, they are equipped computerized classrooms reserved for students to carry out their work and to take classes in this

In general terms, the multimedia equipment of UAM Azcapotzalco unit can be visualized in the following floor plan ( Figure 1 ).

As illustrated in the above floor plan, the Azcapotzalco campus has partially multimedia equipment in some of its buildings, including: B, C, D, E, and K. In contrast, the Computer Center and Building L are fully equipped for multimedia classes.

Despite the fact that the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana has been concerned about assigning courses for the teaching staff to be qualified for the tasks that the academic cybersociety demands and that, “on paper” in some way, most of the professors in “institutional” terms have already been trained.

In reality, there are several types of teachers in the academic sphere:

When teachers returned to class, some had already prepared their materials for the pandemic and wanted to reuse them. But most of the classrooms are not equipped or the equipment is outdated, the projectors do not work in the best way, they have to be connected with cables to a control panel that is a bit outdated, the existing wireless network is not powerful enough and there are not enough power sockets¹⁶ in some classrooms.

There are other teachers who bring their own projector, laptop, speakers, and extension, and it becomes a ritual of unpacking, plugging in, unplugging, powering up, powering down, and storing the equipment for each class, losing 10 to 15 minutes that ultimately add up to hours of very valuable instruction. This is without adding the movement of desks necessary to place the projector on a flat surface at the appropriate distance for projection.

However, in various texts, it is constantly mentioned that the problem of multimedia teaching turns out to be the teachers. Cabero (2014: 22-23) mentions that students surpass teachers in technological mastery, the teacher feels insecure in front of students in these areas and can sometimes appear incompetent, they are not updated on the latest versions of the software and its use.

In this student-teacher relationship, the student becomes a very selective consumer because he knows that only in the cell phone there is a small computer and he has access to many videos presented by the teacher via Internet. The same is the case when the teacher (and the student in silence) just reads slides loaded with text and it becomes a very boring class and they don’t even take notes because they just take pictures of whatever is projected. More worrisome comments from students are about virtual classrooms, where they say that they do not even know their teacher visually and that evaluations turn out to be more lax than in face-to-face courses.

This vision projects a greater challenge for the teacher, he has not only to present slides, complete movies, interactive exercises, but also has to encourage the development of knowledge and social interactions; and that these tasks are derived from a projection of the core contents of the subjects and that he must remain vigilant to ensure that the classroom climate is respectful, pleasant, and that the attention process is not lost.

From our point of view, regardless of the quality of the equipment that the university has, the excessive manipulation of the equipment by the students will quickly have consequences for them, because each computer works a little differently, and the students are not properly trained to maneuver the equipment properly. In the same way, every time a student inserts a USB flash drive into a computer, it can serve as a virus agent from home, from an Internet cafe, or from any other place, and therefore the equipment is affected. Another situation is that, from the moment the student and the teacher prepare their respective equipment for the class, there is a period of waiting for everything and everyone to be ready. This is a period of time that is lost in each class. Similarly, the equipment must be turned off, the materials collected, and the blackboard erased.

In some computer classrooms, the assistance of a technician is necessary to resolve any technical issues that may arise. Sometimes in the case of connecting to the network, it can be a significant challenge. For instance, during a graduate class, three laptops were used to connect for approximately 20 minutes for a teleconference Zoom session. In order to utilize technology effectively in the classroom, professors must purchase cables, speakers, adapters, projectors, and laptops. They must also hope that their equipment will not malfunction or suffer any loss of functionality.

In the general eagerness to identify a responsible party to account for unsatisfactory educational outcomes, it appears that all parties involved are quick to point the finger at one another, whether it be students at other students or at teachers, teachers at themselves or at their academic or political struggles, or at the inadequacies of secondary education. Some others blame the institutions and their teaching methods, whether traditional or technology-oriented.

At this time, a number of sensitive issues are being discussed in academic circles, including bullying, victimization, invisibilization, school harassment, gender violence, and the role of technology in the classroom. It is likely that each of these issues will require decades to find the most appropriate and kindest ways of resolution.

It is important to recognize that distance education, self-managed courses, blended courses, and virtual classrooms represent viable alternatives to traditional educational models to a certain extent. These alternatives require a specific type of student with certain unique characteristics, as well as a very correspondingly dedicated teacher. However, those of us who support these alternatives believe that technology cannot fully replicate the benefits of traditional classroom learning, including the positive socialization that occurs in a physical setting, the constructive engagement with ideas in a dynamic environment, and the unpredictable and enriching experiences that can occur in a classroom setting.

This illustrates the existence of educators who embrace the use of multimedia with great enthusiasm, and those who remain wedded to the traditional pedagogical methods of the blackboard, textbook, and rote knowledge transmission. This assertion does not imply that teachers are unsuccessful in any form of instruction.

The technology is there and will not be removed from the classroom. It is beneficial to utilize it, but not for every class or for the entire class. It is not uncommon for students to experience academic indigestion when viewing or reading uninteresting PowerPoint presentations or entire movies for only 10 minutes of the core content. The UAM is making a commendable effort to integrate technological means of education. However, the most significant challenge facing higher education is not the acquisition of equipment, but the maintenance and updating of electronic equipment in the context of a limited budget and the size of the student body and faculty.

¹Since the teachers mostly privilege in-person education.

²It should be noted that the figures and numbers presented in this text may not be entirely accurate due to the decommissioning of equipment, the repair of equipment, the remodeling of spaces, the presence of stock in the warehouse, and the difficulty of verifying reality on paper in contrast to observable reality.

³This techno-phobia is still observed in certain older people who could not be able to dedicate the time to learn and practice what they wanted to get from the multiple potentialities of this machine.

⁴Strengthened by the learning to learn approach, constructivism and taking the student and his independent management as a central focus.

⁵It would seem that learning takes place by osmosis just from being in contact with a keyboard and a screen.

⁶The term “mixed or hybrid mode” refers to a teaching approach that combines in-person and online learning. In this approach, the virtual classroom serves as a support for the classes, and the content can be completed synchronously or asynchronously. This approach optimizes time and facilitates independent learning, while experimental activities are conducted in person, alternating with others at home or using simulators.

⁷In order to avoid contagions.

⁸In a good didactic collection of exercises.

⁹Resolution 509.5, approved in Session No. 509 of the Academic College, held on April 27, 2022.

¹⁰…the Coordination of Innovation and Educational Technologies of the Azcapotzalco Unit, invites the academic staff to take advantage and benefit from digital tools such as the CAMVIA platform, in order to enhance virtual spaces and their application.

¹¹It is a neologism that combines the word culture and the prefix cyber, in relation to cybernetics, as well as things related to virtual reality. It is the information and communication technologies that have created a great revolution in the way information is accessed, appropriated and transmitted, generating new educational, social, political and economic developments (Kerckhove, 1999) .

¹²Without dismissing all the contributions of learning theories not mentioned since Plato, Skinner, Vygotsky and Piaget. Likewise, the importance of the central figure of the teacher or facilitator in the theory of multimedia learning is emphasized.

¹³Including Linux on personal computers, which is a free open source alternative.

¹⁴This inequality is related to aspects such as: geographical location, economy, society, culture, age, gender, etc., that is, a direct consequence of social differences that limit the possibilities of the individual, whether at the social or personal level.

¹⁵Located behind the cafeteria and next to the COSEI Library.

¹⁶It is unfortunate that some power sockets are stolen or vandalized.