Real-Time Distance Courses to Improve Satisfaction and Competence: A Case Study of International Professors and Local Students

Distance education is an alternative to traditional education made possible by technology. The essential components for remote teaching are easy access, usefulness, social interaction, and flexibility of time and place. Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) has recently implemented a program to promote the visit of foreign professors to Mexico, this initiative is called PEV (foreign visitor professor). One way to get more benefits from the program is to invite them to give distance classes once their presence year in Mexico has ended. This case study describes student satisfaction with the theoretical-practical courses taught through the real-time distance learning method in the School of Architecture and Industrial Design. The determining factors in the student approval were defined as: the learners’ inclination to take similar courses, the quality of contact between teacher and students, feeling inspired by the professor, and recommending the course to other students. The primary factors of novelty, flexibility, and utility of the remote format were measured using a Likert-type scale. The findings revealed a notable level of acceptance by students. Specifically, the course format factor was positively valued by the sample. These findings are significant to Latin American and international universities because they describe one way to improve their distance or remote teaching and learning offerings.