Master’s degrees in the Spanish university system: assessing the virtualization of online courses

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on the academic management of online master’s degrees taught at Spanish attendance-based state universities. The study focused on the analysis of the distance learning modality to establish a typology of courses and their degree of virtualization. To gather data, a heuristic test was designed consisting of four fundamental dimensions: type of online learning platform, course description regarding the learning modality, simultaneity with other modalities, and the degree of virtualization. The results show that due to the lack of conceptual clarification, more than 60% of the masters offer a blended modality because they require the physical presence of the student at some point in the learning process.