Durango (Mexico) and Costa Rica: two contrasting views of distance education

Distance education has reached a large and increasing importance in the 21st century. In spite of their historical, cultural and economic resemblances, Mexico and Costa Rica have very different characteristics in distance education. In contrast with Mexico, in Costa Rica the body of research on distance education is voluminous. This study identifies the similarities and general differences between distance education in the State of Durango, Mexico, and Costa Rica. We interviewed all students in Durango (approximately 100) at the Durango Institute of Technology (ITD), Mexico (in 2004) and compare the results with equivalent, previously published studies, about students of the Costa Rica Distance Education University (UNED). The results of the interviews applied in Mexico were analyzed with the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences; those of Costa Rica were taken directly from the literature. We found large differences between Durango and Costa Rica. The ITD is "distance" but presencial, with 100 pupils and a year of experience at the time of the study, and UNED offers completely time-and-place-free education, with approximately 18 000 pupils and 25 years of experience at the moment of the study. Nevertheless, we find that in both cases the students and teaching personnel are satisfied with the multimedia material used in the courses and with the accomplished level of learning.