Original article

The Moodle platform in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law

0000-0002-8500-4144Jorge Félix Gual Ramos^{1  *} 

¹Universidad de Sancti Spíritus "José Martí Pérez". Cuba.

ABSTRACT

The Moodle platform offers higher education and especially the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject, many possibilities for communication and exchange between the subjects of that process itself. In the research carried out, deficiencies were detected regarding the aforementioned process, since the integrated articulation of Information and Communication Technologies and especially the Moodle platform to carry out independent work guided by the teacher is still insufficient, in addition there is lack of knowledge by teachers and students of the potential that this tool can offer. The objective of this article is to propose a teaching strategy to carry out independent work using the Moodle platform. The methods used were analysis and synthesis, historical-logical, document analysis, observation, survey and interview. The final result of this article is a didactic strategy for the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law. It can be concluded that the planned and directed use of the Moodle platform in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law contributes to the achievement of the student's independent work efficiently.

Key words: agrarian law; independent work; teaching strategy; moodle

Introduction

According to researchers ^{Rodríguez and Ortiz (2022, p.2)}, science "is an objective necessity for the formation of culture due to its own humanistic nature. It fulfills its cultural function, so to speak, when it is directed at man, when human knowledge becomes a social factor."

The researcher ^{Lugo (2020, p. 270)} states that "Science and Technology are social processes that man studies in depth, which requires induction and incitement for the development and achievement of impacts and a deep knowledge of their interrelationships." with society". The application of these sciences combined with new technologies based on the development of society is called Science, Technology and Society (STS), which defines an interdisciplinary nature because they occur in disciplines such as philosophy, the history of science, and sociology.

Researchers ^{García, Reyes and Godínez (2017)} propose that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in higher education allow education to be carried out through virtual platforms, ideal for creating different communication environments and, above all, the possibility of having access to virtual learning environments through education.

It is in this sense that researchers from the Law Department of the "José Martí Pérez" University of Sancti Spíritus have carried out a search for the potential that the Moodle platform offers to the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject, with the aim of in order to transform the ways in which the teacher guides independent work, it was detected that the use of this platform presents deficiencies that give rise to the gap to work on it based on that process itself. The most significant shortcomings are in:

• Little use of the Moodle platform, depending on the solution of problems oriented through independent work.

• The integrated use of the Moodle platform as a teaching tool in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law is not frequent, in the search for theory that promotes the response to problems within independent work.

• Students do not socialize the results of their research through the Moodle platform.

The technological advances of the contemporary world constitute an ideal resource to assist the teaching-learning process today. In response to the current growing needs of society, it is up to universities to migrate to digitalize all their processes in these new scenarios.

In this direction, in different regions of the world work is being done to improve teaching-learning scenarios, with the promulgation of standards that make it easier for universities to migrate to virtual spaces without detracting from the quality of the training process in general and the subjects involved. In particular, the pioneers in this transformation have been the Europeans.

In very particular Cuba, the Informatization Policy of Cuban Society is materialized in the National Strategy around the development and access to technologies, encouraging universities to respond with the challenge of change and improvement of their process in the new scenario, which which requires personnel better prepared to face change.

This article is based on the Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development, of the Communist Party of Cuba and the National Plan for Economic and Social Development until 2030: Proposal for the Vision of the Nation, Strategic Economic Axes and Sectors that distinguish human potential , science, technology and innovation and establish among their objectives to increase the impact on economic and social development, including the improvement of the institutional framework and promote the development of research in the field of social and humanistic sciences on priority issues of the society.

To comply with the ideas expressed above, access to technologies by all economic actors is necessary for the development of society, which requires the integration of technological tools, as well as the establishment of new models and strategies that burst with the Traditionalism established in the relationship between universities and society.

The integration of ICT demonstrates the importance of reflecting on the role of universities in their teaching-learning process, to adjust the new technological environments to their environment, taking into account the human, technical and social-political dimensions where it interacts.

The researchers ^{Castillo, Palta and Sigüenza (2016)} expressed that the integrated use of ICT in universities has been strengthened with the incorporation of teaching media such as the interactive whiteboard or interactive digital whiteboard (PDI), which allows using a computer connected to a video projector, make handwritten annotations on any projected image, as well as save it, print it, export it to other formats, and even send it by email to be distributed.

Another advantage that the integrated incorporation of ICT into the teaching-learning process has brought about is the use of so-called virtual teaching-learning environments (EVEA), supported by digital interactive platforms for the university environment at an international level. Among the most used within modern universities are: Blackboard, Virtual-U, WebCT, ATutor, Dokeos and Moodle. The latter, due to the advantages it offers, is the most used by Cuban university professors, making it a challenge to introduce students to this technology.

According to researchers ^{Amador and Labrada (2020)}:

MOODLE is a content management system, focused on the creation and updating of courses by teachers and also a learning management system for students. It is free software that allows you to organize and manage the learning process, group work activities and collaboration on projects, of a large number of students. It also contains content distribution tools -lessons, workshops, materials, glossaries, databases-; communication and collaboration tools -consultations, chats, forums, wikis-; monitoring and evaluation tools - tasks, queries, questionnaires, surveys - and administration and permission assignment tools. (p.259)

According to the aforementioned researchers, images as a tool offer advantages to achieve any general objective of learning, knowledge, understanding and development of skills and augmented reality, which offers broad possibilities by interrelating the real and virtual environment. These means guarantee that the city's students can interact with the agricultural scenario from the classroom.

The researchers ^{Gutiérrez et al. (2021)} state:

The integration of technology by teachers is manifested when they select, use, communicate, solve problems and take advantage of technological tools for teaching purposes. This process of technological integration is carried out gradually, by following firm and safe steps, dynamically articulating what is being done with what is planned to be done, with the aim of advancing progressively and discovering new ways of organizing, improve, enrich and guarantee the fulfillment or purpose for which it was used. (p. 209) We agree with them.

With the application of the Moodle platform to the teaching-learning process, it is possible to solve problems, transform and create new learning environments where teams, programs and subjects of the process interact. Hence the importance of the integration of technological tools, however, this means going beyond the use of resources, since it is not only about having the teaching aids, but it is also necessary for teachers and students to integrate and develop the necessary skills in their use and management to obtain better use of them.

The researchers ^{Romero and Asencio (2022)} report that ICT have become an essential basis for the economic, scientific, sociocultural and productive development of societies in the world and Cuba in particular and have demanded that universities be involved in the processes. of teaching-learning, as a fundamental part of the curriculum, to prepare new generations in the appropriation of these tools in order to guarantee, in the future, university-society relations and the agricultural environment.

That is why it is pertinent to propose a teaching strategy that articulates the Moodle platform to the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject based on the performance of independent work, which contributes to raising the quality of this process in the current circumstances and traces pauses for future conditions.

For the teaching strategy, the main references that were studied in this research are: Reynosa et al. (2019); ^{Ribadeneira (2020)}; ^{Pérez and Díaz (2022)} and ^{Rojas (2022)}. These authors consider that, for the teaching-learning process in the agricultural environment, it is essential to carry out a renewed didactic strategy that allows the use of modern technologies based on this process itself.

The researcher ^{Reynosa Navarro et al., (2019}) referred to the strategy:

They are an essential component of the teaching-learning process. They allow the completion of a task with the required quality due to flexibility and adaptability to existing conditions. They facilitate the confrontation (interactivity) of the learning subject with the object of knowledge, and the relationship of help and cooperation with other colleagues during the learning process. They guide the student's psychic activity so that they learn meaningfully. (p. 265). We agree with this researcher regarding the importance of the strategy to develop the teaching-learning process.

According to the researcher ^{Ribadeneira (2020, p. 243)}, teaching strategies "are action guides that guide in obtaining the results that are intended to be achieved with the learning process, giving meaning and coordination to everything that is done to achieve development of competencies in students".

We agree with the researcher (^{Rojas, 2022}) who states that:

The strategy does not only lie in rational and analytical analysis, in which there is a single correct answer, but emotional aspects can interfere. Strategy is conceived as a practical discipline that may involve a theoretical exercise, but whose final test of validity is given in practice, in action. (p.315)

Regarding the integrated use of ICT in this article, some researchers such as ^{Albornoz, Silarayan and Hidalgo (2022)} and ^{Gual (2022)} were consulted, who offered criteria on the advantages that the technologies provide to the subjects of the process and the need to implement them to social development.

The researcher ^{Gual (2022)} defines ICT as:

the set of instruments and procedures that allow the acquisition, production, storage, treatment, communication, registration and presentation of information, in the form of voice, images and data contained in signals of an acoustic, optical or electromagnetic nature (p. 526).

The aforementioned researcher explained that in recent years technologies have been given various names such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Technologies in Education, Digital Technologies, New Information and Communication Technologies, Information Technologies. learning and Knowledge, Technologies for Empowerment and Participation and Emerging Technologies. Without going into defining each one, it is found that they all have the same purpose and that is to improve teaching and learning processes.

The use of the Moodle platform in the teaching-learning process has been widely addressed in the scientific literature in the American region; several universities have joined the task of specifying successive policy action plans focused on their use to promote development and counteract the great social inequalities that exist in the region, it is for this reason that the didactic strategy is proposed.

In this sense, the author presents the objective of this article as proposing a didactic strategy to carry out independent work through the Moodle platform.

Materials and methods

The population and sample are 32 teachers and 40 students from the second to fifth years of the Law Degree who received the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject.

The methods used were:

• Questionnaire: A questionnaire of 5 closed questions was applied to the 40 students.

• Observation guide: It was used to record the information obtained as a result of the observation.

• Interview for 32 teachers.

The techniques that were used to collect data in the research are:

• Bibliographic compilation and documentary processing of information in books, magazines, the Internet and others related especially to the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject.

• The survey: In this case, a survey was carried out on 40 students, to establish how the Moodle platform manifests itself to carry out independent work in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law as a didactic strategy.

• The interview: 32 teachers were interviewed, with the aim of inquiring about the Moodle platform to carry out independent work.

• The survey was applied to the 40 students, this entire process was documented in cards and other information processing variants.

• An interview guide and a questionnaire regarding the Moodle platform were applied to carry out independent work in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law.

• The data were processed and analyzed. For data analysis and management in order to diagnose the most representative values of the data collected in interviews and surveys.

Results

The way the didactic strategy is developed is in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law (see Graph 1 description of the hours applied to each stage of the strategy), in the time where students choose to carry out their studies. The didactic strategy applied by the teacher is organized in stages and each of these are intertwined forming a cycle, below are the stages of the strategy:

• Stage 1 Programming the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law: What are the objectives that must be met in the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law?

• Stage 2 Objectification: What are the main particularities of the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law that should be treated through the Moodle platform?

  1. These moments coincide with the teacher's preparation of the task that he will guide as independent work in the class. In carrying out these two stages, the Moodle platform is recommended, where the teacher creates the website for the Agrarian Law subjects divided into several modules that coincide with the content of the subject, allowing communication with students.

• Stage 3 Analysis of the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law: What level of knowledge about the subject do students have to develop the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law?

• Stage 4 Choice of methods and techniques: How will the student carry out the task-oriented independent work using the Moodle platform?

  1. The teacher, through the Chat, maintains communication with the students to guide the task through the Moodle platform, where he places a Glossaries and Books with the most frequent terms that students can find when searching for information, the actions to be carried out are:

     1. offline task: the task is carried out outside the Moodle platform. Students can view homework guidance through independent work, but cannot upload answer files. Teachers evaluate students in another space and they will receive their grades.

     2. task to upload a single file: the task consists of allowing students to upload a document made in independent work. The teacher evaluates the result of the task online.

     3. online assignment: Allows students to edit text using editing tools. Teachers evaluate and make comments.

• Stage 5 Self-review: What is the best way for students to accomplish the task through independent work?

• Stage 6 Ordering of the phases: When does the student know that the objective set in the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject was met?

  1. These moments coincide when the student socializes the proposed solution to the task, with fellow students and the teacher, through email or the Forums, which allows the evaluation of each message to be included by the students and to include attached files and embedded images, also at this stage the teacher can establish a questionnaire that allows the student to self-evaluate.

• Stage 7 Evaluation: Check if the task met the objective proposed by the teacher

  • This moment coincides when the teacher who is the director of the teaching-learning process controls the evaluation of each of the students by carrying out a Workshop to carry out group work.

• Stage 8 Application of the Moodle platform as a teaching strategy to carry out the task through independent work guided by the teacher.

Teacher planning of the teaching-learning process, after reviewing the media that are related to the Moodle platform such as the resource module where resources appear such as: resources, text page, HTML page, files and web pages, directory and tags. block module where they are related: people, activities, course summary, upcoming events, calendar, news and online users. All these modules are used by the teacher according to the organizational forms.

Graf. 1 - Description of the hours applied to each stage of the strategy 

Of the 32 teachers interviewed, representing 100%, 27 teachers, representing 84.37%, expressed the criterion that the students developed an excellent task after completing the independent work through the Moodle platform, 5 teachers, representing 15.62%, stated that The students were not efficient in carrying out the task because they did not have the necessary skills to search for the information, admitting in the interviews the difficulties that existed with the use of appropriate technology by the parties.

These results allow this author to ensure that the use of the didactic strategy allows us to raise the quality of the teaching-learning process of Agrarian Law, despite encountering some difficulties in the students that allows us to continue working to reduce these limitations.

In the survey carried out (Table 1) with the 40 students who represent 100%, 38 who represent 95% consider that the legislation consulted is duly updated, 2 who represent 5% of the respondents consider the technology used to develop independent work to be insufficient, The most frequent problems encountered during independent work are: that the telephones used do not have the technological advances necessary to search for documents or make audio and video calls through the Moodle platform, the connection in the agricultural scenario is not always what is desired and is not All students have technological resources to carry out independent work outside the university.

In this questionnaire carried out to the students, the 40 who represent 100%, consider that the use of the Moodle platform in independent work contributed to carrying out the task with quality, in addition to having access to all the legislation to be used in each scenario and that it is duly updated.

Table 1 - Survey conducted with students 

No	Survey
1	Do you consider that the use of the Moodle platform in independent work contributed to the completion of the task with quality.
2	Do you consider the technology used to be sufficient to carry out the task oriented towards independent work.
3	Do you consider that you had access to all the legislation to be used in each scenario.
4	Do you consider that the legislation consulted is duly updated.
5	Do you consider that the students are adequately prepared to receive the teaching-learning process through the Moodle platform.

After completing the task through independent work using the Moodle platform, it can be considered that the systematic use of this platform contributes to strengthening the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject. This result shows the potential of ICT as a teaching strategy.

Discussion

The selected teaching strategy complies with the updating of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development, where students will be required to study, research and creativity, without ceasing to consider reflection and criticism regarding their own professional practice in the agricultural environment and that of their colleagues, the latter should be seen as a moment of personal growth, in addition, employers demand professionals who are efficient in developing the different processes necessary to meet their objectives.

In this sense, it determined the level of ICT integration, an issue that can be used by students. Furthermore, the criterion is shared with this researcher, that training in ICT skills begins at the university during the teaching-learning process and in the workplace only the skills already acquired are perfected.

ICTs offer many possibilities considering that through technology a training scenario is created, a communication scenario, allowing the generation of meeting spaces in which the didactic act can be born. Criterion that coincides with that established in this article, where the student from any scenario can radiate his knowledge about legal regulations, raising the legal culture of the employer.

It agrees with ^{Gual (2023)} who states that ICTs are made up of materials such as laptops, digital tablets, cell phones, virtual platforms, video conferencing platforms, applications, etc. that are used at any level and modality of work, but it can be added that to efficiently develop independent work, teachers must provide students with the necessary technologies to achieve the desired objective.

The author of the article considers that the didactic strategy is expressed in the relationship between education and society, where the objectives and purposes of education are subordinated to the demands of the historical moment. To achieve this, the need is prioritized for the teaching-learning process to contribute to living in an organized system of relationships and transforming it by virtue of the satisfaction of individual and social needs.

Furthermore, from a social perspective, the role of the teacher in the comprehensive training of students is enhanced and, in this sense, the potential of the integration of ICT and, in particular, the Moodle platform is taken advantage of. Likewise, the interaction of the subjects of the teaching-learning process and the experiences it generates are enhanced to promote interpersonal relationships.

It is for this reason that the use of the Moodle platform as a didactic strategy in the teaching-learning process of the Agrarian Law subject is, in the author's opinion, an aspect to be worked on by teachers and students, particularly from a conception that visualizes its opportunities and advantages.

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Received: February 18, 2023; Accepted: November 08, 2023

^*Autor para correspondencia. E-mail: [e-mail]

El autor declara no tener conflictos de intereses.

El autor participó en el diseño y redacción del artículo, en la búsqueda y análisis de la información contenida en la bibliografía consultada.