Young university students, COVID-19 and vulnerabilities diferenciales

Abstract

The first months of 2020 surprised us all with the appearance of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Its impact was global, affecting the different areas of the social, cultural, economic, and political life of citizens, in addition to modifying our personal habits and our daily lives.

In the area of ??education, the teaching-learning processes at all levels had to substantially modify their dynamics. At the University of Colima, Mexico, as of March 18, face-to-face classes were suspended, and after a brief period of adjustments, they were virtually resumed through “technological mediation”. The challenge was enormous for teachers and students, the curricular contents were reorganized, an academic continuity program was designed, and the use of materials and technological tools was fully incorporated into the school dynamics, both for classes, tutorials, teacher meetings, extracurricular activities, and so on. This unprecedented situation made visible a basic problem: the differential vulnerabilities of teachers and students who did not have the basic conditions and adequate technological equipment in their homes.

In this article, from a phenomenological theoretical and methodological perspective, we reflect on the differential vulnerabilities that are visible in students when starting another semester from home through technological mediation. Which allowed the unveiling of two scenarios: an adverse one full of emotional, educational, and economic challenges that young people have had to overcome, and another encouraging scenario, anchored to positive expectations associated with new learning, in the hope of getting ahead of the pandemic. by COVID-19 and return to the classroom again.