Title: Influential Agents in the Online Education Diffusion at a Mexican University: What the Social Network Analysis Tell Us

Issue Number: Vol. 2, No. 1
Year of Publication: Jan - 2016
Page Numbers: 17-24
Authors: Lewis McAnally-Salas , Mayer Cabrera-Flores, Javier Organista-Sandoval and Gilles Lavigne
Journal Name: The International Journal of E-Learning and Educational Technologies in the Digital Media (IJEETDM)
- Hong Kong
DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.17781/P001969

Abstract:


Through a Social Network Analysis applied to a survey at a Mexican University the diffusion of online education dynamics in a 13 year period was determined. For the analysis, the 13 years was divided into four periods. Teachers answered the survey by identifying by name the people or University initiatives, including people outside the University, which influenced his decision to venture into online education. The most influential agents for each period were determined by their In-Degree value. For the analysis, the inter and intra periods influence of agents was considered. Three agents who held great influence in the diffusion in the most part of the period where identified, one of which kept the higher In-Degree value among teachers, and slightly lower than the node of University initiatives that promote online education. Is considered that the level of online learning diffusion in this University have been very limited without the influence of two influential agents in the overall process.