When Online Education Helps to Cross (Symbolic) Borders: An Empirical Study in an Argentinian University

Online education provide learning opportunities throughout the lifetime and, at the same time, offer support to processes of self-construction and reconstruction. In this chapter we present a study on the subjective and social changes that occur when an adult student begins to study in virtual university environments. A study was conducted with 55 students of an online course, in a Health Sciences degree. A multimethod approach was used combining the production of photos and narratives, within the qualitative research. The image analysis shows scenarios, people and activities in which the online study appears along with daily activities, such as going to work, accompanying children in their activities. Studying appears located in non-canonical places. In the narratives the students position themselves with respect to social and family support, and express different values. Studying in a virtual environment implies transformations in learning scenarios, in social supports, and in the way in which students perceive themselves in the present and in the future