This article by Moncada, Songor, and Cornejo situates distance education within a rarely explored scenario: the escalating violence and insecurity in Ecuador. Through a rigorous panel data analysis and multilevel modelling, the authors demonstrate a positive correlation between homicide rates and university enrolment in distance learning programmes.
What at first glance may seem like a counterintuitive finding in fact reveals a clear pattern: when physical environments become threatening, students turn to virtuality as a safer and more reliable space in which to pursue their educational trajectories.
Beyond the numbers, the study reminds us that academic decisions are never made in a vacuum but are embedded in contexts marked by fear, precarity, and perceived risk. Distance education, traditionally defended for its flexibility and reach, is redefined here as a refuge against violence.
By positioning security as a decisive variable in the continuity of studies, the authors broaden our understanding of the educational phenomenon in Latin America: it is not enough to guarantee access or connectivity; it is equally necessary to ensure conditions of trust and symbolic protection.
The most compelling contribution of the study lies in its ability to transform the narrative surrounding distance education. No longer merely a technological or methodological alternative, it emerges as a strategy of social resilience.
In this sense, the article calls for a rethinking of educational policies: if violence is displacing students towards virtuality, then investment in distance education is not simply a matter of innovation, but an ethical and structural response to crises that overflow the classroom.
Read in this way, the Ecuadorian case resonates with global challenges and situates distance education at the heart of the debate on how to protect and guarantee the right to education in turbulent times.
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How to Cite: Moncada Mora, L., Songor Jaramillo, X. del C., & Cornejo Montaño, G. E. (2024). Distance Education, transforming realities: a look at insecure environments. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 27(2), 247–265. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.27.2.39134
