FUNCIONES, ROLES Y COMPETENCIAS DE LOS(AS) TUTORES(AS) EN LA EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA EN EL INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL

The objective of this research was to study the functions, roles, and competencies of tutors in distance education. Qualitative methodology was employed for a nonexperimental study with a cross-sectional design and a descriptive approach, and a non-probabilistic and heterogeneous sample. The results indicate that tutors' activities are related to their functions and to other participants in tutoring. Five types of roles were identified: administrative, guidance, academic, technological, and social. For each role, a group of competencies was defined: management, feedback, training, technological, and social. The conclusions indicate that the findings are consistent for designing institutional policies for tutoring. The obtained data enrich the knowledge of tutors' competencies.