The Educational Portal of the Americas celebrates its second anniversary
this month by continuing its mission of strengthening, expanding and
diversifying the formation and training of human resources in the Americas
through a combination of Internet, distance learning, onsite and
multimedia means. It brings together the OAS Scholarship and Training
Program and the support of different areas and services of the OAS General
Secretariat. Since its inauguration on September 24, 2001, the Portal has
received more than 68 million accesses not only from the 35 member states
of the Americas, but from a total of 177 countries of the world and has
offered educational services to more than 22,000 people.
During the second half of 2002, the first online course on Quality in
Basic Education was launched in Spanish which trained teachers from 18
countries, including parts of Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina,
as well as remote and marginalized areas of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and
Venezuela.
To further strengthen the Portal's services, the IACD inaugurated in
mid-2002 the Institute of Advanced Studies for the Americas (INEAM), a
multimedia campus that offers distance learning university education at
the masters and doctoral levels, as well as professional development
courses through strategic alliances with universities or academic centers
of excellence.
For more information please click here.
EDUSAT Satellite Network
The Secretariat of Public Education of Mexico (SEP) and the General Secretariat of the OAS, through its Unit of Social Development and Education (UDSE) and Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD), signed a cooperation agreement establishing a general framework of activities regarding the use of EDUSAT --the SEP's satellite network-- to strengthen education and culture in the Americas, particularly distance teaching and learning activities, using the modern advances of satellite communication. (http://edusat.ilce.edu.mx/canales.htm).
Through the Agreement, the SEP will offer the OAS free use of the EDUSAT network to transmit educational programming to all of its member countries. It will also provide advisory services and professional training for experts in educational activities to produce educational material from their Training Center for Educational Television.
(http://dgtve.sep.gob.mx/estructura/interiores/cete.htm).
The EDUSAT network has been used successfully in Mexico for many years. (http://www.satmex.com.mx/).
Professional Training Courses
Academic institutions of the countries of the region have until September
30 to present their proposals to receive OAS scholarships for professional
development courses. As the necessary funds must be obligated before the
end of the year, and considering the time required to select and announce
the proposals, all offers must be presented by that date. For information
regarding the priority areas, mechanisms, procedures and application
forms, please visit:
http://www.educoas.org/portal/en/becas/propuesta.aspx?culture=en&tabindex=44&childindex=154
The Portal in the Third Meeting of Ministers of Education
The Third Meeting of Ministers of Education in the framework of the
Inter-American Council for Integral Development took place August 11-13 in
Mexico City. The ministerial-level meeting brought together the countries
of the region to discuss educational issues and to follow up on the
mandates of the Summits of the Americas. It placed particular emphasis on
evaluating current educational conditions in the hemisphere, identifying
the challenges and proposing possible solutions. Topics that garnered
special attention included equity and quality in education, secondary
education, teacher training, as well as the use of new technologies for
promoting education.
Considering the fact that the Educational Portal of the Americas was
launched during the Second Meeting of Ministers (September 24-25, 2001 in
Punta del Este, Uruguay), a comprehensive report was presented with the
results of the Portal's work to date regarding the formation of human
resources through new technologies. Part of said report is included as
this month's "Topic of the Month."
Training Tutors in Brazil
As a result of collaboration between UNESCO-Brazil and the IACD/OAS, a
workshop was held August 12-14 at the University of Brasilia to train
tutors. More than 70 participants from Santa Catarina, Ceará, Mato Grosso,
Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and the host city, Brasilia, attended the
event. The activity served as preparatory work for the Portuguese-language
training course to be offered through the Educational Portal of the
Americas on September 8.
The academic program was coordinated by Dr. Monica Luque, Academic
Coordinator of INEAM and organizer of the Quality in Basic Education
course. The seminar included such topics as: the Virtual Classroom and its
potential for educational management; Strategies for online tutoring;
Current status of quality in education; Regional and global vision of
advances in the field since 1970; and Lessons learned.
Peaceful Use
of Nuclear Energy
The IACD has signed a cooperation agreement with the National Commission
of Atomic Energy of Argentina (CNEA,
http://www.cnea.gov.ar/xxi/) to offer professional training
opportunities through the Educational Portal of the Americas. CNEA is a
national organization whose main function is to undertake all aspects of
research and development related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy to
improve the quality of life of our society. To do so, the CNEA employs
various institutions, laboratories and workshops that are housed in three
Atomic Centers (listed below). CNEA also has one foundation.
- Instituto Balseiro (Centro Atómico
Bariloche), http://www.ib.edu.ar/
- Instituto de Tecnología (Centro Atómico Constituyentes),
http://www.cnea.gov.ar/isabato/
- Instituto de Estudios Nucleares (Centro Atómico Ezeiza),
http://caebis.cnea.gov.ar/IdEN/framid1.htm
- Fundación Escuela de Medicina Nuclear (CNEA-UNC-Pcia. de Mendoza),
http://www.fuesmen.edu.ar/
University
Horizontal Cooperation
With a view to enhancing the Portal's educational offerings at the
university level, the IACD has signed cooperation agreement with the
following institutions:
- Brazil, Universidad Do Sul De Santa
Catarina (http://www.unisul.br/);
- Chile, Universidad Austral (http://www.uach.cl/)
- Ecuador, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (http://www.utpl.edu.ec/);
- Peru, Universidad Cayetano Heredia (http://www.upch.edu.pe/upchvi/UPCH.htm),
Universidad Francisco Villarreal (http://www.unfv-bib.edu.pe/),
Universidad Del Pacífico (http://www.up.edu.pe/)
- Uruguay, Universidad ORT (http://www.ort.edu.uy/)
Regional Cooperation Center for Adult Education
in Latin America and the Caribbean
CREFAL (http://www.crefal.edu.mx)
was established on September 11, 1950 and currently operates under an
agreement that was signed by various Latin American countries on October
19, 1990 in Mexico City. Its mission is to cooperate with the countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean to train professionals in the development
and dissemination of knowledge and in the design of educational models to
promote young adult and adult education without limits. As an institution
of excellence in the region, it has been collaborating with the OAS for 50
years, and is one of the founding members of the Educational Portal of the
Americas.
The IACD has signed a cooperation agreement with CREFAL to improve
educational services in the region through the use of new information
technologies. Activities to be carried out jointly include:
training-the-trainer programs in various countries, educational research
and the application of new technologies for adult education.
Quality in Basic Education
Course, Portuguese Version
The Portuguese version of the course, Quality in Basic Education, will
begin on September 8. This activity is the result of collaborative efforts
between the IACD and UNESCO-Brazil, as well as with the Ministry of
Education of that country. INEAM has awarded more than 500 scholarships to
promote professional training through new technologies.
The course will take place over a 14-wee period and will be offered
completely online with the supervision of an Academic Coordinator and
approximately 10 tutors.
Evaluation and Certification of
Work Competencies
Together with the Unit for Social Development and Education of the OAS (USDE)
and CONOCER, the IACD is preparing a course to be offered online through
the Educational Portal of the Americas in the area of Evaluation and
Certification of Labor Competencies. The course will aspire to disseminate
the focus of work competence among the staff of organizations that are key
for their implantation, as well as form groups of specialists that support
the operation of normalization systems, evaluation, certification and
training in the countries of the region. It is expected that a demo of the
course will be presented during the Meeting of Ministers of Labor of the
Americas.
The course will be composed of modules organized around the following
themes: Introduction to the focus of labor competencies; Preparation of
labor competence guidelines; Evaluation and certification of skills; and
Training with guidelines in labor competencies. The objectives of the
course will be to: a) define strategies for implementing labor
competencies that respond to the needs of each country; b) prepare
guidelines for labor competencies in accordance with the needs of
businesses and workers; c) develop evaluation instruments in agreement
with labor competencies; d) define the evaluation process of labor
competencies; e) prepare training programs with a competence-based
approach; f) analyze the certification of competencies in the Central
American countries.
The initiative is being carried out with the Council of Normalization and
Certification of Work Competencies (CONOCER) of Mexico, which is the base
operation of the Modernization Project for Technical Education and
Training (PMETyC), and is a leading institution in the preparation of
performance standards as well as in sponsoring certifications (http://www.conocer.org.mx).
Inter-American Prize in New
Technologies
Within the framework of INEAM activities for 2003-2004, a working group
has been created to prepare the guidelines for an Inter-American Prize in
New Technologies in recognition of initiatives that contribute to the
development of human potential through the use of ICTs. The proposed
guidelines will be presented to the Director General of the IACD during
the second half of September. Upon approval and publication of the
guidelines, nominations will be received until March 2004. During April
and May, a jury of internationally renowned experts will evaluate the
candidates and announce the results of the contest. The prize will be
awarded during the V Meeting of Virtual Educa to be held June 28-30, 2004
in Barcelona, Spain.
Introduction to e-Goverment
As announced during the month of August, the online course on basic
concepts for formulating Electronic Government Strategies will be offered
through the Virtual Classroom of the Educational Portal of the Americas
during November. The course announcement will be posted on the Educational
Portal in early September. The objectives of the course will be to
introduce the basic concepts of electronic government, present the
elements necessary for developing an electronic government strategy, and
present a global vision regarding the development and implementation of
this type of project. The topics to be discussed include: Introduction to
Electronic Government, Guidelines Necessary for Developing an Electronic
Government Strategy, Analysis of Successful Experiences (Brazil and
Chile), and Lessons Learned.
The course will be directed to political leaders and government
executives, as well as public managers and those with directive posts
within the various levels of federal, regional or local governments. It
will also be for professionals, academia and students in the field of
Public Administration, preferably at the post-graduate level, who may be
interested in this area as a tool for improving government management.
This course is being developed by the IACD/OAS with valuable support from
the International Development Research Centre, in Ottawa, Canada, the
Institute for Connectivity in the Americas, and from renowned experts in
the field.
We appreciate your interest and participation in the activities of the Educational Portal of the Americas. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please send all messages to portal@oas.org. If you have received this message in error and would like to cancel your free subscription, please send a message to portal@oas.org and include "Cancel Newsletter Subscription" in the subject window.