2013 Yearbook - Universidad ORT Uruguay

9 Universidad ORT Uruguay of the First Biotechnology Technicians On February 20, 2013, a ceremony was held to celebrate the graduation of the country’s first Biotechnology Technicians, a post-secondary program has by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII). Speakers included the Minister of Education and Culture, Dr. Ricardo Ehrlich; the President of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and of LATU, Dr. Rodolfo Silveira; and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Mario Fernández, Ph.D. All speakers highlighted the importance of biotechnology development for the future of our country. The country’s first massive open online course for teenagers Universidad ORT Uruguay partnership with Plan Ceibal, developed Uruguay’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), focused on teaching programming to teenagers. This course, titled “Creating Games and Animations with Scratch,” took place from October to November 2013. More than 1,000 high school students participated. Its objective was to promote the development of computational thinking and problem-solving skills among young people through learning the fundamentals of computer programming and the subsequent creation of applications. The main results of this innovation will be presented at the "Scratch Conference," which will take place in August 2014 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). INSTITUTIONAL NEWS 2013