Trama Conecta: Education was held; according to its mission statement, the event aimed to “create opportunities for interaction, exchange, networking, and partnership-building among ANII’s various beneficiaries and their respective ecosystems.”
The event took place on Friday, December 9, 2016, at the Club de los Industriales (6101 Italia Ave.) and was organized by theNational Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII).
What now?
“This is a study that invites us to listen and observe,” said Verónica Zorrilla de San Martín, M.A.—a professor at the Center for Continuing Education in Higher Education (CAES) and in the graduate programs at the Institute of Education—speaking on behalf of the project“And Now What? ICT in Primary Education: Can We Build a Collective Capacity?”, which concluded in September 2016.
Taking the Ceibal plan as a starting point—and, in particular, its ability to create new learning environments—they asked themselves: What now? Are we implementing ICT in a meaningful way? Can we all work together to build a shared vision for the future of education?
These questions were distributed to nine schools and more than 400 volunteer participants. According to the speaker, the sample was not representative because participation was optional: they invited parents, students, teachers, administrators, and anyone else interested in the school’s future.
“The situations varied, but they all had one thing in common: there was a striking embrace of technology,” said Zorrilla de San Martín. “They felt empowered by their voices, and that was very valuable to us,” she concluded.
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Educators in the Digital Age
In addition, Gabriela Bernasconi, M.A.—a professor and graduate advisor at the Institute of Education—presented the project she is involved in:“Educators in the Digital Age: Learning to Teach with Technology in the Initial Training of Secondary School Teachers in Uruguay.”
In his words, the use of technology by teachers “is not something that happens overnight,” but rather involves significant changes. For this reason, it is essential to focus on understanding how teachers in initial teacher training, as well as students about to graduate, are using technology.
“To contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning through technology,” in order to promote “innovation and the professionalization of teaching practices in secondary education,” was the goal of the project, according to Bernasconi.
During the presentation, he also explained the details of the research and shared some of the progress made, as the project is currently in the data analysis phase.
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