Educational use of ICTs in Mexico: Challenges of

Quality and AccessGuillermo Kelley Director General

gkelley@ilce.edu.mx

Latin American Institute of Educational Communication

Montreal, Canada. April, 2002

Since 1996, the Mexican Department of Education has embarked in a sustained effort to bring adequate and pertinent technology to all areas of education.

This effort incorporates audiovisual media, as well as information and communication technologies, with special emphasis on basic education.

ICTs in Mexican Education

• The pedagogical potential of ICTs has been greatly expanded in recent years.

• International tendencies are radically transforming the teaching-learning process, schooling practices and educational institutions themselves.

• A new educational paradigm based on intensive use of ICTs is beginning to take shape.

Change of Paradigm

• ICTs offer solutions in terms of access, quality and diversified opportunities to the problems and challenges faced by Latin America today.

• The renewal of the educational process will take place gradually.

• The rate of innovation in this field is proceeding rapidly, but changes in pedagogical practices and mind-sets will happen at a much slower pace.

ICTs in Education

• The “digital divide” marks the difference between those who benefit from information networks and those who do not.

• It cuts across countries, regions and many social and cultural categories.

• This divide is only important in that it can deepen existing social and educational inequalities.

The Digital Divide

71%

29%

58%

42%

91%

9%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

WorldTrade

ForgnInvstmnt

InternetUsers

Rest of the worldOECD Countries

Concentration and Inequalities

OECD CountriesOECD Countries = 19 %= 19 % world population world population

Source: UNDP 1999 Report

504

54 4

595

18236

204

7 0 34 0.24 00

100

200

300

400

500

600

Lines TV´s P. Cmptrs. Hosts

45 High Human Dvlpmnt. Countries 95 Medium Development Countries35 Low Development Countries

Source: UNDP 1999 Report

Tele-Density(For every one thousand inhabitants)

38%

62%

25%

75%

17%

83%

16%

84%

7%

93%

4%

96%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

USA Brazil Japan&

SouthAfrica

Russia China ArabC.

Female Users Male Users

Female Participation on the Internet

Source: UNDP 1999 Report

• 10% of the world´s population speaks English.

• 80% of Internet content and software are in English

• The wealthiest 20% of the world´s population concentrate 93% of Internet users.

• The poorest 20% only represent 0.2%.

Gaps to Bridge

GENERAL OUTLINE Teleprimaria (elementary) Telesecundaria (lower sec.) Distance Middle School for

Adults (SEA). Distance High-school

(EMSAD). Higher Education (degrees,

diplomas, seminars, etc.).

SEC 21 (technology-intensive Middle School).

In-service and pre-service teacher training.

Skills for the workplace. Digital Community Centers.

(Plazas Comunitarias) Parental Education.

SchoolNetEdusat

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL VIDEO LIBRARYNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL VIDEO LIBRARY

Launched in 1995, EDUSAT is an educational television satellite system with 12 digitally compressed channels.

Over 30,000 educational centers. (Closed Circuit) Delivers over 28,000 hours per year, of which 70% are

domestic productions. 5,000 hours of television production per year. Broadcasted nationwide through open television and

cable (selected programming). Curricular programs (Telesecundaria and SEA). Video delivered to teachers to enrich lessons.

http://edusat.ilce.edu.mx/

Red Escolar, based on the Internet, offers teachers and students pedagogical and information resources directed at improving the teaching-learning process. It also allows students and teachers to share their ideas and experiences.

Services over 9,000 educational sites.http://

redescolar.ilce.edu.mx

Red Escolar (School Net)

It offers a wide variety of collaborative projects Over 2 million weekly hits. It also hosts several discussion fora and mailing lists for teachers and students. 40,000 teachers trained. In the next five years Red Escolar will reach all Lower and Higher Secondary Schools, including Telesecundarias, and 50% of the elementary schools as well as public libraries.

National Educational Video Library (VNE)

Storage and distribution of educational videos and multimedia materials (learning objects).

Digitize and restore educational videos. On-line search, referenced according to the

curricula at all academic levels. Video-on-demand for schools. Special services for academics and educational or

cultural television producers. All these services will be offered shortly in the web

environment of Red Escolar and the national educational portal: http://sepiensa.org.mx

• Television-assisted middle-school service for communities with less than 2,500 inhabitants.

• 15 minute TV-programs daily per subject• 4,500 TV programs available• 1,070,000 students serviced• 14,704 schools• 46,556 teachers

• 7 Latin American countries have embraced 7 Latin American countries have embraced this initiative in 600 schools servicing this initiative in 600 schools servicing

over 42,000 students.over 42,000 students.

TELESECUNDARIATELESECUNDARIA(7th to 9th grades)(7th to 9th grades)

Secondary 21st Century (SEC 21)http://sec21.ilce.edu.mx

SEC 21 contemplates the integrated use of technologies to improve the quality of junior high-school education.

The model is aimed at the production of new content by teachers closely related to the study programs.

The audiovisual material is sent to schools via satellite and stored on the LAN server, which allows teachers to use it as needed.

Virtual communities of teachers by subject to discuss and exchange best practices and new materials.

To date, there are 84 SEC 21 schools and the goal during the following five years is to reach 2,000 more.

20 PC´s LAN 20 PC´s LAN

Internet

Classrooms

Computer labs

Equipment Model

PhysicsMathMathHistoryHistoryGeographyBiology

+50 CALCULATORS PER MATH CLASSROOM

+ 15 PC´sIN THE

PHYSICS CLASS ROOM

1 TV SET & 1 PC PER CLASSROOM

DATA-CASTING AND TV SIGNAL

Digital Community Centers

As a part of the e-Mexico presidential initiative, a network of Digital Community Centers (Plazas Comunitarias) are being set-up throughout the country.Conevyt http://www.inea.gob.mx/portalconevyt/

General objectives:

• TV and e-learning environment offering diverse training programs.

• Access to public and social services.

• Marketing support for the sale of local products.

• To date, 300 Centers have been established.

• We expect to set up and additional 2,500 this year.

• The final objective is to have 25,000 centers in the country over the next five years.

Digital Community Centers

Teacher Training

The introduction of ICTs in education has created a demand for a vast teacher training program, which includes on-site, on-line, television delivered or mixed formats.

On-site teacher training since 1996 has offered nearly 500 courses, to over 40,000 teachers.

Since 1999, 43 on-line courses have been offered to 10,745 teachers.

During the next five years the goal is to reach 500,000 teachers.

ON-LINE WORKSHOPS* Learning Circles Coordinators * Spread Sheet I* On-line Course Development * Spread Sheet II* Learning Assessment * Creativity* On-line Educational Services * Initial Education* Web-page development * Any Text is a Pretext* Collaborative Internet Projects Development

COURSES BY SUBJECTS (on-line).

Didactical Strategies for the Teaching of Mathematics, Spanish, History, Physics, Geography, Sciences and Ethic.

TV DELIVERED COURSES (EDUSAT) “SEPA cómputo” (Learn Computing) Introduction to Red Escolar

Teacher Training

• ICTs, especially in developing countries, are instrumental to improve quality and access.

• It is of the utmost importance to exploit the full potential of technological convergence.

• Creation of new learning objects, with teacher participation, from existing materials that may be used in different contexts.

• Externalities that ICTs bring to education.

Concluding Remarks