Latin American Primary and Secondary Education Roadmap

Accessibility
Learning Software
Personalized
Communication
and Collaboration
Content Management


		Learning Software Personalized These are some examples of Best Practices on Learning Software Personalized in Latin America (with the links to access further information):

Free software resources for teachers and students have been distributed in Caribbean and Central America. They include Learning Essentials, Programa de Soporte Técnico Básico, Cursos de Auto Aprendizaje, Alfabetización Digital, Plantillas.

E-BLOCKS was developed in Brazil in partnership with Positivo, as a research based, innovative method for teaching English, Math and Portuguese as an initial literacy exposure to those subjects. Based on the premise that children learn by doing, the E-Blocks approach provides unlimited hands-on interaction between children and the subject matter.

In Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia a Quechua translation program was created. In 2004 Microsoft Peru signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education to translate Windows and Office to the Quechua language to benefit 3 million people in this region.

In Chile, Microsoft Windows in Mapudungún (Mapuche language) is a local language initiative created through an agreement with the Instituto de Estudios Indígenas (IEI) -- part of the Universidad de la Frontera de Temuco. They will translate more than 100,000 terms in Windows using Microsoft tools to develop an interface.

Microsoft deployed tools such as Learning Essentials, Unlimited Potential courses and all the Digital Literacy Curriculum to 44,000 teachers as part of the Puerto Rico’s Department of Education’s goal to provide training and certification to all student-facing employees. As an incentive, the Department of Education will assign equivalent credits to the Digital Literacy curriculum towards the continued required education for teachers.


		Communication and Collaboration These are some examples of Best Practices on Communication and Collaboration in Latin America (with the links to access further information):

An agreement with University Francisco Santamaría in Chile has been signed to create the Centro de Innovación Tecnológica to motivate the software industry in this country.

In Brazil, three teachers from a Bradesco school developed a Web lesson project based on specific goals and activities. The lesson “Reading and writing? With the computer!” is for third-grade students at Osasco. They were elected as one of the winners for the WW Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award 2007.


		Content Management These are some examples of Best Practices on Content Management in Latin America (with the links to access further information):

The Learning Gateway in Brazil is a deployment at a Bradesco Foundation school that creates a collaboration environment for students and teachers. The students can store their portfolios, have their own personal web pages, receive assignments from teachers, manage agendas, and talk to classmates or teachers through the Live Communication instant messages service. In the Instituto Ayrton Senna the Collaborative Learning Experiences also make use of the Learning Gateway as a space to share ideas, experiences, and information. In the Innovative School Lumiar, the Learning Gateway will be used to store and share learning projects, record student progress and as a communication and collaboration tool among students, teachers, administration, and parents. There are 1,282 students involved, along with 45 teachers in 3 schools.

El Salvador achieved Grado Digital Certification through the MINED Virtual Examen. This exam is based on the self-study courses developed for teachers and students as part of the Ministry of Education (MINED) “Digital Grade” program using Microsoft software and training.


To watch the video on "Grado Digital" click here.

So far 77,000 have been trained and 31,000 have been certified.

Microsoft deployed 50,000 Live@EDU hosted email accounts for all the teachers and School Directors in Puerto Rico.

Latin American Primary and Secondary Education Roadmap

Enciclomedia in Mexico

Enciclomedia is a concept developed by the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) to create a new learning environment for K12 students supported in the official curricula enriched with digital content.

SEP needed to:
• Increase the Quality of Education Programs
• Integrate Information and Communication Technology in the Classroom
• Rethink the Teaching / Learning processes
• Enhance the resources and elements needed for classroom practices
• Increase the Pisa Scoring and rating of Mexico’s Students
• Focus on skills and abilities more than concepts

MS presented several alternatives, as SEP reviewed Encarta; they developed the Enciclomedia Concept, establishing a developing relationship with ILCE in 2003.
• First version of Enciclomedia was deployed in 21,000 primary classrooms in 2004.
• Public bid to cover 100% of 5th and 6th grades was launched on July 2005, deployed from November 2005 to April 2006.
• Enciclomedia software digitalized official textbooks enhancing them with thousands of links to static and dynamic images, videos, audio, animations, maps, MS Encarta and interactive activities that complement the learning, so that the student deepens and extends his horizons in relation to each one of the subjects.
• MS Commitment and Participation: Collaboration Agreement; Partners in Learning support; Technical support; E-Learnings; Teachers training; Softgrid for Classmates;

Applications:
– Win Server
– Office
– Encarta

• Classrooms deployed:

Grades	Total	Installed		Pending for installation
Grades	Classrooms	Classrooms	%	Classrooms	%
5th and 6th	125,562	123,685	99%	1,877	1%
7th and 8th	42,500	5,444	13%	37,056	87%

Teachers trained:

*Teachers trained	Topic	Hours
150,000	Introducción a las habilidades tecnológicas	40
150,000	Introducción a las aplicaciones de escritorio	40
150,000	Introducción a proyectos de aprendizaje	40

Some results:
• Students are grading higher in Science, History and Social subjects.
• Students participate more
• Students assist more to school

For more information visit: www.enciclomedia.edu.mx
Or contact Adriana Herrasti Coqui: adrianah@microsoft.com

Enciclomedia is a concept developed by the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) in Mexico to create a new learning environment for K-12 students that supports the official curricula enriched with digital content. The government official educational program is delivered on an Encarta Engine for 130,000 classrooms. Enciclomedia software digitalized official textbooks, enhancing them with thousands of links to static and dynamic images, videos, audio, animations, maps, MS Encarta and interactive activities that complement the learning. Microsoft’s commitment and participation included a Collaboration Agreement, Partners in Learning support, technical support, E-Learning, teacher training, Softgrid for Classmates and Win Server, Office and Encarta applications. As a result, students are grading higher in Science, History and Social subjects, they participate more in class and attend more school. Although the Enciclomedia project is still working to become a replicable model, other countries, such as Colombia and Costa Rica, have approached Microsoft or SEP to replicate this program.