Boletín Informativo

Teaching and learning platforms

Distance education is not a new concept but distance education using Internet is a new approach. Many private companies, educational institutions, and organizations involved in training and human capacity development have designed and developed their own e-learning web-based training platforms to facilitate the integration of students, professors, and administrators in this virtual world. Like any new approach, e-learning web-based training platforms are developed either with proprietary owner features, which frequently limit their use to their own environments, or they follow standards that facilitate their use globally. Both methods are important and we invite you to learn more about them at:

http://educoas.org/portal/en/tema/editorial2005/mar05.aspx?culture=en&navid=36

INEAM New Educational Offerings

In the framework of activities programmed for 2005-2006, online courses currently being prepared in Spanish include: Solar Energy, Introduction to Metrology, Safe Water for All, Advanced Oxidation Techniques, Improving Quality of Small and Medium Businesses, Management of Social Programs and Projects, Educating with Diversity, Introduction to Teaching for Understanding, Pre-university Mathematics, Environmental Management of Ecotourism, Digital Libraries: Introduction to their Study and Practice, Microelectronics applied to Information systems, Management Audis, Evaluation and Certification of Work Competencies, and Democracy and Political Management.

Training Online Tutors

A course is currently being offered through the Virtual Classroom to train tutors for online learning. The course is designed to help participants develop the skills and abilities needed for online teaching and learning in order for them to guide, support and evaluate students in a virtual environment. Participating in the course are 107 teachers from 18 countries. It is expected that a second course will be offered later this year.

Teacher Training in the US

As part of the activities being developed with the Latin-American and Ibero-American Institute (LAII) of the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), a special edition of the Quality in Basic Education course is being developed. This activity, which aspires to improve the quality of basic education at the primary and secondary levels, is being coordinated by María Casellas Nelly, coordinator of the Center for Latin American Outreach (CLARO) and Ana C. Nolla and has the support of Governor of New Mexico, Dr. Bill Richardson, through his Secretary of Education.

Registration open for the course "Strategies for Teaching Mathematics"

The Institute for Advanced Studies of the Americas is announcing the Spanish version of the course “Strategies for Teaching Mathematics”. The objective of the course is to help participants understand mathematical concepts and their underlying metaphors, as well as the difficulties generally associated with motivating and learning in this field in order to re-design and complement teaching strategies for teachers of grades one through eight. The OAS/INEAM is offering US$200 financial assistance for those who meet the posted requirements, leaving US$70 to be covered by each selected participant.

http://educoas.org/Portal/ineam/cursos_2005/matematicas_may2005.aspx?culture=en&navid=217

IOHE News

The Secretary General of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education, Dr. Marcel Hamelin, and the Executive Director of the College of the Americas, Dr. Patricia Gudiño, visited the offices of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI/OAS) to meet the recently appointed Executive Secretary, Dr. Brian Stevenson. They also met with different divisions within SEDI to evaluate activities currently being developed within the 2004-2007 Work Plan, as well as identify new opportunities for joint collaboration.

National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC)

In the framework of an agreement signed between NHCC and the OAS, a working meeting was held at NHCC headquarters (Albuquerque, NM, USA) between the Director of the Center, Gene V. Henley, the Director of Educational Programs, Shelle Luaces, and SEDI/OAS to formulate projects for disseminating Hispano-American culture throughout the US. The projects will be offered through the Educational Portal of the Americas in early 2006.

Inter-institutional Cooperation

Within the framework of an agreement signed in 2003 to sponsor and promote Virtual Educa, the Secretariat for Ibero-American Cooperation (SECIB), the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Organization of American States (OAS) agreed will meet from April 4-8 in Madrid, Spain to prepare a Strategic Plan for Ibero-American Cooperation 2005-2006 regarding educational use of new technologies.

http://www.secib.org/home/Castellano/index_html_home

Teaching training in the English-speaking Caribbean

The first version of the "Quality in Basic Education" course is training 175 teachers from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. These students will later act as multiplier agents in their respective countries. This initiative has the support of the Minister of Education and First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago. It is expected that two other versions of the course will be offered later this year.

INELAM 2005

Nominations are now being received for the 2005 INELAM Prize, which is being sponsored by REDOX (http://www.redox.es). INELAM is offered by INEAM in the framework of an agreement between the OAS and IOHE. The 2005 Prize will recognize the efforts made by universities or centers of excellence of Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of Digital Libraries. The Prize consists of a 2005 INELAM trophy, a diploma, a digital seal, economy-class roundtrip airfare to Mexico, D.F. and 2 days of travel expenses, as well as US$1,000. As in previous years, INEAM will also award prizes in the areas of educational quality, social responsibility and corporate social responsibility.

http://educoas.org/Portal/en/premio/premio_2005.aspx

INEAM News

New appointees have recently been made to INEAM’s Governing Council. They include: Carmen Gloria Labbé Ramírez, General Manager of the Virtual University in Santiago, Chile; Vanya Roca, Academic Director of the Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Ernesto Medina Sandino, President of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, León, Nicaragua; Oswaldo Zegarra Rojas, President of the Universidad Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru; and Altagracia López, President of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

HACU: Technology and Culture: International Convergence

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities will hold its Sixth International Conference on "Technology and Culture: International Convergence" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA from May 22-24, 2005. The conference aspires to establish a forum for the discussion of key topics on the development of higher education for Hispanics. It also hopes to establish links among organizations and individuals in the Hispanic educational world that will facilitate the identification of strategic initiatives of international cooperation and exchange relevant academic and administrative experiences that promote the efficiency, relevance, coverage and quality of post-secondary education for Hispanics.

http://www.hacu.net/hacu/International_Conference2_EN.asp?SnID=156474544

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.



	*Click here to see previous Newsletters*
	March News: Teaching and learning platforms INEAM New Educational Offerings Training Online Tutors Teacher Training in the US Registration open for the course "Strategies for Teaching Mathematics" IOHE News National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) Inter-institutional Cooperation Teaching training in the English-speaking Caribbean INELAM 2005 INEAM News HACU: Technology and Culture: International Convergence
	Teaching and learning platforms Distance education is not a new concept but distance education using Internet is a new approach. Many private companies, educational institutions, and organizations involved in training and human capacity development have designed and developed their own e-learning web-based training platforms to facilitate the integration of students, professors, and administrators in this virtual world. Like any new approach, e-learning web-based training platforms are developed either with proprietary owner features, which frequently limit their use to their own environments, or they follow standards that facilitate their use globally. Both methods are important and we invite you to learn more about them at: http://educoas.org/portal/en/tema/editorial2005/mar05.aspx?culture=en&navid=36 INEAM New Educational Offerings In the framework of activities programmed for 2005-2006, online courses currently being prepared in Spanish include: Solar Energy, Introduction to Metrology, Safe Water for All, Advanced Oxidation Techniques, Improving Quality of Small and Medium Businesses, Management of Social Programs and Projects, Educating with Diversity, Introduction to Teaching for Understanding, Pre-university Mathematics, Environmental Management of Ecotourism, Digital Libraries: Introduction to their Study and Practice, Microelectronics applied to Information systems, Management Audis, Evaluation and Certification of Work Competencies, and Democracy and Political Management. Training Online Tutors A course is currently being offered through the Virtual Classroom to train tutors for online learning. The course is designed to help participants develop the skills and abilities needed for online teaching and learning in order for them to guide, support and evaluate students in a virtual environment. Participating in the course are 107 teachers from 18 countries. It is expected that a second course will be offered later this year. Teacher Training in the US As part of the activities being developed with the Latin-American and Ibero-American Institute (LAII) of the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), a special edition of the Quality in Basic Education course is being developed. This activity, which aspires to improve the quality of basic education at the primary and secondary levels, is being coordinated by María Casellas Nelly, coordinator of the Center for Latin American Outreach (CLARO) and Ana C. Nolla and has the support of Governor of New Mexico, Dr. Bill Richardson, through his Secretary of Education. Registration open for the course "Strategies for Teaching Mathematics" The Institute for Advanced Studies of the Americas is announcing the Spanish version of the course “Strategies for Teaching Mathematics”. The objective of the course is to help participants understand mathematical concepts and their underlying metaphors, as well as the difficulties generally associated with motivating and learning in this field in order to re-design and complement teaching strategies for teachers of grades one through eight. The OAS/INEAM is offering US$200 financial assistance for those who meet the posted requirements, leaving US$70 to be covered by each selected participant. http://educoas.org/Portal/ineam/cursos_2005/matematicas_may2005.aspx?culture=en&navid=217 IOHE News The Secretary General of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education, Dr. Marcel Hamelin, and the Executive Director of the College of the Americas, Dr. Patricia Gudiño, visited the offices of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI/OAS) to meet the recently appointed Executive Secretary, Dr. Brian Stevenson. They also met with different divisions within SEDI to evaluate activities currently being developed within the 2004-2007 Work Plan, as well as identify new opportunities for joint collaboration. National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) In the framework of an agreement signed between NHCC and the OAS, a working meeting was held at NHCC headquarters (Albuquerque, NM, USA) between the Director of the Center, Gene V. Henley, the Director of Educational Programs, Shelle Luaces, and SEDI/OAS to formulate projects for disseminating Hispano-American culture throughout the US. The projects will be offered through the Educational Portal of the Americas in early 2006. Inter-institutional Cooperation Within the framework of an agreement signed in 2003 to sponsor and promote Virtual Educa, the Secretariat for Ibero-American Cooperation (SECIB), the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Organization of American States (OAS) agreed will meet from April 4-8 in Madrid, Spain to prepare a Strategic Plan for Ibero-American Cooperation 2005-2006 regarding educational use of new technologies. http://www.secib.org/home/Castellano/index_html_home Teaching training in the English-speaking Caribbean The first version of the "Quality in Basic Education" course is training 175 teachers from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. These students will later act as multiplier agents in their respective countries. This initiative has the support of the Minister of Education and First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago. It is expected that two other versions of the course will be offered later this year. INELAM 2005 Nominations are now being received for the 2005 INELAM Prize, which is being sponsored by REDOX (http://www.redox.es). INELAM is offered by INEAM in the framework of an agreement between the OAS and IOHE. The 2005 Prize will recognize the efforts made by universities or centers of excellence of Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of Digital Libraries. The Prize consists of a 2005 INELAM trophy, a diploma, a digital seal, economy-class roundtrip airfare to Mexico, D.F. and 2 days of travel expenses, as well as US$1,000. As in previous years, INEAM will also award prizes in the areas of educational quality, social responsibility and corporate social responsibility. http://educoas.org/Portal/en/premio/premio_2005.aspx INEAM News New appointees have recently been made to INEAM’s Governing Council. They include: Carmen Gloria Labbé Ramírez, General Manager of the Virtual University in Santiago, Chile; Vanya Roca, Academic Director of the Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Ernesto Medina Sandino, President of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, León, Nicaragua; Oswaldo Zegarra Rojas, President of the Universidad Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru; and Altagracia López, President of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. HACU: Technology and Culture: International Convergence The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities will hold its Sixth International Conference on "Technology and Culture: International Convergence" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA from May 22-24, 2005. The conference aspires to establish a forum for the discussion of key topics on the development of higher education for Hispanics. It also hopes to establish links among organizations and individuals in the Hispanic educational world that will facilitate the identification of strategic initiatives of international cooperation and exchange relevant academic and administrative experiences that promote the efficiency, relevance, coverage and quality of post-secondary education for Hispanics. http://www.hacu.net/hacu/International_Conference2_EN.asp?SnID=156474544 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.