This issue of the Educational Portal of the Americas newsletter brings you access to the latest information regarding fellowships and educational opportunities. Thank you again for your continued interest in the Portal. As always, your comments are more than welcome.

Sincerely,

The Educational Portal of the Americas

April News:

IACD-OAS Participates in EducaRed

The IACD-OAS participated in the II International Congress of EducaRed, which took place on April 3-5 in the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones in Madrid, Spain. The biennial event was attended by a large number of participants from the educational communities of both Spain and other countries of the world who debated the following topics: characteristics of teachers in the new technological environment; creation of new content and methods for the pedagogical use of Internet; experiences and proposals for the management of centers with the help of Internet; the role of parents in the new educational setting; and specific educational experiences that are taking place in schools with the Internet.

Educating for Health

It is indisputable that education and health are two pillars of development for any nation. How can these two areas be linked, however, so that schools become healthy environments for integral growth? How do teachers and students view this topic? In recognition of World Health Day, the Educational Portal of the Americas invites you to send brief essays regarding this issue for the “Topic of the Month” . Also, in order to hear everyone's thoughts on this important matter, we have created a space for children to express their ideas through compositions, drawing and poetry. Teachers and parents: please pass along this message to your children so we can work together in a true exchange of creativity.

"Rómulo Gallegos" Inter-American Scholarships-Internships for Human Rights

In order for new lawyers from the OAS member states to learn more about the activities of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, the IACD/OAS is offering “Rómulo Gallegos” Inter-American Scholarships-Internships for Human Rights for a one-year period (July 15, 2003 through July 15, 2004). Interested candidates should send a request to the IACD before June 6, 2003 through their respective National Liaison Office (ONE). Additional information can be found at:

Course “Quality in Basic Education”

Online registration for the course “Quality in Basic Education” begins on April 16. The course, which will be taught by the Institute of Advanced Studies for the Americas (INEAM) of the IACD-OAS, will be offered in Spanish and delivered online through the Virtual Classroom of the Educational Portal of the Americas. The 12-week course begins on May 5, 2003 and will present an introduction to the philosophy of quality as applied to education. Its goal is to offer teachers and administrators conceptual and methodological tools for improving educational services. INEAM launched its academic program at the end of 2002 and has trained over 100 tutors in the course on Quality in Basic Education to date.

To encourage the specialized training of professionals to address problems related to drug consumption and abuse, the IACD and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the OAS, through the Ibero-American University Network for Graduate Work in Drug Addiction Studies (UNIREDDROGAS), is offering scholarships for the Ibero-American Online Master’s Degree in Drug Addiction Studies. The 2-year program will be offered online through the Virtual Campus of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) of Spain from October 2003 through September 2005. All courses will be taught in Spanish. Students interested in applying for a scholarship should send a request to the IACD by June 30, 2003 through their respective National Liaison Office (ONE). Additional information can be found at:

Sixth Regional Meeting on Distance Education for Latin America and the Caribbean

The IACD, together with other organizations, is supporting the Sixth Regional Meeting of Distance Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, which will take place June 3-4, 2003 in the Convention Center of Hong Kong. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) is organizing the event with the hopes of promoting open and distance education methods throughout the world. The focus of the meeting will be “Distance Learning in Latin America: Models, Technologies and Realities”.

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