Digital and Pedagogical Innovation in Uruguay

• In Event: 43.047 - Leveraging Research to Advance Educational Justice in Latin America

Abstract

In this paper we discuss two initiatives that have changed pedagogical practices in Uruguay, sparked by the inception of Plan Ceibal – a program that expanded internet across the entire country and delivered a laptop to every student in public school. One is an Online Formative Assessment (OFA) system developed by the Research and Assessment Unit of the National Administration of Public Education. The second initiative is the Global Network of Learning (an initiative of seven countries to explore and share the challenges of 21st century education in a digital world).

The Online Formative Assessment initiative started in 2009, once every child had a laptop connected to the internet. It has been in place for the last 10 years and has grown to cover more grades and areas of knowledge. Rather than measuring what kids have learned at the end of the year, the OFA is an opportunity to test kids on previous knowledge halfway into the school year and to present activities that are central to the learning outcomes of those grades. Working around the pedagogical value of mistakes (Ferreiro, 1973), the teacher can continue teaching throughout the semester to improve learning. But the key and hidden innovation of the OFA lays on three aspects.

First, it has helped to bring together educational administrators, specialists, and authorities on what is important to learn at a certain grade. It has fostered coherence on the work of supervisors, and specialists that work on continuing education. Second, it has contributed to break the social isolation of teachers, as the results are discussed with all the teachers in a school. The opportunity to reflect and share with other teachers halfway into the school year on how the kids are learning has contributed to build communities of learners. Finally, it has brought to the pedagogical dialogue evidence-based arguments that have improved the educational debate.

The second initiative is part of the global alliance of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL). It started as a laboratory to prove that it is possible to change education to the challenges of the 21st century. It is an example of how a program that started with a focus on digital inclusion has matured so that now the focus is on changing pedagogy and school leadership using digital tools as accelerators. There are about 400 schools under this project with varying degrees of involvement.

In this paper we discuss the rationale and the challenges that these two initiatives face towards the future. Drawing from various sources of information (surveys, interviews, and field reports), this paper discusses whether or not these two initiatives can spur social justice in a country that, despite being the most egalitarian in Latin America, still has large socio-economic gaps in school achievement between students living in conditions of vulnerability and their more privileged counterparts.

Author

• Andres Peri, ANEP National Administration of Public Education