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Virtual EducaRed
Virtual EducaRed, Much More Than an Educational Portal
- Technological leadership, development of powerful applications and tools.
- Information and news about the educational sector.
- Innovative didactic content and help services for the use of ICT in the classroom.
- Resources to facilitate the task of teaching.
- On-linetraining for educational use of the Internet.
- Virtual communities for work environments, as well as the sharing of expertise and experiences.
- Contests, interactive activities, etc.
The EducaRed portals are based on a broad concept of education, being learning spaces that are playful and interactive, with rapid, intuitive navigation. In fact, EducaRed has had the challenge of being a pioneer for introducing Web 2.0 programs into education.
The eight portals offer powerful applications and tools, information and orientation for teachers, students and parents, news of what is happening in education, on-line training courses, competitions, blogs, wikis, RSS, debate forums, connections to other educational pages, and so forth. As agents of educational innovation, the portals are updated constantly, with new didactic content being added in continuous fashion. The goal is to launch at least two new services every year withI innovative cutting-edge content.
- EducaLab. This is a tool for the collective creation of knowledge, based on Web 2.0 technology and designed for educational purposes. Developed in tandem with CEFA (EducaRed Advanced Training Center), this project consists of creating a digital wall on which users - teachers and students - can individually or jointly insert navigable multimedia or textual content. This initiative was publicly launched in October at the Latin American Campus Party held in El Salvador in conjunction with the Latin American Summit of Heads of State and Government.
- Software Libre (Free Software). This new section is intended to help all teachers easily learn about the free use software, not only from technical, but also pedagogical perspectives. This is an example of promoting the proper use of Internet, by reinforcing ethical use of materials and programs on the Internet, while at the same time promoting cooperation and the creation of a free knowledge base.
- EducaRed Television. EducaRed undertook an ambitious initiative in 2008 by launching an on-line educational television channel (EducaRedTV). This new channel, which is going to start test broadcasts in 2009, will transmit video-on-demand and will have a continuous broadcasting schedule. The goal is to create a social network that begins with contributions from educational centers, using videos produced by students themselves.
EducaRed Maintains Strong Lead Among Educational Portals
The EducaRed portals continue to grow year after year, still in leading position on the Internet. At least that is how it appears from the constant increase in visits recorded by the portal. By the end of 2008, there were 61.1 million visits, 1.5 million more than in 2007. Likewise, there was also an increase in the number of pages that Internet users viewed, more than 280.4 million, compared with nearly 239 million the previous year.
| Argentina | Brazil | Chile | Colombia | España | México | Perú | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of users registered in the portal |
19.515 | 163.153 | 0 | 295 | 180.100 | 40.238 | 18.535 | 421.836 |
| Total number of subscribers to the BBS* |
21.037 | 163.153 | 2.650 | 778 | 86.596 | 0 | 18.535 | 292.749 |
| Total number of visits | 19.027.501 | 3.222.652 | 1.400.000 | 178.510 | 30.884.921 | 91.586 | 6.296.248 | 61.101.418 |
| Total number of unique visitors: |
13.698.928 | 2.260.930 | 1.124.130 | 92.113 | 10.771.214 | 31.582 | 4.309.885 | 32.288.782 |
| Total number of pages viewed |
76.106.718 | 17.890.402 | 3.617.683 | 879.661 | 145.741.951 | 393.752 | 35.379.920 | 280.010.087 |
| Year | Visits | Pages viewed |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 18.373.584 | 83.836.639 |
| 2006 | 40.350.944 | 220.934.297 |
| 2007 | 59.615.379 | 238.828.936 |
| 2008 | 61.101.418 | 280.010.087 |
Hundreds of Activities on EducaRed Portals
In a report of this kind, it would be impossible to include everything offered to the educational community by the various EducaRed portals. Below are only a few representative projects from each country:
- School Children’s’ Internet Journalism in Argentina. This activity began in 2003, using the Internet to produce and publish digital newspapers. In 2008, fifty-three schools participated in this. Another 23 schools joined the RadioBit project, which produces radio programs on the Web. Two-hundred and thirty-three school newspaper editions were produced last year through the School Children’s’ Internet Journalism Project.
- Minha terra (My land) in Brazil. Teachers and students throughout the country work as journalists in this project, doing work on research, communication, production and publication of multimedia content to enhance the identity and culture of their cities. The second round of the project, conducted in 2008, had 2,242 participants from 419 schools in 21 Brazilian states.
- First graffiti contest in Chile. In order to spread and support authorizedgraffiti in all its expressions and aspects, and to support the development of the arts among students,EducaRed started this initiative in Chile in 2008. It was managed through a blog platform. This first edition contained the works of nine students, which were commented on by more than 400 fellow-students.
- Live book in Colombia. This initiative involves the creation of stories by “many hands". The idea is to motivate creativity, talent and the use of new technologies in order to learn and to explore the world of literature. Once the story is complete, it is published as a physical book in which the participants are credited as co-authors. Eighty stories have been published to date, with the support of 244 participants.
- JaqueMate (Checkmate) in Spain. The year 2008 was the tenth anniversary of this platform for school chess, the earliest EducaRed portal, specially created to promote the practice of this discipline among youngsters. From then on and without interruption, tens of thousands of Spanish and Latin American students have been able to learn and practice this analytical pastime. Last year alone, 4,000 students competed in more than 25,000 games.
- Build a Webpage Contest in Peru. This event took place for the sixth consecutive year in 2008. With the theme of “Caring for the Environment", the idea was for students to reflect on different environmental topics and recommend improvements in environmental protection through the Web pages they built. Nine-hundred and sixty-two teams took part, with more than 4,000 students and teachers presenting 480 proposals.
- The EducaRed portal is the result of thousands of teachers and students collaborating to help create didactic materials and to design activities. Example: 266.300 people registered in 2008 in 79 virtual communities for work purposes and to share experiences.
Special Education in EducaRed
As part of its commitment to supporting and strengthening education, Fundación Telefónica has specific areas of EducaRed dedicated to Special Education. Sections like “IntegraRed: Educate to Integrate” in Argentina, “Special Education” in Chile or “People with Disabilities” in Peru are examples of this.
The aim of these sections is to promote respect for differences and to encourage equality of opportunities when accessing ICT, as well as to provide information on training, and educational, professional and social inclusion of these individuals. EducaRed offers support, guidance and resources related to various disabilities. One can also find information on technology for assisting the disabled and different school projects that promote new technologies and encourage social integration.
The EducaRed portal in Argentina received the 2008 Award for Socially-Conscious Entrepreneurs from the Ecumenical Social Forum in recognition of its work for integrated educational and social inclusion.
The aim of these sections is to promote respect for differences and to encourage equality of opportunities when accessing ICT, as well as to provide information on training, and educational, professional and social inclusion of these individuals. EducaRed offers support, guidance and resources related to various disabilities. One can also find information on technology for assisting the disabled and different school projects that promote new technologies and encourage social integration.
The EducaRed portal in Argentina received the 2008 Award for Socially-Conscious Entrepreneurs from the Ecumenical Social Forum in recognition of its work for integrated educational and social inclusion.
EducaRed on the Mobile Phone
In August 2008, EducaRed in Colombia launched a WAP portal and SMS alert system, a mobile feature that allows teachers, students and parents to stay abreast of new educational methods, important events in the educational community, the latest technological advances, and opportunities for professional growth. They can also learn from the experiences of teachers with a reputation for innovation, who share useful tools.
The information found on the EducaRed WAP is the most important part of the portal’s Home Page. Users only need to activate the service and wait for a message to be sent to them on their mobile phone, advising that the content they are interested in has been updated.
The information found on the EducaRed WAP is the most important part of the portal’s Home Page. Users only need to activate the service and wait for a message to be sent to them on their mobile phone, advising that the content they are interested in has been updated.
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