Policymakers Seminar on ICT in Education for Central America

Part I: Background

In Latin America and the Carribean International donors are pushing for countries to adopt technology while they allocate loans to modernize educational systems. A portion of the loans have been allocated to deploying computers in schools, and consequently there are modern labs available in secondary and, increasingly, primary schools today. Unfortunately, seldom are these labs used effectively, efficiently and in a sustainable manner.

Part II: Seminar Objectives and Design

The Policymakers Seminar on ICT in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean aims at guiding participants in the review of current efforts in the region, helping them identify the elements and issues involved in the development of a National Policy for the integration of ICT in Education and a Strategic Plan towards its implementation.

This seminar consisted of three components: (1) face to face seminar, (2) follow-up strategy (distance guidance), and (3) videoconference sessions for sharing and evaluating the outcomes of the seminar. The face to face seminar served as a way to share common knowledge and regional experiences on the integration of ICT in Education. At the end of the face to face seminar, each country assessed its country’s current status of the integration of ICT in Education, in order to design a first draft of a national Policy and a Strategic Plan. Each country team will receive expert guidance and online feedback through an interactive website designed for that purpose. The seminar will finish with a two-day videoconference session for sharing and evaluating seminar outcomes.

The face to face seminar will be limited to 30 participants and will focus on:

· Potentials of ICT in Education

· Best Practices and Lessons Learned on ICT in Education

· National Policies for ICT in Education

· Issues and Elements of a National Policy on ICT in Education

· Implementation of National Policies on ICT in Education

For more information visit: www.sca2006.tic-educa.org