What examples of good practices in the use of technology and education exist in Ibero-America and what evidence endorses them? How can we re-think learning and the digital transformation in our region in the wake of the pandemic? Can technology improve educational outcomes? Ministers of education, experts, teachers and members of the education community met in Madrid on 26th and 27th October 2022 to attempt to answer these questions and pool their experiences in the field of educational technology.
The event, organised by the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OEI), ProFuturo and UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report), sought to compile evidence-based examples of good practices in the use of technology in education in Ibero-America for them to serve as input for the drawing up of the GEM Report 2023, which will be published on 26th July in Montevideo.
The open consultation that took place at Espacio Fundación Telefónica was attended by José Manuel Bar Cendón, the Spanish Secretary of State for Education, Jaime Perrczyk, the Minister of Education of Argentina, Marco Antonio Ávila Lavanal, the Chilean Minister of Education, and Daniel Crespo, the Vice-Minister of Education of Ecuador. The event was also attended by Leonardo Garnier, the special advisor of the United Nations for the Educational Transformation Summit, and authorities and representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank, the AECID, Ceibal and the Madrid Consejo de Directores.
The experts agreed that, while the use of technology in education can provide numerous opportunities for education systems, the inequalities it creates must be addressed and opportunities must be made equally accessible to everyone. They also agreed that the overriding question for policy-makers should always be what kind of education we want and then how technology can help in achieving this goal.
The OEI, ProFuturo and the GEM Report have drawn up a report summarising the main findings of the consultation event, which includes the reflections and recommendations of more than 70 experts from Spain and Latin America who, in a hybrid format during the second day of the consultation, participated in working groups on digital skills, educational leadership, early childhood and the digital transformation.
The report highlights the following general conclusions:
- Digital education is a tool for re-inventing education that can extend the right to education to the most vulnerable.
- The digital transformation in education is a dynamic, changing and ongoing process that can’t be resolved in the short term.
- Technology facilitates a more active and collaborative learning style based on interaction and curiosity.
It also highlights a number of specific findings drawn from the working groups on digital skills, educational leadership, the digital transformation and early childhood. The report is a core input for the drawing up of the GEM 2023 Report on technology and education, which will be published in July this year.
