I.T. in Education Program

IT in Education Program

Fe y Alegría promotes the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) n in educational processes, networking and institutional management of the Movement. The scope is to promote the processes of communication, the exchange and construction of knowledge between different actors and levels of Fe y Alegría and to contribute to the dissemination and construction of knowledge throughout the student community.

From our website, Mundo Escholar, we promote education and management in our students, faculty and participants, and guide the process of allocation and adequacy of thematic classrooms, so that they are appropriate to the contexts of schools, non-formal education, and special education. We develop strategies for promoters, teachers and local communities, extending training for the use of ICT in education.

Projects: Currently, the program runs in joint manner with Quality Educational Programs and Teacher Training, the project “Strengthening the System of Improving Quality Educational within Fe y Alegría” which seeks to, as the same states, deploy the system to improve the quality of education within 562 Fe y Alegría schools in the Movement within the 18 countries involved in the project (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela), in order to achieve changes in the processes and outcomes that occur at each school. . The project is funded by AECID through Entreculturas—Fe y Alegría Spain.

“I approached and stayed with educational computing.”—Adelita a teaching preschool expert on new communication technologies—ICT

“I am María Adelita Pacanchique Pérez, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Colombia Incca. I have been working within the Fe y Alegría Movement for 14 years, and I am currently teaching basic third grade at Colegio Fe y Alegría San Ignacio, which I have done since 2011.

One of the characteristics of Fe y Alegría is that it is in less-favored areas, where humility and despair are common, this implies that the formation of children, youth, women and men cannot just provide academics, but should be strengthened through spirituality as well, through the construction of values, which are integral development within their ideals and practice. People want to build lives for themselves, with aspirations to be citizens who contribute to society and from their personal growth contribute to the building of better communities.

In April 2000 I joined the Movement and began my teaching experience. Over the years I have had the opportunity to share experiences, meet people and participate in training processes, which have allowed me to grow personally, spiritually and professionally.

Fe y Alegría has given me spaces that have allowed me to interact in the world of computing, social networking and everything related to the new Information and Communication Technologies.

The program helps us make our classes more innovative, which can be done in the yard, in the institutional library or in the community, in specialized classrooms, or in the park, including letting the parents become teachers for a while. I think one of the greatest achievements of educational computing projects is that we teachers have to become creative, full of ideas that are reflected in the activities executed in our classrooms and that’s why our students always see the joy, interest, excitement, leadership and desire to succeed, always with the support and assistance of professionals who want to better oneself.

This project has also enabled the creation of learning communities that work from the Mundo Escolar portal. In 2009, along with Carlos Navarro, Coordinator at the time of the Centro Fe y Alegría Patio Bonito, I participated in the design, accompaniments and implementation of the learning community “Popular Education and the Role of Teachers,” in which teachers, from different countries where Fe y Alegría is located, participated.

I want to share with you one of the most significant stories in my journey through I.E. and that’s when I participated at the First National Congress of Educational Computing, “I.T., More Than a Tool For Learning”, where I was selected to present a paper. It was a surprise for me that I was valued enough to be thought of in this way. It was exciting, meaningful and responsible because it showed what was done in I.T. in Education Project and the benefits it had brought to the community and to me as a person and a professional. Equally enjoyable was the help those involved in the project gave me, the institution to which they belonged, and also, the comments I received after presenting; it is one of the most unforgettable moments I’ve experienced yet with the project.

I think one of those challenges faced by the program is that it needs to continue to spread the importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in educational and professional life, the resources available and Mundo Escolar and Aula Virtual and social networks, and continue to promote the use and access of computer rooms for different areas of knowledge.”