In the context of the project Distance education: an opportunity for all, led by the State Distance University (UNED) of Costa Rica and financed by UNESCO, was contemplated as part of the activities, the realization of an internship for academics who, through the project, are trained in distance education , this in order to know the development and the substantial strategic areas of the educational model of the UNED.
The project began with the participation of 25 academic officials from the following universities: National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua), Technological University of Panama. (UTP), Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University, (UPNFM. Honduras), University of El Salvador (UES), University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC) and Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, (UASD. Dominican Republic).
In the period between February 16 and 21, the first group of interns was received, this was made up of twelve academics from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (UASD), who carried out the internship, participated in the various scheduled activities and managed to relate what was studied in the modules studied.
A second group of students visited the UNED from March 27 to April 2, coming from universities of the Central American Isthmus, among them, the UTP, UPNFM, UES and USAC, who also lived the experience of approaching the development of the UNED, in particular to understand the educational model through the activities carried out during the internship and relate the topics already studied.
The project Distance education: an opportunity for all it is led at the UNED, by a work team made up of Dr. Yarith Rivera Sánchez, who coordinates it; Dr. Viviana Berrocal Carvajal, co-coordinator; and Dr. Evelyn Gutiérrez Soto, the three officials from the School of Educational Sciences (ECE); Ing. Cecilia Barrantes Ramírez and Licda. Maritza Rojas Pérez, both officials of the Directorate of Internationalization and Cooperation (DIC)
The initiative has had the collaboration and support of the Rector of the UNED, Rodrigo Arias Camacho, the Academic Vice-Rector, Maricruz Corrales Mora, and the Director of the ECE, Linda María Madriz Bermúdez. The project was declared of institutional interest, by agreement of the UNED Board of Directors, session 2197-2021, Article I, paragraph 10), held on November 15, 2021.
In relation to the work carried out, Yarith Rivera Sánchez, coordinator of the project, commented: ?The project consists of transferring knowledge and experiences to six universities in the Central American region and the Dominican Republic. The substantive intention is that the participating higher education institutions can develop, improve or strengthen distance education models with the use of virtuality, in a way that facilitates education for people who, due to various situations, have impediments to attend universities in person, considering the current scenario?
The project was born as a response to the challenges presented by the new world reality on the subject of higher education and which has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. UNED achieved the approval of the project by the United Nations Organization Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), within the participation program for the 2020-2021 Biennium.
In this context, Rodrigo Arias Camacho, rector of the UNED stated: ?we are very pleased to be able to share our educational model with the universities of Central America and the Dominican Republic, because we believe that what we called the new normality two years ago implies deep and permanent changes. in education, where progress has been made, consolidating new ways of learning in the teaching and learning process, and which forced us to creatively carry out these new changes, which should not only be improved day by day; but that learning services must be equitable, so that the person can learn at any time and in any place?.
Maricruz Corrales Mora, Academic Vice Chancellor, stressed the importance of the initiative and its link with distance education, thank you. to working together where they have managed to overcome challenges as complex as those we have experienced in these last two years with the pandemic, in this sense, this project contributes to strengthening the human talent that makes it possible to share our educational model, which demands a series content processes and educational virtualization, which allows us as an institution and as teachers to be closer to the student. For this reason, distance education is not simply placing content on the Internet, it is a whole systemic vision of education where a significant leap was made in education in general, where the teacher is an institutional figure, which marks a clear difference with everything What is the university educational tradition?
During the internship, the participants learned about the work of various dependencies such as the Directorate for the Production of Didactic Materials (DPMD), as well as its programs: Production of Written Didactic Material (PROMADE), Videoconferencing and Audiography (VICOM), Production of Audiovisual Material ( PPMA), Online Learning (PAL), Multimedia Electronic Production (PEM), in addition to the facilities of the Center for Information, Documentation and Bibliographic Resources (CIDREB), the Editorial UNED (EUNED), the Center for Training in Distance Education (CECED ), the Curriculum Support and Learning Assessment Program (PACE).
The internship also included a visit to the university campuses of San Marcos, Puntarenas, Orotina and Escazú, which allowed the interns to see in a general way how a campus works, learn about the services they provide to the population and the new challenges of the UNED from the headquarters and the importance of projection in the territories.
Linda Madriz Bermúdez, director of the ECE, highlighted the importance of the project by pointing out that: ?In the first instance, we share a series of realities, limitations and challenges with our sister Central American universities. The fact that we learn together and in a collaborative way can be much more significant than simply importing proposals and secondly the fact that distance education in its different modalities is here to stay and with the pandemic it reinforced that it is the education that it really facilitates and ensures equality and opportunities for all people in the different places where they are. In the same way, there are a series of challenges, because, although it is a wonderful opportunity, its quality must be ensured so that it is really significant for those people who have that need to learn.
Finally, it is important to note that the project offers the UNED the opportunity to publicize once again, at an international level, the development and knowledge of distance education, and to the participating universities, it enables them to appropriate tools and knowledge to understand the model, improve existing practices in the university contexts represented and initiate processes towards this model of education.
Participating academics they think
Mariela Román Barrios, professional advisor specialized in Distance Education in Virtual Environments of the Postgraduate Studies System (CG-SEP) of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, commented that ? the input he got from the internship was excellent from the UNED staff. It is truly a commitment to projection towards the Central American educational community, to support higher education institutions that are in the process of implementing distance education. You learn in a profound and significant way from the organization, processes, experiences and the professional, mediated and organized execution of distance education projects.
Likewise, Román Barrios indicated: ?I am deeply grateful for the knowledge acquired, which is very practical and motivates us to continue in the planning, execution and evaluation of remote projects in virtual environments in the Postgraduate Studies System of the University of San Charles of Guatemala?
Along these same lines, Lorena Margarita Ramírez Mercado, who is a university professor and coordinator of the first course of Distance Education in the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, of the University of El Salvador, stated: ?This internship seems extremely important to me to finish my understand the distance education model and to realize that this model implies an entire organization and institutional commitment, where a series of departments or units provide the necessary support and advice to teachers and students so that the model works and improves day by day. day. In addition, this model guarantees the right to education for all and that the university approaches the most distant communities. This internship has shown me the importance of the institutional organization where you work in an articulated way for the same purpose?
The representation of the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University fell to Jenny Margoth Zelaya Matamoros, who is the vice-chancellor of Distance Education and who pointed out that “the internship is the academic activity that materialized all the modules that we have taken up to now. Did the internship make sense of all the concepts learned?
From Panama, the project engineer Luiyiana Del Carmen Pérez participated, who is the coordinator of the Faculty of Computer Systems Engineering at the Azuero Regional Center of the Technological University of Panama, who noted that ?the internship has been the top activity for me of the diploma Distance Education: An opportunity for all, since it has allowed me to internalize all the knowledge acquired during almost a year of distance study, as well as to clear up any doubts about the UNED distance education model, being able to observe all that work coordinated by a multidisciplinary team that works motivated for a common goal, to offer education to an entire population without borders. With the 45th anniversary of the UNED foundation, it is projected internationally with a solid base of distance learning, through the integration of five programs: PROMADE, PMA, PEM, VAU and PAL, articulated with the guidelines of PACE?.
?With this internship I get a successful training model, thanks to a staff that promotes values such as: service and empathy for that vulnerable population, synergy through teamwork that always goes the extra mile to offer the opportunity to penetrate to the wonderful world of knowledge and contribute to the professional development of the population. Thanks to UNESCO for the opportunity and UNED for opening its doors to replicate its model at the Technological University of Panama. I end with this phrase by Alberto Einstein "The mind that opens to a new idea will never return to its original size, Del Carmen Pérez mentioned."
For more information about this project, you can contact Yarith Rivera Sánchez at: yrivera@uned.ac.cr or to Cecilia Barrantes Ramírez by email: cbarrantes@uned.ac.cr
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