The successful completion of the Digital Competence in Emergencies Program opens a new stage for higher education in Peru

On January 27, 2021, the closing ceremony of the Programa de desarrollo competencial para entornos de enseñanza-aprendizaje no presenciales en situación de emergencia (Competency Development Program for Non-Presential Teaching-Learning Environments in Emergency Situations) (COVID-19) offered by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) for 13 public universities in Peru, within the framework of the Program to Support the Design and Implementation of Strategies for Pedagogical Continuity (PMESUT) of the Peruvian Ministry of Education (Minedu), was broadcast live via Facebook Live.

Francesc Pedró, UNESCO IESALC director, began the virtual event with words of thanks to the 2800 teachers and technicians and more than 2300 students who were trained in this program, as well as to the Peruvian State for taking advantage of the use of instruments to strengthen the future of education in that country. “I would like to highlight the intuition that PMESUT had in offering the opportunity to contribute to the development of model courses and to rely on teachers for that purpose. We must not stop insisting on improving our technological and pedagogical capabilities. We must take a step further in the construction of university and disciplinary networks concerned with permanent lifelong learning.”

The Project’s global coordinator, Yuma Inzolia, presented the achievements of the program, which included more than 47 specialists from various countries (Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador) for a total of more than 120 training hours given through seminars and synchronous, asynchronous sessions, with a 79% completion rate, and with more than 28 seminars which fomented the strengthening of the knowledge provided in digital competence. “We have significantly transformed the teaching-learning process for both teachers and students, and for university technicians and, to an equal extent, for all of us. In total, 7134 badges were awarded, 320 virtualized model courses were held, and 320 digital leaders were trained,” she said.

At the end of the event, Ana Mendigutxia, project manager and head of communications for the IESALC-PMESUT Project, presented the results of the Digital Leaders Competition, launched for students from the 13 universities participating in the program. After two weeks of testing using Facebook as a training platform, and the interactive test tool Kahoot!, the 39 young winners will receive laptops and tablets as prizes. Carme Hernández-Escolano, PMESUT academic coordinator and pedagogical leader, was in charge of the moderation of the event.

Watch the winners’ testimonial video on Facebook Live.