Dr. Rebeca Castellanos Gómez (PhD) – Rector of the National University of Education.
A few years ago we saw the digital paradigm in universities as far away, an education based on technological tools that distanced it from face-to-face was almost unthinkable. Currently, it is no longer a utopia, but a tangible reality that impacts its teaching, research, innovation and outreach functions.
For this to be possible and for academic processes to take place, with the quality and warmth necessary to train professionals of the future, institutional management must also rely on technology.
The Institutional Philosophy and its Pedagogical Model are the key and support of plans, projects, processes and actions; Consequently, the necessary clarity and strategic vision of its leaders is essential to move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Since its appearance, the university is an institution that works with knowledge, which is why it is mandatory to analyze and evaluate the impact of this paradigm on its processes of generation, socialization and circulation of existing and created knowledge. This is especially important when it comes to teacher training.
The National University of Education (UNAE) is a young university —it barely has 7 years of institutional life—, which was born in Ecuador and is dedicated to training education professionals; thus contributing to the transformation of national and regional educational processes 1.
Uno de los elementos característicos de la universidad, en los procesos de formación de docentes, es su Modelo Pedagógico; este concibe al conocimiento como proceso y relación2. Para ello se plantea una base teórica sustentada en el conectivismo, es decir “considerar al contexto digital en los intercambios humanos”3. Entre algunos de sus principios destacan la importancia de la pluralidad y calidad de las redes y la externalización de la información; incluidos en el proceso de almacenaje, tratamiento, recuperación de la información y construcción del conocimiento.
Thanks to these principles and their support, in the field of teaching and educational innovation, some important advances have been made in infrastructure, management and educational services.
The progress achieved has been transferred to sister universities interested in training their teachers. We are clear about the need to permanently strengthen the soft skills of our teachers; We live in a process of continuous learning and improvement.
On the other hand, in an exercise of integration of teaching with innovation and research at UNAE —supported by tutorial processes—, the Virtual Learning Environments (VEA) have played a central role for the realization of synchronous and asynchronous sessions.
Con el uso de EVEA, el estudiante transita desde un rol meramente pasivo, de consumidor de tecnología, a ser productor de contenidos y servicios educativos; es decir, a Eduprosumidor 4. El apoyo de CEDIA, para el desarrollo de la docencia y la investigación, ha sido fundamental en este proceso.
Some examples of software development and programming for the application of digital programming and educational video games are: 1. The Taptana Digital: an interactive application that rescues the ancestral mathematical knowledge of the Taptana Cañari. It executes arithmetic operations using an algorithm developed by UNAE. 2. The UNAE Chakra: an informative app, about the products of the chakra and the circular economy. 3. Peoples and nationalities: an educational video where avatars of indigenous peoples and nationalities are chosen, oriented towards solving environmental problems. 4. RADAR UNAE: an interactive application aimed at disseminating press releases, informative capsules, etc.
Vale mencionar a “Neopass@ction. Una experiencia colaborativa de video formación en docentes de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe”5, que es un proyecto de investigación en colaboración con el Instituto Francés de la Educación. Los maestros de una escuela de EIB en Saraguro mejoran sus procesos de enseñanza a través de la estrategia de video formación. Estas y otras experiencias se basan, no solo en el uso de las tecnologías, sino en el sentido humano de formación de ciudadanos y de valoración de lo nuestro, como elementos esenciales en la formación de educadores.
En el Observatorio de Profesionalización UNAE6 también se articulan tecnologías diversas para dar respuesta al Proyecto de Profesionalización de Docentes en Servicio, ofrecido en diversos lugares de la geografía ecuatoriana.
The participants are teachers whose workplaces are located in places far from the cantonal capitals, often bordering Colombia and Peru; For this reason, it became necessary to resort to geolocation as a tool that favors decision-making, regarding the location of tutors, teaching strategies, timing of meetings and other aspects inherent to curricular planning and execution of their training.
The Flourish tool was used to present large volumes of data interactively; through different filters the user can organize the data.
Finally, the computerized developments carried out for institutional management have been crucial. For example, the internal management platform for merit and opposition contests for academic staff (concurso.unae.ec/inicio).
Likewise, in the creation of other modules, times have been optimized and errors in the processes have been reduced.
Existen desafíos importantes para la universidad, al insertarse en el ecosistema de la economía digital, algunos endógenos y otros exógenos7; uno de ellos es mantener el enfoque humano en la formación de docentes, con el apoyo de las TICs. Ahora ¡trabajamos en ello!
1 «UNAE – Universidad Nacional de Educación».
2 «modelo-pedagogico-unae.pdf».
3 «modelo-pedagogico-unae.pdf».
4 López, Herrera, y Apolo, «Educación de calidad y pandemia: retos, experiencias y propuestas desde estudiantes en formación docente de Ecuador».
5 Alvarado, «NEOPASS@ CTION: una experiencia colaborativa de video-formación con docentes de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe».
6 «Profesionalización | Datos estadísticos de la carrera».
7 Hilbert et al., «Estrategia y transformación digital de las universidades: un enfoque para el gobierno universitario».
