An Educational Revolution to Support Change in the Classroom: Colombia and the Educational Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

As developing countries strive to strengthen their educational institutions to meet the challenges of the economic and social demands of globalization, tension often arises between providing more access to traditional public education and reforming the quality of the education provided. With its Revolución Educativa, Colombia offers an interesting case study of comprehensive education reforms that are grounded in a shared vision of quality and that make skillful use of information and communication technology to meet their goals. In designing the reforms, the Colombian Ministry of Education identified a series of complementary strategies that attempt to address five critical policy dimensions that keep the drive towards quality in the forefront. This article describes these strategies: Local Capacity Building; Enrollment and Efficiency; New Technologies; Curricular Reform; Improving Teacher Quality; and the Assessment System.

Computadores en las escuelas y desempeño cognitivo. Un resumen de la investigación

“…Some case studies of specific small interventions assess how classroom practices but not student outcomes change in response to the intervention (e.g. Bosch 2009, Light et al 2009, Harrison et al 2002.…”

An Analysis of the Research and Impact of ICT in Education in Developing Country Contexts

“…Hepp et al, 2004); (4) studies examining the cost effectiveness of ICT interventions (e.g. Bakia, 2001;Potashnik & Adkins, 1996;Wolff, 1999); and (5) policy-level reviews or "educational technology master plans, that provide a vision for the use of technology in education and institute programs that support this vision" (Commonwealth of Learning, date unknown; Kozma et al, 2004;Light & Manson, 2007;Powell, 2006) conducted by Ministries of Education in developing countries. The focus of this article is solely on extant evaluations of ICTs on student learning outcomes within developing countries.…”