International Award Educared

Until next May 2 will take place entries to version 12 of these awards, aimed at teachers and students from around the world. This is an opportunity to work with Information Technology and Communication (ICT), conducted in classrooms not be anonymous and that, contrary to this, is recognized internationally.

How can you participate? Very easy: blogs, wikis, webquests, google docs, speaking images, podcast channels or YouTube, educational uses of social networks, among others. Methods and categories depending on whether or not students have had an active role in the development work, you can compete in the following ways: • Teachers with students: in this mode will accommodate all work involving students actively, either by creating and updating a blog, the development of wikis, doing social networking, among others. • Teachers without students: In this mode open to all work performed by teachers without student participation. For example, if you have a blog that publishes content and activities of common interest to the educational community can participate. • There is also the modality Tools Lab: In this mode faculty may participate with or without a group of students do more advanced work and create their own tools, educational applications or widgets. The categories of participation for these modes are defined by the age of the students as follows: Category I (3 to 5 years), Category II (6 to 8 years), Category III (9 to 11 years), Category IV (12 to 14 years) and Category V (15 to 17). What the jury will evaluate? An international jury will award 3 prizes for each category and modality, which includes a gift for students, teachers and educational institution. For its part, the mode "Teachers with students" will have 3 finalists per category will receive a prize for all this to encourage collaborative work between teachers and students. In addition, the jury may award up to 3 special prizes from among all papers presented in each of the following sections: • Works that seek to facilitate access to ICT and education to children with special educational needs. • Work carried out using mobile technology. • collaborative work between teachers and students different countries. • collaborative work between teachers and students from different centers of the country. The work submitted by participants will be evaluated from a pedagogical sense, therefore you must attach by a mandatory specification that is equivalent to 50 percent of the evaluation the end. The memory can be made virtually through a form installed on the website of the 

International Award Educared . Recommendations Awards Registering is easy and there are several channels created by the award to address the concerns and suggestions from teachers and students . Therefore, pay close attention: • Registration Process to Award: Once admitted to the Prize website, you can initiate enrollment by 2 steps. The first is to register as a teacher participant. You only need to enter your email and receive with this information how. Once registered you can submit their work and begin to develop their pedagogical memory. In order to facilitate the registration process and delivery of work, the prize had before it a tutorial that explains step by step to make these processes. To meet click 

• Social networking and contact: To follow step by step process of the Prize, you can make use of social networks, for both teachers and students in participating can use these tools.  Through Facebook , Educared Colombia ordered an information space. You can visit 

. Following the official account on Twitter @ Premio_Educared Award, you can also get information. Visit this social network profile 

The official Messenger Award is premiointernacional @ educared.org and certamen.educared Skype.

Teachers Training in New Technologies

What are the training opportunities for teachers? What solutions could improve their relationship with IT and ICT?

Is it necessary to force a teacher to use ICT (Information and Communication) if he does not master a minimum? Certainly not! At the time, he will not feel comfortable in his job, can not benefit optimally and will not be inclined to answer any questions from students about these technologies. A huge waste of time should also result if any problem arises, knowing that all is never perfect computer and nobody is immune to a false move or an honest mistake. The teacher must be comfortable in his own way of giving way to remain credible to its students. The solution is therefore the training of teachers in these new technologies.

The training courses organized for teachers

Proper training is essential but would quickly become useless if others do not follow training throughout the career of the teacher. New technologies develop and evolve so quickly, it is preferable that the teacher is always "page" of what the world of ICT can offer in the academic world. Just imagine that today a teacher has been trained to use Windows 3.1 ...

In Wallonia (Belgium), for example, there are many training courses organized, but the problem is the same as for initial training: they are still few and too little depth. Moreover, most of them are primarily in the form of a conference rather than practical training. Moreover, they are rarely required. Therefore free to teachers to enroll or not. Namely they are also often held during school holidays, which really does not motivate most of them ...

It is therefore clear that these continuing education, as proposed earlier today are not expected to trigger the trigger envy among the teacher, disrupting its teaching methodologies through new technologies.

Autonomous or external training

The training courses organized specifically not profitable enough, the teacher is currently brought to form itself to these technologies. If it is already accustomed to them, personal interest, he is a winner down the line. However, if this is not the case, it has an interest in training or external, is trying to get used to these technologies by revealing itself ... but of course it takes time and sometimes the money. We're back on the problems of the real motivation of the teacher in learning about these technologies.

Some possible solutions to address this problem with training ...

First, raise public awareness campaigns and seminars to the adoption of new technologies in language learning, showing what he can do and what it can bring to both teachers but also to students. Practical experiences should be proposed to open the eyes of teachers and show them the benefits of ICT are real.

Then, propose (or impose ...) practical training so that teachers become familiar with computers, gain some confidence and test their own capabilities. Such training should be promoted as genuine aid to teaching and not as restrictive and discouraging. This is certainly the solution that has the greatest influence and fastest results.

It would also be interesting to provide teachers with free materials, online help, tutorials, ... ICT and their actual choices: impose, for example, an e-mail address where they could receive educational information and other ( class schedules, certificates, training proposals, reviews, ...). It is obvious that such information is available online only, exclusively, so they are forced to use these techniques and become familiar.

The contribution of virtual communities

Finally, another idea would be to foster virtual communities of teachers to exchange experiences, ideas and projects while using common tools. An example of this kind of community is seen http://www.enseignons.be/ This is a center for sharing educational resources and an online forum for teachers. It is an opportunity just waiting to grow. However, a criticism can be made: anyone can register (or not teaching), which does not necessarily motivate teachers to talk freely about their business ...

If you're interested, you can find additional information concerning the relationships between teachers and new technologies , as well as the role of technology in our schools .