Second Edition of the Mapping of Best Practices in Digital Education of the Americas

There are multiple dimensions and purposes of digital education. Among them, we can recognize, for example: access to educational opportunities and the increase in levels of equity and inclusion in systems, the improvement of the relevance and quality of learning, the development of digital skills or education and learning management systems.

In this mapping, we will consider "best practices in digital education" to be initiatives that include digital or technological components developed by civil society organizations, management teams, and teachers of educational institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, aimed at one or more of the following purposes:

• Promote a more inclusive and equitable education. The digitization of learning tools and resources can expand access to learning and teaching materials and, therefore, increase learning opportunities for the most disadvantaged students. In this case, technologies enable the timely detection of students with specific learning difficulties or needs and also offer accessible resources and activities for these students. Through virtual teaching, it is possible to guarantee access to education to populations in remote contexts, in disaster situations or with difficulties in accessing schools or to improve educational opportunities for populations that had access to low-quality services. Technologies provide activities and tools that can be used to accelerate the learning of those students who have not reached certain learning goals and/or who require additional time to interact with the content. Another important advance in this regard is digital information systems from which timely and systematic information can be obtained about students and interventions can be carried out aimed at sustaining their educational trajectory and preventing school repetition or dropout. Some examples of digital technologies used for this purpose are: applications for the diagnosis of dysgraphia or dyslexia, accessible materials or activities for blind or deaf students, intelligent tutoring systems or MOOCs used to reinforce or accelerate the learning of students who need it most, early warning systems.
• Promote specific digital skills in students. In the context of the exponential advance of technologies, it is increasingly necessary to train future generations in digital skills that allow them, among other things: to participate responsibly in the processes of socialization and the construction and circulation of knowledge in the digital world; operate and think critically with the information available in cyberspace, interact meaningfully with digital resources that expand or enhance our capacities, coexist respectfully with others on social networks, analyze and reflect on the impact of digital technologies and environments on human life and development. Unlike the previous purpose, in this case, the priority and focus of the use of technologies is placed on the development of digital skills in students, although this may also be relevant for the teaching of specific content
•  Offer a more personalized education for students. Technologies can be used to produce relevant, timely and dynamic information about each student and their learning process, which is a central input for teaching and for the interventions carried out by schools aimed at sustaining and improving their educational trajectory. They also offer the opportunity to assist students individually in their learning, propose activities and guide them according to their levels of achievement, previous knowledge, interests, styles and rhythms. Some examples of this are: digital systems for teaching or evaluating specific content such as mathematics or reading fluency or comprehension, artificial intelligence systems for tutoring, student guidance systems for higher education.
• Strengthen or enhance teacher training and professional development. Digital education not only includes students but also directors and teachers of the education system. Technologies provide new opportunities for teacher professional development based on virtual training, digital networks and communities for socialization and learning among teachers, platforms for access to resources and practices of other colleagues, teacher performance evaluation devices or systems for digitizing the teacher file and professional development. Some examples of this can be virtual experiences of initial or continuous teacher training for remote contexts or to improve the quality of programs, experiences of digital systems for evaluation and feedback of teacher performance, networks or social platforms that bring together teachers or digital files of teachers from which the instances of training and/or accreditation of knowledge and professional skills are registered.
• Enrich the teaching and learning of school content. Digital technologies provide different platforms, software and resources that can enhance, update or dynamize teaching. There are software aimed at teaching and learning specific content, platforms that teachers can use as support systems for teaching inside and outside the classroom, tools specific to disciplinary fields that can be integrated into curricula to update students' training. Some examples of technologies used for this purpose are mathematics or physical science learning software, virtual teaching platforms, artificial intelligence bots or digital design tools or simulators.

 In the presentation of experiences for Mapping, it is recommended to frame the Good Practice to a single main purpose or a maximum of two, beyond the fact that it may contribute secondarily to other purposes. This framing allows us to clearly identify the main sense by which the experience was developed.

Participating Entities may apply for more than one good practice, as long as the latter has been developed by a different teacher, director or representative of a different civil society organization.