The teachers’ role changing from “wiki” to “motivator” (in Uruguary) Plan Ceibal

The ALT C 2011 -  The education and social impacts of Plan Ceibal – a new approach to the use of technology in education, Miguel Brechner – Uruguay

This was the first keynote about a Prime Minster lead government initiative in Uruguay, support the social policies of inclusion and growth, it as a social policy, real equal opportunities – both rich and poor families have the same opportunities and as children had to have their ID papers to get the laptop, all children now have a sense of  formal identity as many children didn’t have a birth certicificate , learning and education – not only are the laptops enabling learning and teaching to improve but the security system locks the laptop up if a child does not go to school . 

Feedback from teachers, parents and children are that kids are more motivated to go to school and watching less TV. 

Miguel described the shift in the role of the teacher as being from wiki to motivator – a very clever line. A teacher who is a wiki just holds information and passes it on (the learning as acquisition metaphor (Sfard)) and a teacher who has children with this technology is now responsible for motivating children to learn by themselves.  

What learnt from Miguel is that, as always of course, pedagogy should lead and the objectives of improving the social economies chances of being internationally competitive are improved through the affordances that the laptop gives the children to learn, enjoy learning and learn from each other. Whatever you do needs to make the teachers’ lives easier. ” The reminder me that we must make our choices about technology in learning to solve a problem or improve a service, not just for their sake.

Looking forward, he said that the universities in Uruguay are not at all ready for this generation, currently the laptops are with children up to age 13/14, in a few years we’ll see the impact on how many children go to university but also how universities will react to their perceptions of learning (the learning as participation metaphor). It it’s not about learning with technology, technology is normal thing now, it’s about how technology has changed the way people want to learn.

Steve Wheeler summed this up well in his blog “Miguel Brechner demonstrated how giving a free laptop to each child has liberated them to learn in their own way and in their own time.”

Advertisement