COOPERATION WITH THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC)

MetaRed, following the philosophy of establishing links with other international institutions that strengthen its goal of supporting the digital transformation of Latin American Higher Education Institutions, has promoted a fruitful collaboration with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – EU Science hub- in this case focused on technological change through the adoption of educational technologies in Latin American Higher Education Institutions.

With this intention, different joint initiatives have been developed based basically on two work axes that the IES had already detected as essential even before the Covid-19 pandemic for the incorporation of Educational Technologies in their digitalization strategy: To promote and provide the necessary digital competences to their teachers in order to face the change of paradigm in the teaching-learning processes, and the modernization of Higher Education through open educational practices.

Two reference frameworks developed by the JRC to support these digital and methodological transformation processes in Higher Education – DigCompEdu and OpenEdu – have been the basis for the actions carried out, always adapting them to the needs and realities of the universities in the different national MetaRed networks.

2. Actions

2.1 Webinars and other dissemination actions

These activities had the objective of disseminating and sharing research on educational innovation specified in the frameworks of reference mentioned above.

  • Modernization of higher education: European trends and ICT competence frameworks for university teachers 25 November 2020 Webinar
    http://eventos.metared.org/go/I-encontro-brasil
  • First Meeting of the International Educational Technologies Group (7 October 2019). Buenos Aires.
    Lecture Digital Competences in the University. Andreia Inamorato Dos Santos. Scientific Officer – DG Joint Research Centre (JRC) European Commission.
    http://eventos.metared.org/go/I-Encuentro-Internacional-Tecnologias-Educativas
  • I Meeting of MetaRed universities Brazil (8 October 2019). São Paulo.
    Educational Technologies and Digital Skills. Andreia Inamorato Dos Santos. Scientific Officer – DG Joint Research Centre (JRC) European Commission.
    http://eventos.metared.org/go/I-encontro-brasil
  • Dialogue with Rectors of Leading Universities in Latin America (20 May 2020).
    The essential transformation of the Edtech competences of the teaching staff of Latin American HEIs in the “Post Covid-19” phase. Digital Competences. Andreia Inamorato Dos Santos. Scientific Officer – DG Joint Research Centre (JRC) European Commission.
    http://eventos.metared.org/go/dialogorectores

2.2 Study on the Level of Digital Competencies of the Teaching Staff in Ibero-American HEIs

The main collaboration with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has crystallized within the activity developed by the MetaRed’s International Working Group on Educational Technologies, which already at the First Meeting held in Buenos Aires on 7 October 2019, established the field of digital skills of teachers in Latin American Higher Education Institutions as one of its main areas of work. In addition, and following the impact that COVID-19 has had on the continuity of academic processes in universities, at its last meeting held in October 2020 the Rectors, MetaRed’s Presidents, decided that this action should be one of the priorities of MetaRed for the coming year 2021.

The plan to address the development of this ambitious line of work consists of 3 fundamental stages:

  1. Assessment and knowledge of the state of digital skills of teachers in Latin American HEIs.
  2. Establishment of training strategies developed by competence levels.
  3. Certification of the acquisition of digital competences by the teachers.

MetaRed, through its Educational Technologies International Working Group and with the essential collaboration of the JRC, has begun to achieve the first phase mentioned above, establishing objectives and a work plan described at https://www.metared.org/en/grupos-trabajo-internacionales/digcompedu-prof-iberoamerica/

CONSIDERATIONS AND RESULTS OF THIS ONGOING INITIATIVE

  1. 7 MetaRed networks have joined this initiative to evaluate the digital competencies of teachers in their HEIs (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Portugal). Through their EdTech Working Groups, the networks have adapted the tool provided by the JRC for this purpose, called Check-In https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/DigCompEdu-H-ES , to the uses of language in their respective countries.
  2. 7 webinars for the diffusion of the initiative directed to the academic heads of the HEIs of their countries so that they can proceed with the dissemination of the tool to the teachers of these HEIs.
    1. MetaRed Brazil (23-09-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/55159/detail/webinar_-avaliacao-das-competencias-digitais-dos-docentes-das-ies-brasileiras.html
    2. MetaRed Argentina (02-10-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/55317/detail/evaluacion-de-las-competencias-digitales-de-los-docentes-de-las-ies-argentinas.html
    3. MetaRed Mexico (15-10-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/56057/detail/evaluacion-de-las-competencias-digitales-de-los-docentes-de-las-ies-mexicanas.html
    4. MetaRed Colombia (22-10-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/55379/detail/evaluacion-de-las-competencias-digitales-de-los-docentes-de-las-ies-colombianas.html
    5. MetaRed Portugal (26-10-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/56366/detail/webinar_-avaliacao-das-competencias-digitais-dos-docentes-das-ies-portuguesas.html
    6. MetaRed Chile (11-11-2020). https://eventos.metared.org/55929/detail/evaluacion-de-las-competencias-digitales-de-los-docentes-de-las-ies-chilenas.html
  3. 7 data collection campaigns with 9,712 self-evaluations carried out by teachers (15-12-2020).

2.3 Translations

MetaRed, with the authorization of the JRC, has carried out the translations and disseminated among its member networks, the following studies:

  1. “European framework for the digital competence of educators DIGCOMPEDU”. Published for the first time in 2017 by the JRC in English, it has been translated and published in Spanish in collaboration with INTEF.
  2. “Practical guidelines on open education for academics: modernising higher education via open educational practices”. First published in 2019 by the JRC in English, it has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese for publication.