Reading Month, 2022

THESE COURSES ARE FUNDED BY PROFUTURO AND OFFERED FREE THROUGH THE OAS AND THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SAINT LUCIA

ABOUT PROFUTURO

ProFuturo is one of the largest digital education initiatives from Telefonica Foundation and la Caixa Foundation in Spain; its overall objective is to provide quality and sustainable access to education in vulnerable areas throughout the world, through a digital and integrated educational solution.  The Organization of American States (OAS), The Ministry of Education, Saint Lucia and ProFuturo signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2019 to provide to the Government of Saint Lucia digital education tools to improve the acquisition of skills of primary school students and to introduce innovation in education through the provision of technology driven teaching and learning practices designed to empower teachers to provide students with innovative skills and competencies.

List of courses (Approximately 10 hours each)

There are 8 courses being offered to Educators from June to December 2021:

• Innovation – Basic Level
• ICT – Basic Level
• Innovation – Intermediate Level
• ICT – Intermediate Level
• Innovation – Professional Level
• ICT – Professional Level
• Innovation – Advanced Level
• ICT – Professional Level

Promotional Handout: Get more information about the courses

Self Registration Guide: Instructions on how to register on the learning platform

Registration will be available from June 15 to August 31, 2021

Registration Link: https://solution.profuturo.education/en/inicio

Register your success with us. Make sure that your professional growth is being recorded and recognised by submitting a copy of your certificate on this platform.

Here are just some of the Professional Development courses and programs made available to teachers recently:

• Certificate in Digital Education Leadership – Training in Action
• Google Classroom Training Program on Coursera
• Microsoft Teams Training
• Understanding OER
• ProFuturo – Innovation and ICT Training (Basic to Professional Levels)
• Blended Learning Approaches on Canvas
• Virtual Tutoring on Moodle

Upload your certificates here.

The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations informs teachers and principals, that the deadline for completing the 10-hour Google Classroom training on Coursera, has been extended to Sunday 21 February 2021. This is to allow those who may have encountered technical difficulties to complete the program.

Please note that those who have already completed the courses are encouraged to take the opportunity to pursue any other relevant professional development courses that are available on Coursera while this offer remains open until March 31, 2021.

The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations takes this opportunity to congratulate the hundreds of teachers who have enrolled in and completed the Google Classroom courses so far.

Click here for more information about the program.

Click here for more information about the COL Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative.

Go to our National Language Policy page for more details.

ONLINE – SELF PACED – SHORT COURSES AVAILABLE FROM FEBRUARY TO DECEMBER 2021 IN INNOVATION AND ICT

THESE COURSES ARE FUNDED BY PROFUTURO AND OFFERED FREE THROUGH THE OAS AND THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SAINT LUCIA

Registration Link: https://survey.telefonicaed.com/index.php/813523?newtest=Y&lang=en

ABOUT PROFUTURO

ProFuturo is one of the largest digital education initiatives from Telefonica Foundation and la Caixa Foundation in Spain; its overall objective is to provide quality and sustainable access to education in vulnerable areas throughout the world, through a digital and integrated educational solution.  The Organization of American States (OAS), The Ministry of Education, Saint Lucia and ProFuturo signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2019 to provide to the Government of Saint Lucia digital education tools to improve the acquisition of skills of primary school students and to introduce innovation in education through the provision of technology driven teaching and learning practices designed to empower teachers to provide students with innovative skills and competencies.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE 2021 EDITION

ProFuturo will close the 2020 online courses announcement on the 31 of January 2021 and open the 2021 course offer for the rest of this year (2021).

The implications are as follows:

For new users:

• All new users will be registered in the 2021 cohort. The 2021 cohort will have access to the same 8 courses currently available (Innovation Route and ICT Route).
• Teachers may use, the self-registration link. This link is only for teachers who are participating in the open and completely self-paced modality (no virtual tutor will be assigned to teachers who self-registered).
• Principals can request that teachers at their school are registered in batch by the MOE. The new link will be shared by the end of this month. 

For existing users (teachers who registered from last year):

• Existing users from the 2020 cohort with pending courses will be automatically registered to the 2021 edition of those missing courses. This means, for example, that if you completed the Innovation Route and the Basic Level of the ICT Route, you will be registered only to the remaining courses (intermediate, advanced and professional) of the 2021 ICT Route.
• The 2021 cohorts will remain identical to the 2020 cohort. This means that your groups and virtual tutors assignment to these groups will remain the same as they were in 2020.
• All users will still be able to download the certificates of completion from all the courses they finalized in 2020. At the bottom of the page of the “my courses” tab, you will find those finalised courses with the option to download your certificates.
• Users will not have to reactivate their accounts or take any further action. Starting on February 1^st, when you login to the platform, you will automatically see the 2021 online courses they didn’t complete in 2020.
• If you started, but didn’t complete a course by January 31, 2021, you will be registered again in to the 2021 version of that course. While it is possible the course progress will be saved and migrated to the 2021 version of the course, there is still a chance that you may have to restart the course.

PROGRAM AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

There are 8 courses being offered to Public Primary School teachers and Principals from February to December 2021:

• Innovation – Basic Level
• ICT – Basic Level
• Innovation – Intermediate Level
• ICT – Intermediate Level
• Innovation – Professional Level
• ICT – Professional Level
• Innovation – Advanced Level
• ICT – Professional Level

ABOUT THE COURSES

The disruption to the education sector due to COVID-19 has been unprecedented; The Government of Saint Lucia was forced to close schools in mid March, just before the start of the Easter break and with no idea at that time whether normal schooling would resume in the near future.  It meant that strategies would have had to be put in place immediately, planning therefore for the worst-case scenario, that is, schools not reopening under normal conditions.

The Ministry of Education, Saint Lucia envisions a new pedagogy transitioning from the blackboard to blended learning.  It is recognized that early learners are being disadvantaged and not receiving the level of instruction they need under the “new normal”.  Online teaching and learning is therefore being recommended by all education providers throughout the globe and to tackle these concerns the Ministry of Education Saint Lucia has collaborated with ProFuturo and OAS to offer these eight short, online, self paced courses for primary school teachers throughout the island.  The Courses introduce participants to the advantages of digital education starting from the basic level of understanding of the use of automation in innovative teaching to the professional understanding of the diverse options that virtual tools offer to support the teaching and learning process.

Each course is particularly tailored for teachers and principals of primary schools.  It is flexible learning over a three week period for each Course. Participants will have free access to the learning platforms with readings and videos.  Participants will complete a self-assessment activity at the end of each Course. Successful participants who complete the course requirements will receive a Certificate of Achievement for each course.

Primary school Principals are also encouraged to take these courses.  Pre-requisites may be required for each Course level.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

In achieving all 8 Courses, participants will learn:

• Digital literacy and basic automation to achieve innovative teaching practices
• Achieving ICT competence in the classroom
• ICT integration in teaching and learning
• Transforming learning and classroom management using online innovative educational experiences to basic mobile learning
• The changes in didactic programmes to satisfy the new needs of the students
• How Apps and Blogs can change the way students learn

INNOVATION BASIC LEVEL:

• The System of Innovation
• Mobile Learning
• The Finnish Model versus the Japanese Model and practices in teaching and learning

INNOVATION INTERMEDIATE LEVEL:

• Current trends in Educational Technology that can be applied in the classroom
• How to develop a teaching outline based on creative and innovative educational tools
• The role of the teacher in the 21st Century school
• Creativity in teaching method

INNOVATION ADVANCED LEVEL:

• Transforming the classroom through innovation
• The Finnish teaching model versus other teaching models
• The key agents of change and innovation in the classroom
• The characteristics of the 21st Century teacher
• The use of technology and applications for creativity, problem solving and improving social well being

INNOVATION PROFESSIONAL LEVEL:

• Analyzing various pedagogical methodologies
• The traditional school vs the 21st Century school
• How to design a pedagogical methodology that works for each teacher
• Applying innovative experiences in collective construction of a school project
• Stimulating change in teaching practices

ICT BASIC LEVEL:

• Understanding the concept of ICT and integrating ICT in everyday life
• The psychological effects of the information age
• Promoting good practices through collaborative work
• The relevance of educational models in the classroom

ICT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL:

• Practical applications for the use of ICT
• Integrating ICT into the classroom
• Networking for continuous training and professional development
• Lesson planning and project based learning

ICT ADVANCED LEVEL:

• The didactic uses of Google Drive and online applications to carry out educational experiences in the classroom
• To understand competency based evaluation and designing evaluation rubrics for an activity
• Adapting educational experiences to collaborative learning

ICT PROFESSIONAL LEVEL:

• Learning new concepts in a fun way
• Using gaming and collaboration in teaching

DATES:

These courses will be available for the next ten months

To register please go to: https://survey.telefonicaed.com/index.php/813523?newtest=Y&lang=en

email for more information: camdueducation@gmail.com

Register for the Macmillan Caribbean Education Webinars using the the link below

Caribbean Webinar Dates January 2021