Online Education
Introduction
This Portal offers the opportunity to access CEBEM's and CIC's learning platforms and those of collaborating institutions.
The purpose is to provide access to flexible professional development opportunities in order to keep abreast of knowledge advances and applications. The course delivery system of these platforms provides a rich, dynamic, interactive classroom experience for participants. Courses are fully online and involve interactions amongst participants, facilitators and tutors. Special attention has been given to make Internet access fully viable and relevant to current electronic conditions in the LAC region.
Participants will have multiple opportunities to interact with facilitators, tutors and other participants throughout the learning experience. Additionally, access to online libraries is available as well as contacts with a variety of institutions and networks across Canada and the Latin American and Caribbean region. Participants can research and review source materials for assignments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, completely online. Participants will be able to earn professional certificates from prestigious institutions associated to CEBEM and CIC.
Program in teaching and learning online
Introduction
Communication and information technologies have opened new training opportunities for professional development. Online education is emerging as a new field that offers options for disseminating information and ideas and keeping abreast of new knowledge advances. CEBEM and CIC have identified the delivery of online short-term courses for professional development in diverse disciplines and fields as an unmet need. However, in order for university professors and other professionals to effectively facilitate online courses, they require the appropriate skills set.
In order to effectively facilitate online courses, one has to review one’s own beliefs related to traditional teaching. Generally it is believed that if one has classroom teaching experience, he/she will be successful facilitating courses in the online medium. Given the different skills needed to facilitate online courses as opposed to traditional classroom teaching, it is important to train professors and other professionals in the particular characteristics of online environments regarding the selection of content, use of the Internet as an educational space, use of online course tools such as discussion boards, e-mails, chat, calendar, and blogs, among others; the preparation of educational materials and how to provide feedback to participants that enable them to critically reflect on the ideas and information provided in a course.
Therefore, the Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidiscilpinarios (CEBEM), in conjunction with the Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios – Universidad Mayor de San Simón (CESU-UMSS), and the Centre for Intercultural Communication (CIC) are pleased to announce a program on online education for university professors and professionals interested in facilitating online courses.
The objectives of this program are as follows:
- To introduce participants to characteristics of online education
- To introduce guidelines and methodologies of facilitating online courses
- To provide participants with new knowledge, learning theories and applications to online learning
- To provide tools and teaching strategies for improving online learning and facilitating
This program includes four online courses to provide basic tools and skills to those interested in facilitating online courses. The topics of these online courses include:
- What is virtual education?
- How to develop an online course
- Tools for production of online courses
- How to facilitate an online course
The courses developed by CEBEM and CIC will be delivered via the Internet through their respective online platforms. Participants will have access to the courses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Instructions and all necessary materials will be available on the platform. This online platform will provide participants with the necessary channels for communicating and learning.
While there are some differences in how CEBEM’s and CIC’s courses will be implemented, the general information available in this document relates to both institutions.
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