INAFOCAM starts technology teacher training with ITLA and Claro

INAFOCAM starts technology teacher training with ITLA and Claro
Santo Domingo,March 3, 2014

The National Institute of Teacher Education and Training (INAFOCAM – Instituto Nacional de Formación y Capacitación del Magisterio), recently started two separate teacher training programs with the technical support of the Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA – Technological Institute of the Americas) and CLARO – Compañía Dominicana de Teléfono (Dominican Telephone Company), with the objective of assisting nearly 200 teachers in the acquisition of basic proficiency on information and communication technology, to make the learning processes that takes place in schools more entertaining and effective.

Through ITLA, the institution responsible for coordinating the training of Dominican teachers began the second stage of the Technology Teacher Diploma, a combination of onsite and online learning, benefiting 100 educators from Educational Regions 10 and 15 of Santo Domingo and Region 05 of San Pedro de Macorís.

Among the contents developed during the diploma are: design of standards for the integration of the ICTs in the teaching process, to know the different types of multimedia designed to facilitate independent student learning, assessment of learning using ICTs, to design multimedia content and to know the different motivational techniques for virtual learning environments.

The activity was attended by: Reyna Martínez, Technical Coordinator of the Program at INAFOCAM, who represented INAFOCAM’s Executive Director, Denia Burgos; for ITLA, Gina Marius, Head of Marketing, who offered a welcome speech on behalf of ITLA’s Executive Director, Engineer José Armando Tavárez.

Other participants were Glenys Linares and Francisco Genao of the Department of Technology and Educational Innovation of the Technological Institute. Linares explained the content of the Diploma course and delved into the issue of How to be a successful online student. In turn, Genao spoke about How to use the virtual campus of ITLA.

Furthermore, MINERD and INAFOCAM, with the technical support of the Dominican Telephone Company, CLARO, began a training course in the area of informatics that would benefit 85 teachers of Educational Regions 10 and 15 of Santo Domingo and Region 05 of San Pedro de Macorís.

In order to help teachers develop the technology skills necessary to improve their performance, the course will allow teachers to master the use of basic computer tools such as Basic Excel and Word, and Power Point, while they will learn the basic principles of surfing the Internet and Social networks: Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

The start of the training was led by Lisa Pimentel, Head of Schools Sponsorship at MINERD; Julia Manzur, Human Resources Manager of Claro; and Jeiri Tejada, representing the Department of Continuing Education at INAFOCAM.

During the activity, which took place at ITLA, Reyna Martínez called on the participants of the Diploma course to take advantage of the program contents and technological competence of the training institution.

Martínez said that the Ministry of Education and the INAFOCAM are aware of the weaknesses that teachers have in this subject and of how their learning by educators can influence the improvement of a quality education.