A community for innovation in education
Source: Blog – Un Paso Más: Fundación Telefónica
September 6, 2012
English Translation by Thomas Baker
Fernando Córdoba, del equipo de Fundación Telefónica, durante la presentación del proyecto.
When it comes to education what is often cited is the need to modernize, incorporating the latest technologies and ultimately attract the necessary elements to produce innovation within it. We are convinced that in this transformation, teachers have a key role, and so we joined forces with Fundación Educación 2020 (Chile) to launch a School Innovation Community that can be the seed of some of these transformations.
This is a community of teachers and administrators who stand out for their passion and their experiences in generating innovative processes that develop and strengthen the skills and abilities of their educational communities in order to expand and enrich learning processes that foster creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship through education.
The project started with 50 teachers who applied through the web site and finally http://www.innovacionescolar.cl were selected from hundreds of teachers for demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities, being advocates for change and innovation in their schools; showing interest in using information and communication technologies (ICT), and have the conviction that through the work itself it is possible to contribute to the development of quality education. They will have the opportunity to communicate stably through a virtual community for sharing ideas.
In the presentation of the Community, which occurred on August 30, Andrew Wallis, vice president of Fundación Telefónica Chile, stressed the virtue of these teachers, who have “conviction and desire to change the world through good ideas.”
On the part of Foundation Education 2020, its president, Mario Waissbluth, stressed the idea that “there will be no real changes in education without teachers.”
Community activities have started with a workshop on school innovation and continue with various training sessions in educational policy, leadership, management skills, etc …
In addition, the teachers have the opportunity to attend the International Meeting of Telefónica Foundation Education, an event that takes place virtually all year round and has upcoming appointments this September in Colombia and in November in Lima, Peru.
**
Thomas Baker is the Past-President of TESOL Chile (2010-2011). He is the Head of the English Department at Colegio Internacional SEK in Santiago, Chile.
He is the Co-Founder and Co-Organiser of EdCamp Santiago, free, participant-driven, democratic, conversation based professional development for teachers, by teachers. EdCamp Santiago 2012 was held at Universidad Mayor in Santiago.
Es una red que reúne a Profesionales de la Educación preocupados por desarrollar y fortalecer las capacidades de sus comunidades educativas, a través de la creatividad, la innovación y el emprendimiento.
Thomas is also a past member (2011-2012) of the Advisory Board for the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL), where he also serves as a reviewer and as the HETL Ambassador for Chile.
Thomas enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics. Thus far, he has written the following genres: romance, historical fiction, autobiographical, sports history/biography, and English Language Teaching. He has published a total of forty four (44) books overall.
The source and inspiration for his writing comes from his family, his wife Gabriela, and his son, Thomas Jerome Baker, Jr.
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jerome-Baker/e/B007G9HJFM
**
**
