From our previous OEG World stop in Switzerland the map now takes us to Santiago, Chile to share the announcement of Instituto de Educación Abierta IEA (Open Education Institute) housed at Universidad Abierta de Recoleta UAR.
El nuevo centro académico busca profundizar la democratización de la educación en nuestro país, para lo cual promoverá la extensión del acceso a este derecho fundamental más allá de la infancia y la juventud, a fin de que las personas y las comunidades cuenten con alternativas formativas a lo largo de todo el ciclo vital.
(The new academic center seeks to deepen the democratization of education in our country, for which it will promote the extension of access to this fundamental right beyond childhood and youth, so that people and communities have training alternatives to throughout the entire life cycle.)
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As hoped when starting the Around the OEGlobal World series we heard this news of the IEA from Werner Westermann in a conversation in OEG Connect.
We will kick-off with a couple of initiatives that we have talked before related to K-12 Open Textbooks and off-line OER solutions. Recoleta is a traditional district (municipality) in the big Santiago area, and actually where I was raised, so very proud to give back in a very socio-economic vulnerable context. I’ll get back to you with more exciting news and progress.
The projects Werner mentioned include developed a collection of Mathematics OER aimed at addressing learning lost during the pandemic but also providing learning materials in a format that can be used in locations of limited or no internet access. A second project will develop an open textbook for Secondary students in Citizen Education that will include H5P interactive activities.
What Werner did not say when he shared this news is that the announcement includes that he will be the Director of the IEA! Given Werner’s participation in OEGlobal conferences, Open Education Week, and leading discussions like the Three Day of Focus on Offline OER, we are assured that we will hear more of the “exciting news and progress” about the IEA.
Note as well that Werner was recognized in 2021 with an OE Award for Excellence. You can listen to our podcast conversation with him that provides context about education in Chile and the need for the IEA.
Learn more:
- Instituto de Educación Abierta IEA (Open Education Institute)
- Creación del Instituto de Educación Abierta de la UAR: Una Apuesta por la Educación a lo Largo sela Vida Para Todas y Todos (Creation of the Institute of Open Education of the UAR: A Commitment to Education Throughout Life for Everyone)
And please add questions and comments below to the OEG Connect post for this story, as well as congratulating Werner for not only this new role but also for bringing Open Education to his home area.
We are seeking more destinations to add to our World of OEGlobal series. Please send us suggestions as a reply to our announcement in OEG Connect.
Join the Discussion in OEG Connect
Do you have questions or comments about this new Institute? Please add to the discussions in OEG Connect.
Featured Image: Screen capture of the Instituto de Educación Abierta web site.