Teacher education for 21st Century Teachers: A Focus on Collaboration to Improve the Quality of Education in the Americas.

Teacher education for 21st Century Teachers: A Focus on Collaboration to Improve the Quality of Education in the Americas.


A number of topics of interest in this section have lately been touching on the role and impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in society, especially in the field of education. These topics stress the importance of the use of technology and Web 2.0 interactive tools for professional development at all levels, for creating communities of practice and infusing classrooms with up-to-date methodologies that will motivate students to learn and to acquire 21st century skills. Some examples to illustrate this are:

In the article "Challenges to Educational Quality" the author states that “If Distance Education is currently at its peak, due the extensive academic offerings provided by this educational medium, we now have the opportunity and the possibility of making this into an element for qualitative change to Higher Education in general”. Participants mostly agree that distance education is a potential contributor to the improvement of educational quality at all levels. Participants also mention that ICT mediated distance education allows people in isolated places to have the opportunity to advance their learning in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

The author of “Educating with help from a network?” predicts that the use of new technologies in education will become an added value in the process of training people once teachers begin to incorporate these new technologies into their daily practices. Participants who have had the professional networking experience give great value to that experience and describe interactivity among peers to exchange experiences and knowledge as the main value of networking.

In another article “Being a Teacher in Schools Impacted by the Internet” , the author states that it is necessary for a teacher to master new technologies, pedagogies and management as well as acquire new work strategies. When asked about what changes need to be made in teacher professionalization for them to be up to date to meet these requirements, participants agree that teacher professional development is key to building these new skills in teachers. At the same time participants stress that computers by themselves do not make any change in the process of teaching and learning and the pedagogy behind their use is what potentially makes a qualitative difference.

In recent years Ministries of Education in the Americas have focused on improving equity in education. However, while progress has been made in terms of coverage, the issue of quality is still a pending one. Compared to their peers in OECD countries, most students in the region still lag behind when it comes to demonstrating desired learning outcomes.

In the context described in the discussions mentioned above, authors and participants think that with the help of computer technology, network support and collaboration with peers around the region, teachers can benefit from having new resources and learning from and with each other.

Marva Ribeiro

Invited Expert

Programme Director

International Cooperation Initiatives

Ministry of Education

Port of Spain

Trinidad and Tobago

Noite Erótica...

Em um momento de descontração, o grande poeta Carlos Drummond de Andrade escreveu:




'Satânico é meu pensamento a teu respeito,e ardente é o meu desejo de apertar-te em minha mão,

numa sede de vingança incontestável pelo que me fizeste ontem.

A noite era quente e calma e eu estava em minha cama, quando, sorrateiramente, te aproximaste.

Encostaste o teu corpo sem roupa no meu corpo nu, sem o mínimo pudor!

Percebendo minha aparente indiferença,aconchegaste-te a mim e mordeste-me sem escrúpulos.

Até nos mais íntimos lugares.

Eu adormeci.

Hoje quando acordei, procurei-te numa ânsia ardente, mas em vão.

Deixaste em meu corpo e no lençol, provas irrefutáveis do que entre nós ocorreu durante a noite.

Esta noite recolho-me mais cedo, para na mesma cama te esperar.

Quando chegares, quero te agarrar com avidez e força.

Quero te apertar com todas as forças de minhas mãos.



Só descansarei quando vir sair o sangue quente do seu corpo.

Só assim, livrar-me-ei de ti.

Novos horizontes...

Graças a DEUS!!
Terminei minha faculdade...
Obrigada a todos que me ajudaram nesta caminhada.