Multimedia in Education:  Caribbean Virtual Educa 2007
The Cisneros Foundation and the University of New York give two examples
Santo Domingo. March 21th, 2007.

The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and its sister organization in the Dominican Republic Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) presented Caribbean Virtual Educa 2007 on the 20th and 21st March. Maria Ignacia Arcaya, from the Cisneros Foundation in Venezuela and Irving Vincent, from the University of New York, United States, shared their experiences in a panel session entitled: “Innovation in the Use of Multimedia for the Education Sector”.

María Ignacia Arcaya spoke to the audience about the Clase channel, the first cable educational channel in Latin America. She stated that the channel’s main targets are children and young people between the ages of six and eighteen and also teachers and parents in order to provide educational entertainment, teaching, training and skills support.

“Clase’s mission is to provide a strong support to education in Latin America through a first-class educational service which enriches the learning experience”, stated Arcaya, who later presented other aspects of the channel, including its schedule and productions, such as the news program Justo a Tiempo and the series Artes en tus manos. She also gave some examples of both programs before ending with recommendations on how to use a web page to complement the channel’s work. The programs are transmitted via satellite and all charges go directly back into the work of the channel, not for monetary gains.

Irving Vincent, director of the Multimedia Lab, which is part of the Opportunities Program and New York University, gave a speech on the university’s web site, which is used for on-line study and correction of exams. “The students have a space to write down what they want to say and which also serves as a setting for evaluations.” 

He explained that they also produce a DVD with teachers of the year, a reality show and also interviews with teachers on “how to use tools for evaluation and teaching.” The material is currently available in English but he also promised to add a Spanish edition.