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21 May, 2021

Promoting an inclusive education system

C&W Business held its Education Summit 2021 digital event this month to present the main challenges and trends for educational institutions.

 

Colombia, April 29, 2021 – In Colombia, according to a UNESCO report, only 29% of 15- year-old students have access to educational software, an indicator that hinders continuity in the learning process. Within this challenging panorama, the leading communications company C&W Business held its Education Summit 2021 digital event this month to present the main challenges and trends for educational institutions. More than 300 participants interested in the education industry attended to learn from eight international speakers, who are part of important institutions and are specialists in current affairs and innovation in education.

“Technology opens up countless benefits for the educational system, including flexible hours, customization of strategies for students, a collaborative ecosystem, and omnichannel that are more necessary than ever today. In Colombia we are the allies in terms of digitization and telecommunications for 35% of private educational institutions, training and providing optimal solutions that allow continuous learning”, says Daniel Neiva, Vice President of LATAM at C&W Business.

To address the role of technology and its importance within the educational system in times of emergencies, specialists in the field presented different axes that assess its value:

 

Digital trends for educational institutions

Cynthya Sánchez, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Universidad de los Andes proposed how digital and distance education require a totally new adaptability process for students and teachers. Additionally, it presented the top 5 trends for knowledge centers:

• Artificial intelligence and data analysis tools that allow objective decision-making by institutions.
• Cybersecurity in educational platforms hosted in the cloud and responsible use of student data.
• Smart campuses - How are physical and virtual spaces combined to broaden the student experience?
• Nudged Education Tech or personalized technologies for interaction with students.
• Digital credentials that are portable, secure and easily accessible for online services.

 

Digital transformation: adoption of new technologies and skills

The attendees through a real-time survey stated that more than 82% of their companies required between three and more technologies to continue operating. Along the same lines, academia showed a considerable increase in the use of video conferencing platforms and the incursion of new solutions such as broadcasting to continue with a full learning experience.

The use of cutting-edge technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean demands new skills on the part of teachers in order to impart this new digital culture without any friction.

According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment of the OECD) statistics, only about 58% of high school teachers in the region have the technical and pedagogical skills necessary to integrate digital devices into instruction.

 

Cybersecurity in a new virtuality

Universities and colleges are highly vulnerable to these types of attacks due to the frequent handling of valuable data of their students and the multiple entry points to their network.

In turn, the new habits of online consumption and transfer of student and work activities to the home leave citizens more exposed to computer risks, mainly Phishing and Malware. Security is one of the essential pillars for the construction of any institutional digitization strategy, as was stated at the Education Summit 2021.

The event concludes with a reflective but positive look thanks to technology as a mobilizer of knowledge. Digitization plays a key factor for evolution in a context where, according to an IDB report, in Latin America only 33% of schools have sufficient bandwidth.

C&W Business will continue to support the education sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, making available new inclusive digitization services for institutions and working in spaces for co-creation and training in future technologies.