This article was originally posted in full in Spanish HERE. It was an honor to work with so many individuals and organizations to create the Ibero-American Education Week - we are grateful to everyone who shared their time and energy, and to all who attended. The full week of online sessions are still available on-demand - you can view them all right HERE.
Ibero-American Education Week 2021
Organized by SMART Technologies, a leading company in collaboration solutions, tactile and interactive technologies, and educational software, Ibero-American Education Week (SIE) 2021 took place from April 26 to 30. With more than 7,500 attendees, it has become the largest Spanish-speaking virtual event on Education and Technology.
At SIE 2021, educational managers from different administrations and teachers have spoken about the projects of the Public Administrations in the field of Education and Technology, as well as the latest trends in educational digitization and online teaching. In addition, dozens of schools and educational entities throughout Spain have explained their case studies and digitization projects.
The conference has been proposed as a meeting point, for reflection and inspiration on digitization in educational centers, through success stories and showcasing pedagogy that shows innovative experiences based on new educational models and supported by technology.
The event was also attended by different heads of the Educational Administrations of Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Education itself, through INTEF, who have detailed the plans for digitization, both in general and applied to education, for their territories.
During the event, the practical cases presented by the educational centers showcased the possibilities of collaborative work in the classrooms that help to connect and motivate students and facilitate their learning. Examples of this are the Mas Camarena Educational Complex in Valencia, which uses SMART Learning Suite Online (SLSO) to adapt the traditional structures of cooperative learning to the new normal; CEIP Juan Aguado in Castilla-La Mancha, which improves the fluency and reading comprehension of its students with the SMART tools; or El Limonar International School in Murcia, where SMARTBoard is used to make mathematical concepts more tangible and visual.
"SIE 2021 promotes teacher-to-teacher learning, the best lever to promote significant and quality changes in education," said José Luis Rey, teacher at CEIP Tierra de Pinares.
"We could not be more satisfied with the success of the event, both for the attendees and for the quality of its content. We have organized the Ibero-American Education Week 2021 with the main objective of sharing trends and experiences, especially with regard to the use of content and digital platforms. Our country has great examples of projects and people that promote change in education. We have conceived this event as a space to be inspired and help solve some of the greatest current challenges in education, aggravated by the pandemic, but also so that members of the educational community can support each other and share learning," said Fernando Sanz, General Director of SMART Technologies for Iberia and Latin America.
All of the recordings and event resources are still available: