Educommunication Observatory announced in the Dominican Republic
SANTO DOMINGO- The Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) and the National University of Distance Education (UNED, Spain), announced the creation of the Educommunication Observatory in the Dominican Republic, coordinated by the Pablo Freire International Chair of Educommunication.
This was reported by doctors Sara Osuna-Acedo and Helen Hasbún, directors of the Pablo Freire International Chair of Educommunication and Distance and Virtual Education of the MESCyT, respectively, during the conclusions of the plenary session of the primer International Congress Educommunication in Virtual Environments: Critical Media Literacy, held at the INTEC Social Security Auditorium.
They said that these initiatives sponsored by the MESCyT will be the spaces for the promotion of Media Information Literacyl (AMI) in universities and good practices, experiences and educational proposals that encourage the implementation of this new paradigm.
Also, Dr. Roberto Feltrero presented the specialized magazine in Educommunication, which will be published from the UNED and in alliance with INTEC, MESCYT, UNESCO, and other entities that address the entire issue of AMI, with a projection to achieve its indexing. with the publication of scientific articles and research.
Dr. Ozuna explained that the Observatory arises from the need to promote media literacy, "which is essential for the implementation of certain educational strategies in teaching, both formal and non-formal." In this sense, the Dominican Republic becomes an international headquarters scenario through which the impact indicators will be measured at a global level.
The Congress organized by the Area of Social Sciences and Humanities of INTEC, through the Bachelor's degree in Social Communication and Digital Media and PhD in Education and Communication in Virtual Environments, with the coordination of Irene Machado, Hasbún and Rosa Alcántara. The event had the collaboration of the research group Social Media and Inclusive and Ubiquitous Media Education (SMEMIU) and the participation of teachers at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels in the fields of education and communication, both local and international, who were updated on the state of the issue of Educommunication in the region.
El Congress which had the participation of local and international exhibitors, One of its objectives was to incorporate Media Information Literacy (AMI) in the country's educational systems and to develop a space for exchanges in order to give a critical look at how to approach Educommunication in the region.
Educommunication is a theoretical-practical field that proposes the integration of education and communication through practical lines such as teaching through the media, use of the media in education, production of educational content, and democratic management of the media. The term is attributed to the Argentine writer Mario Kaplún.
Development of the International Congress of Educommunication in Virtual Environments
El Vice-rector for Research and Relations of INTEC, doctor Armando Barrios, highlighted the impact that the study and application of technologies in Educommunication has for the educational system.
For her part, the Vice Minister of Higher Education, Carmen Evarista Matías, said that they all agree on the same scenario to contribute to the construction of critical, open, participatory and collaborative knowledge from higher education institutions.
The official, attending on behalf of the Minister of the MESCyT, Franklin Garcia Fermin, highlighted as positive that in the Congress "the most important approaches of a necessary educommunicative methodology can be shared and debated, in which the media and virtual environments of education become an indissoluble binomial for articulation and social formation”.
Likewise, Anne Lemaistre, UNESCO Regional Director of Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted that the Media Information Literacy (AMI) is an excellent tool for the formation of knowledge and skills for students to interact with sources of information, data, media and digital technologies available in their environment in a critical, creative and ethical way.
"The trinomial of critical thinking, creativity and an ethical approach is truly key in the current environment of an overabundance of content and in coexistence with the challenge that requires urgent responses," he said.
He added that "only a society capable of reflexively, effectively and innovatively navigating today's digital environments can make the most of what is available and deal with any harmful use of new technologies."
For her part, Osuna-Acedo, director of the Paulo Freire International Chair of Educommunication, in her conference addressed the development of human learning in an evolving society and future prospects, beginning with the arguments of the educommunicator Paulo Freire, who was a Brazilian educator and philosopher. .
Technological innovation applied to critical media literacy; social networks as tools for education and dissemination of knowledge; new challenges and paradigm of Educommunication in virtual environments in the Dominican Republic; Among other topics, they were part of the congress program developed over two days.
The dean of the Area of Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Dalul Ordehi, said that "INTEC feels honored to host the first International Congress on Educommunication" and thanked the country for participating in the initiatives announced such as the Observatory, the Chair and the scientific magazine.
Meanwhile, Rosa Alcántara, coordinator of the INTEC Social Communication and Digital Media career, thanked the alliance with the MESCyT for the development of new academic training initiatives, including the doctorate in Educommunication INTEC-UNED, coordinated by the doctor Santiago Gallur, and the Master of Science in Digital Communication.
Alcántara presented in his presentation on the educational model applied by INTEC through the career in Social Communication and Digital Media, which was opened at that university in 2017 and from which dozens of professionals trained from the Educommunication approach have graduated. .
Also, Esmerarda Montero, Elvira Lora and Gallur participated with their presentations, all three with PhDs in Communication.