Technology

Challenge:

Of the 1.3 million people that Fe y Alegría reaches with its schools and programs, fewer than 15% have computer access at school, and even fewer have access to theInternet. They lack skills that are crucial in today's businesses and universities, keeping tens of thousands of people isolated from the rest of the globalized world.

Goal:

Fe y Alegría's ultimate goal is to bring computer literacy to all of its students by setting up computer labs with Internet access, training teachers to maximize the use of technology in the classroom, and cataloguing their experiences or best practices to share with others.

Five-Year Development Plan:

In its five-year plan, Fe y Alegría stated the importance of computers and the Internet to encourage the exchange of knowledge, collaboration across networks, improving pedagogical processes, and facilitating communications and school management. Information technology (IT) must be integrated not just in the classroom, but in teacher training programs, in the Fe y Alegría offices that lack Internet access, and for informal training programs such as long-distance education radio. Fe y Alegría is working to improve and expand both the access to IT education and the quality of its regular educational offerings.

The following projects highlight efforts in Fe y Alegría's schools along with national initiatives to promote the use of technology and increase computer literacy among students.

• Houses of Learning: Boarding Schools for Indigenous Children in Bolivia
• Computer Labs and Curriculum for Distance Learning in Bolivia
• Rural Education Network in Peru