29th Education Week explores the role of technology in education

The Santillana Foundation’s 29th Education Week got underway on February 24, with this year’s event focusing on the impact of technology. Among the participants were UNESCO experts, the European Commission, the OECD, the Ministry of Education and a wide range of technology companies and educational institutions.

Francesc Pedró, Chief of Section - Sector Policy Advice and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education at UNESCO – opened the inaugural session with the presentation of the White Paper for the week. Focussed primarily on the compulsory education stage, the document is optimistic and sets out three basic strategies to achieve the transformation of education: a change in teaching methodologies for students aimed at providing them with new skills, the professional skills of teachers, and the creation of a learning environment beyond the school.

The opening day of the conference was attended by the president of the Santillana Foundation, Ignacio Polanco; vice president of the foundation and director of Education Week, Emiliano Martínez; the director of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, Vicente Montes, and the Secretary of State for Education, Montserrat Gomendio.

Also participating were Xavier Prats, Director General of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission; César Molinas, founding partner of the consultancy Multa Paucis; Andrés Sandoval-Hernández, Head of the Research and Analysis Unit at the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA); Dirk Van Damme, head of the Centre for Research and Innovation (CERI) of the OECD; and Francisco López Rupérez, chairman of the Consejo Escolar del Estado (State Board of Education).

The presentations of all participants are available at: http://www.fundacionsantillana.com/semana-de-la-educacion/