Latin America

Definition of the supraregion

Latin America is a term used most commonly to indicate as a whole the countries that comprise Central America and South America. More particularly, as noted on Wikipedia:

Latin America designates all of those countries and territories in the Americas where a Romance language (i.e., languages derived from Latin, and hence the name of the region) is spoken: Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and the creole languages based upon these.

It is a controversial term to some, and may be used differently by inhabitants of different regions.

Spanish and Portuguese are the predominant languages of Latin America (with Portuguese spoken only in Brazil, the most populous country in the region).

See Central America for a list of the countries in that region.

See South America for a list of the countries in that region.

List of virtual schools found

Anguilla

No evidence found of virtual education at school level.

Antigua & Barbuda

No evidence found of virtual education at school level.

Argentina

1. ORT Virtual Campus offers virtual education at all levels from secundaria ciclo básico to higher education.
2. El Surco. La Escuela Virtual Primary, secondary and adults - Mendoza Argentina. Website is currently unreachable - this is Facebook page

Belize

No evidence found of virtual education at school level, with the exception of a distance learning programme for basic literacy, but this is not a specific school.

Bolivia

1. Escuela PorvenirThe goal of this Village Power 2000 project is to provide electricity and an Internet connection to a school in deep rural Porvenir, Bolivia. Porvenir is a village of 600 indigenous people living in the Amazon rainforest. Services are limited -- a diesel generator provides electricity sporadically, there is one satellite telephone and there is a small village school. The school provides education to grade 6. Geographically isolated, youth do not travel to another village or town to continue their education. Educational opportunities literally end at grade 6.
2. In Bolivia there is an IICD supported programme, the National ICT Programme for the Education Sector. The national ICT programme for education is focused on assisting and improving the quality of primary and secondary education in Bolivia through ICT. Key activities are:

• Enhancing access to ICT for teaching and learning. This is done by setting up of education community telecentres linked to primary and secondary schools in all nine departments of Bolivia
• Providing digital educational content through the education portal.

Brazil

1. The Colégio Militar de Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, started its distance learning activities in 2002. Its aim is to serve students that are between 10-18 years old and registered from the 6th year of the fundamental cycle to the 3rd year of the secondary education (ensino medio), whose parents are on duty in the Amazon area or abroad. The school caters for approximately 400 students every year, located in 33 different countries. Among the media used for delivering the courses, these are the most used: email, Skype, telephone, fax, mail and a virtual learning environment. The students receive printed materials, CDs and DVDs, all delivered through the Brazilian air force.
2. The EVESP Escola Virtual de Programas Educacionais is an initiative of the São Paulo State Education Secretariat. The school was authorized by decree dated 20th May 2011. The aim is to offer 50 thousand language courses places for students of the São Paulo State Education System. The virtual school also targets the education of hard-to-reach audiences such as prisoners, Afro-Brazilians and the indigenous population.
3. The Fundação Bradesco Escola Virtual extends the pedagogical project of the Bradesco Foundation beyond the borders of its 40 school units. Dedicated to offering distance learning courses - Internet-based and "semi-presential" segments of Basic Education, Training and Youth and Adult Education, this portal for e-learning is available to students and alumni, educators and staff of Bradesco Foundation, as well as people in the community and unemployed people who wish to obtain a new qualification or retraining for work. Its web site is http://www.ev.org.br/Paginas/Home.aspx
4. INED Instituto Nacional de Educação a Distância (INED) is a private school based in São Paulo offering courses targeting the education of young and adult individuals – a population described as EJA (Educação de Jovens e Adultos – Education of the Young and Adults). It also offers technical courses, preparing for the job market (equivalent to college – in Brazil described as Educação Tecnológica) - these courses can be attended by individuals of all age groups that qualify for technical secondary education (ensino médio técnico). The technical courses at INED are licensed by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to be offered at a distance, in the blended learning mode as the Brazilian law requires (with face-to-face assessments). The courses at INED are offered mostly using virtual technologies (email, discussion forums) and the students also receive printed course materials.
5. PROCEFET (Programa de Iniciação Tecnológica e Cidadania do CEFET / Rio Grande do Norte) is a basic, entry level course on Technology and Citizenship offered at a distance, aimed at students of the ninth year of the fundamental years of public schools. The aim is to provide a revision of subjects such as Portuguese and Mathematics with focus on themes such as citizenship and ethics in relation to day-to-day activities at home, at school and in their professional environment. The mix of media used in the course includes printed materials, TV classes recorded on the university channel – available online and online assessment.

List of virtual colleges found

Brazil

1. The Escola Técnica do Brasil (Open Technical School of Brazil) is a national programme that aims to expand professional education in Brazil. It has been developed under the umbrella of the former Distance Education Secretariat (SEED) and the Professional and Technological Education Secretariat (SETEC). Its objective is to take technical courses to distant regions of Brazil and to the peripheral areas of big Brazilian cities. The aim is to encourage the young to conclude secondary education (ensino médio) and join the active worforce.

The Escola Técnica do Brasil is therefore an important step towards the democratization of public and free secondary education in Brazil in the distance learning mode. In 2008 alone for example 50 thousand places have been offered, and 193 regional centers with computers and libraries have been inaugurated across the country. Courses in 14 subject areas were on offer, to include computing, nursing, metallurgy, environmental studies, tourism, civil engineering, business management, health and social care, commerce, arts, chemistry and telecommunications. In total, 75 million Reais were invested, 143 courses offered, and 26 thousand students registered.

The model of E-Tec is similar to the one of UAB (Universidade Aberta do Brasil – Open University of Brasil). The Ministry of Education (MEC) is responsible for providing financial assistance for the production of courses. The states, federal district and municipalities provide the infrastructure, the equipment, the human resources and other items needed for each institution running the courses. The target was to provide infrastructure to 1000 regional centres and to register 200 thousand students up until 2010.

1. The Fundação Bradesco Escola Virtual extends the pedagogical project of the Bradesco Foundation beyond the borders of its 40 school units. Dedicated to offering distance learning courses - Internet-based and "semi-presential" segments of Basic Education, Training and Youth and Adult Education, this portal for e-learning is available to students and alumni, educators and staff of Bradesco Foundation, as well as people in the community and unemployed people who wish to obtain a new qualification or retraining for work. Its web site is http://www.ev.org.br/Paginas/Home.aspx

1. INED Instituto Nacional de Educação a Distância (INED) is a private school based in São Paulo offering courses targeting the education of young and adult individuals – a population described as EJA (Educação de Jovens e Adultos – Education of the Young and Adults). It also offers technical courses, preparing for the job market (equivalent to college – in Brazil described as Educação Tecnológica) - these courses can be attended by individuals of all age groups that qualify for technical secondary education (ensino médio técnico).

The technical courses at INED are licensed by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to be offered at a distance, in the blended learning mode as the Brazilian law requires (with face-to-face assessments). The courses at INED are offered mostly using virtual technologies (email, discussion forums) and the students also receive printed course materials.