Commentary: Educational Policies in Pandemic Times. A View from Latin America

Most countries in the world closed their educational centers and maintained classes online to prevent the spread of the virus SARSV-Cov-2. Latin America is not an exception. Estimates of the transmission dynamics of the pandemic indicate the application of actions that will affect educational contexts for years. This piece reflects on necessary changes in educational policies to take account of the current setting of COVID-19. We focus this reflection from a Latino American perspective, but it is not exclusive. The discussion can be useful to other countries with similar characteristics. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Latinos & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Hybrid Education and Institutional Readiness

Progress is unidirectional by default. The global irreversible shift witnessed in the education sector with the COVID-19 pandemic left teaching and learning far from the same. The current study aims to consider global trends in hybrid education by exploring existing hybrid study models and recognizing institutional readiness by means of hybrid initiatives successfully adopted by institutions. Being conceptual research, the methodology of the current study is based on an extensive review of literature, related to hybrid education, selected carefully from the wealth of academic publications comprising scholarly articles, research journals, webpages, conference proceedings, dissertations, thesis, and authentic material related to the study. A conceptual framework represents the relationship between the research variables. Founded on the qualitative analysis of the data gathered, the study concludes that, while integration of technology in teaching is important, it does not imply total restructuring of what and how we teach. Flexibility in teaching, learning, and testing must become the basis for current pedagogy in meeting the goals of hybrid education. The implications of the current study are proffered to all stakeholders in education along with the recommendations for future research. © 2023 IEEE.

A qualitative analysis of publicly available Standards and Guidance about Digital Literacies in U.S. States.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had been adopting digital instruction in many parts of the world. The concept of digital literacies has also been evolving in complexity alongside the digital technologies that support it. However, little is known about what guidance available to support various levels of government in supporting digital literacies alongside digital instruction in local schools. The purpose of this study was to determine what guidance for digital literacies U.S. state departments of education had made available through their websites to local schools just prior to the onset of the pandemic. Using qualitative content analysis techniques, digital literacies guidance information was located on U.S. state departments of education websites and analyzed. Most states did not indicate that they used guidance from professional organizations about digital literacies. The 16 states that did have guidance used standards from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which have not been positioned by the organization as digital literacies standards, but instead reflect traditional understandings of Information Computing Technology (ICT). Implications of this study highlight potential strategies educational ministries might use to acknowledge and support digital literacies.

Remote teaching as a compulsory alternative: public school under threat?

This article is part of the disputes to hegemonize a particular sense of the democratic public school in times of coronavirus, in which distance education becomes a mandatory alternative to educational policy. Conversing with post-structuralist theoretical contributions, the paper aims to analyze the processes of signifying terms such as universal access, democracy, school knowledge and learning such as mobilized in 2020 in the Pedagogical Action Plan of the State Secretariat of Education of Rio de Janeiro. This analysis offers empirical evidence for an understanding of the effects of the intensification, in the current pandemic context, of the discursive articulation of neoliberal interests which put the school under threat. By developing such an argument, we seek to explore, beyond the language of denunciation, possibilities to reinvent a possible school of afterwards. © 2022,Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa. All Rights Reserved.

Use of Mobile Phones in Classrooms and Digitalisation of Educational Centres in Barcelona

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple educational contexts experienced a sudden and accelerated digital transformation. However, this is not a new phenomenon. For years, public and private initiatives have been designed and tested in Spain. In this regard, the role and use of cell phones in the classroom has been a key and, at the same time, controversial aspect. In Barcelona (Catalonia), for example, recent educational policies have promoted the pedagogical use of cell phones. Within this framework, this article analyses whether these initiatives to promote the use of mobile phones are effectively transferred and implemented in the classroom. Using qualitative research, based on co-design, case studies and content analysis, we examined the reality of three educational centres in Barcelona. In these three contexts, field observations, interviews with management teams and ICT coordinators, and discussion groups with teachers were conducted. The information generated was grouped into five main categories of analysis. As a result, it was observed that the mobile phone has been losing prominence in the classroom. Schools tend to prohibit the use of cell phones and prefer computers to give priority to the control of technological tools in order to use the Internet safely. Mobile phones, in this sense, are only used at certain times when there is a pedagogical objective, although there is still a need for more pedagogical and digital training for teachers. © 2022 by the authors.

Policies and interactional plots in pandemic: school support and rebinding of high school students in Neuquen and Buenos Aires

Covid-19 pandemic altered the forms of traditional schooling and deepened fragmented school trajectories and disengagement in secondary education. Under the imperative of guaranteeing students' pedagogical continuity and reinforcing teaching tasks, the federal program Acompanar Puentes de Igualdad was created, which brought together various actors that make up-even before the pandemic-interactional plots. This article reconstructs the trajectory of the federal program, investigating the translations in the provinces of Neuquen and Buenos Aires through the Escuelas Neuquinas Abiertas and Acompanamiento a las Trayectorias y la Revinculacion programs. Recovering the studies of politics ' trajectories (Ball, 2002), the article analyzes the functioning of this network of educational, governmental and community actors, its incidence in the processes of schooling of youngsters and the reconfigurations of inequalities. In order to do this, federal and jurisdictional regulations and interviews with educational and local actors involved in the implementation of these policies are retrieved.

En búsqueda del aprendizaje perdido. Una fábula educativa en tiempos de pandemia

El texto analiza algunas de las propuestas que las agencias internacionales más directamente relacionadas con el sector educativo han ofrecido a fin de afrontar las situaciones creadas por la pandemia de covid-19 y reactivar la educación en condiciones similares, o al menos comparables, a las que se encontraba antes de pandemia. A partir de ese análisis, se trazan conexiones entre las agendas educativas, políticas y económicas que enmarcan las respuestas actuales en términos de mediciones, evaluaciones e inversión de recursos y tiempos. Al cierre, despejadas algunas dudas y aclaradas algunas decisiones, se toma distancia frente a las estrategias sugeridas por los organismos multilaterales, y se les ve desde una perspectiva que hace énfasis en las personas y las comunidades, antes que en los sistemas y en el comercio de datos, para sacar conclusiones que permitan repensar las direcciones en las que las acciones han de apuntar.Alternate : The article analyzes some of the proposals that the international agencies most directly related to the educational sector have offered in order to face the situations created by the COVID-19 pandemic and to reactivate education in similar, or at least comparable, conditions to those before the pandemic. From this analysis, connections are drawn between the educational, political, and economic agendas that frame the current responses in terms of measurements, assessments and investment of resources and time. In the closing, after solving some doubts and clarifying some decisions, distance is taken from the strategies suggested by multilateral organizations, they are seen from a perspective that emphasizes people and communities, rather than systems and data trade, in order to draw conclusions that allow to rethink the directions in which the actions should be aimed.

School autonomy in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic: Diffuse policies from the government, a claim from school communities

This article delves into the processes of school autonomy that emerged at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the lenses given by the analysis of the policy cycle of the federal government intervention to secure the continuity in distance education. Through a documentary review of academic literature and official documents, as well as interviews and focus groups with figures of basic and upper secondary education, it is concluded that, historically, school autonomy has been a diffuse political project in Mexico and that it was not a present axis in the government's response to the emergency. However, some school communities have demanded recognition of their autonomy to decide and act collectively.

Educational policies in response to the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus in Latin America: An integrative documentary review

Educational policies in the face of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus took an unexpected turn in Latin America. Virtuality constituted a key opportunity for the continuity of basic fundamental services in the citizen's right to education. The objective of this research was to analyze the educational public policies adopted by governments in Latin America in the face of the pandemic. The methodology was an integrative documentary review of the main international organizations whose documents provided relevant information on the actions to be implemented in fourteen Latin American countries. The results obtained show that the priority was to reestablish the continuity of educational services using mass communication resources, such as radio, television, digital platforms, making visible the inequity in the access to the Internet at home. It was also identified a deficiency in the competencies and digital resources of the educational community, dis-crimination and inclusion of people with some type of disability or different languages, especially in urban or rural areas because they do not have technological means. It was concluded that the educational policies in Latin America proposed during the COVID-19 period were designed with-out a real situational diagnosis in each country, to meet the demands of urban and rural areas in an equitable manner with the will of governments, providing budgets and resources that benefit the educational community, as an achievement of state policies.

Evaluation of the implementation of the Remote Education Program in Minas Gerais during the pandemic: What do users say?

This paper assesses the users’ perception about the implementation of the Remote Education Program (Reanp) formulated by the government of the state of Minas Gerais. A total of 388 comments from teachers, students and guardians were monitored and analyzed in relation to 36 posts on the official Facebook page of the State Department of Education, published between May and October 2020. The data reveal that the implementation of the program and its complexity can contribute to the intensification of regional and social inequality, in addition to pointing to the exclusion of a significant number of users. Tensions are evident in relation to technologies, resources and artifacts, access asymmetries that compromise teaching work and student performance. The users’ perceptions about the implementation of Reanp indicates that the emergence of the policy led to vertical and improvised actions, increased levels of discretion, inducing different levels of commitment and motivation. © 2022, Arizona State University. All rights reserved.

The Design of Workplaces with Augmented Reality in Engineering Education

The article deals with the possibility of using augmented reality on the principle of marker target for student education. The whole proposed concept consists of the principle of displaying 3D models of machines, equipment, robots, conveyors, and accessories above the markers depicting an actual device. The first part of the article was focused on the 3D model software tools and was presented a step-by-step procedure for creating an AR application. We will describe a specific strategy for building a 3D model, creating a marker in the Vuforia engine interface. Subsequently, the procedure for working in the Unity development interface up to the final export of the final application was presented. The second part of the article was focused on the developed application and the possibilities of its deployment in the educational process. The initial tests were used by university students on the subject “Digitalisation of Production and Services”. The gained results show the innovativeness of the proposed solution. In this article, an AR application was implemented in the educational process as a new distance education tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new way of presenting 3D models using AR falls under the concept of Industry 4.0, which is becoming a necessity today and brings many benefits in education and practice. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Covid-related educational policies in action: a system dynamics view

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to adopt a learning-based approach to portray the impact of Covid-19 on state school services in Italy, with a specific focus on the role of street-level bureaucrats and the triggering of co-creative processes. Design/methodology/approach The study proposes a qualitative system dynamics (or SD) approach describing the implementation of Covid-related educational policies in Italy. An insight model, made of causal loop diagrams, integrates the selected multi-disciplinary literature and institutional sources, secondary data from national and local reports (about Palermo, the fifth largest metropolitan city in Italy) and insights from a panel of school street-level bureaucrats. Findings The study provides an insight into the impacts of governmental decisions (school closures and the subsequent need to activate distance learning during the first wave of Covid-19) at a local level. Specifically, it portrays the influences of managerial and professional discretion, infrastructural equipment and socio-economic factors favouring/deterring co-creative educational processes. Practical implications The SD model highlights vicious/virtuous circles in policy implementation and suggests new managerial paths for education, more routed towards public value creation and less attached to bureaucratic procedures and the unquestioning application of performance culture. Originality/value The paper proposes an original and holistic approach to dealing with policy making in education and its managerial features. The research findings are considered important, not only to face the current emergency, but also to pro-actively think about the post-Covid era.

Exploring Educational Planning, Teacher Beliefs, and Teacher Practices During the Pandemic: A Study of Science and Technology-Based Universities in China.

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, university teachers are coping with and adjusting to online teaching platforms. In this concurrent mixed-methods study, 10 science and technology universities as the research sites were first chosen, and educational planning in these sites during the pandemic was examined; then, eight selected teacher participants in these sites were interviewed to report how their beliefs and practices changed during the pandemic echoing the examined educational planning. The results show that educational planning and policies assisted teachers in accommodating the new demands and changes during the pandemic; teachers' beliefs and practices generally echoed the educational planning and policies, with certain tensions still existing. The discussion part of the study is centered around emergency remote teaching and planning, tensions between teacher beliefs and practices, and the shift from emergency remote teaching to regular, sustainable online schooling. The study provides administrators and teacher educators with insights on how emergency remote teaching can be planned and implemented during an unprecedented time.

THE CHALLENGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC FOR TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN PORTUGAL

This article, concerning a study still under development, seeks to understand the challenges currently facing teachers at elementary school, in Portugal, resulting from the world pandemic Covid-19. In this article, through documentary collection and analysis, the authors present and reflect on the main implications of the pandemic, for teachers, in the Portuguese educational system, with particular focus on the legislation produced for this purpose and on the measures adopted by the central administration in order to implement e-learning using digital technologies and its implications for students' learning, not forgetting the principles of inclusion, equity and equality in the education system.

THE STANDARDIZATION OF EDUCATION COUNCILS ABOUT REMOTE EDUCATION IN BASIC SCHOOLING AND THE DEEPENING OF INEQUALITIES

Starting from bibliographic and documental research, and, having as theorical methodological contribuition the historical and dialetic materialism, this thext presents an analysis of the remote education offer in basic school since State and City Council's Standardized it in Parana. The center of this analysis is in the content of the deliberations and opinions issued by Organs regulatory bodies in State's and city's sistems when offers diferents pedagogical strategies to atend the community in social isolation because of the pandemia of SARS-COV2 (coronavirus) and the possibilities of face inequalities in students surves lifes. The analysis of normative documents shows that the indicated strategies weakened the enjoyment of the right to education, as they disregarded the social, family and economic reality of the students to be assisted.

EDUCAÇÃO 2030: Tendências, influências e ausências nas políticas de formação inicial de professores

This article aims to identify the relationship between what is proposed in the document "Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Education Action", published by UNESCO (2016) and Resolution CNE/CP No. 2/2019, which "Defines the National Curriculum Guidelines for Initial Teacher Formation for Basic Education and institutes the Common National Base for Initial Basic Education Teacher Formation (BNC-Formation)” (BRASIL, 2019, 2020). In the first part, the study presents the public policies defined in the context of initial teacher formation for Basic Education expansion in Brazil and in the second part, it highlights the influence of globalization and the relationship among countries in the creation and organization of educational policies. In the sequence, we bring the emergence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and general lines of its influence on the educational scenario. Finally, based on a qualitative approach research, we performed the analysis between the documents to establish how the objective and set of strategic approaches of the Framework for Action define BNC-Formation regulations (BRASIL, 2019, 2020), with an emphasis on two strategic approaches contained in the UNESCO document (2016): “focusing on quality and learning” and “promoting lifelong learning”. © 2021 Curriculo sem Fronteiras. All rights reserved.

Photovoice: Young children online English language learning, parents’ voices and its implication to educational policy and provision

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to the education sector. The shift from classroom-based conventional learning to virtual mode means that the study from home policy appears to place responsibilities of students learning on parents. By focusing on primary level education, we explored parents’ voices and aspirations in assisting their children in taking online English language classes. As most of the parents have been overwhelmed, we offer some insights regarding how to mitigate the problems. Using photovoice, fifteen parents whose children were learning English language in primary schools were invited to take the photographs from the online English language learning (OELL) program and discussed the photographs. We used Photovoice in the project to capture parents’ concerns over the program and their relationship with the pandemic. Thematic analysis was used as a tool to generate important themes from the photovoice data. While appreciating the program, our respondents highlighted the obstacles and concerns over the online English learning through their photographs. In this article, we demonstrated, that photovoice not only offered a space to explore parents’ experiences in engaging in their children’s OELL program, but also served as a space for parents’ aspirations in disrupting and influencing educational programs and reforms. © 2022

SCHOOL IN/EXCLUSION POLICIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

On a global scale, the new coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) brought significant changes in the social, political, economic and educational scenario. Therefore, in the educational field, school units in different countries had to close their doors to ensure social isolation as a measure to curb the spread of the virus. Thus, educational institutions adopted remote classes as a strategy to reduce the impacts caused by the pandemic. Consequently, this change had repercussions on the dynamics of teaching work and on teaching-learning processes and, in this regard, groups of vulnerable students, such as the cases of students with disabilities, were threatened with the guarantee of the right to school education, since these changes accentuated socio-educational inequalities. Given this problematization, this study aims to reflect on the demand for public policies for the provision of special education based on the challenges triggered by the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. For this purpose, we carried out a descriptive documental and bibliographical research based on the confrontation of data on the historical panorama of public educational policies aimed at people with disabilities in Brazil and the regulations for educational provision in the context of the pandemic. It is noted that the demand for the regulation of educational policies that provide the effectiveness of inclusive education, especially in emergency situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Use of Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching Methods in Pedagogical Education in COVID-19 Terms

The purpose of the academic paper lies in determining the ratio of synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods in modern pedagogy on the example of the analysis of the activity of higher education institutions within the conditions of quarantine restrictions. The sociological survey was conducted in two stages. Stage I - July - September 2021 (stage of information collection: opinion poll). The second stage is October 2021 (analytical). The advantages of synchronous teaching and learning have been determined, namely: easy interaction;real-time mode;questioning, instant answers, motivation, and help, immediate feedback from the teacher, group classes, high concentration. The disadvantages of synchronous teaching and learning have been identified, namely: physical compliance with the schedule, poor implementation of individualization, appropriate training, poor content of the digital learning platform, poor organization of various communication channels, and low level of digital alternative. The list of benefits of asynchronous learning has been revealed as follows: flexibility, antilocalization, economy, time mobility, one's own working pace, the schedule convenience, point definition of the purposes. It has been found that the drawbacks of asynchronous learning are as follows: a decrease in an academic discipline, a decrease in socialization, feedback difficulty, limited contact, isolation, the need for self-discipline. © 2021 Universidad Tecnica de Manabi. All Rights Reserved.

Rivers Flowing Toward the Sea: Education Inequalities During COVID-19 Identified Through a Quality and Satisfaction Questionnaire to Students Concerning E-Learning

This study focuses on preexisting inequalities in education and those maximized by the pandemic. It is based on the validation of scales for the construction of a quality and satisfaction questionnaire on students (QSQS) with distance learning for students of higher education to apply to quality assurance offices of higher education institutions. It is based on six dimensions, and, in this article, the result of one of the dimensions is also analyzed: student participation in e-learning. Through the QSQS to answer the following research question: What is the quality and satisfaction of students concerning e-learning? A large number of students and educators have suffered the consequences of a sudden transition to virtual education. In addition to the lack of equipment and people trained to support students in many households, this alternative means of teaching presents contextual differences. In addition, government actions express the concept of biopower, through mass regulations established based on popular fear. The reconstruction of education needs to start now, in conjunction with societies and communities, planning to compensate for unequal learning losses. Financial resources are particularly important;however, those earmarked for the social sectors tend to be neglected in light of the debt burden in the following years. This may affect, on a large scale, the number of students attending private higher education institutions. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.