THE MODERN DAY BRAZILIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Long criticised as being comparatively inferior (particularly for the lower demographic of society) to other developing countries, Brazil has a long way to go before its compulsory education system is where it needs to be in terms of both improving the competitive intelligence of future generations and reducing poverty. The Instituto de Pesquisa Econmica Aplicada indicated that the average 25-year-old in modern day Brazil has only nine years of education; 10 percent of the population is illiterate and one-in-five students are in the wrong grade for their age because they have had to repeat a year of studies.

Nevertheless, Brazil does has positive educational results for the last thirty years and quantitative studies at the elementary level have demonstrated that standards are improving (albeit slowly). Research by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geographia e Estatstica (IBGE) indicated that the issue of poor educational levels is mainly symptomatic in rural areas: statistics published in late 2007 stated that the rural population over 15 years has a mean 4.3 years of schooling while the urban mean is 7.7 years. The illiteracy rate in the rural sector is 30 percent for those over the age of 15 and only 27 percent of the 15-17 rural age group are choosing to remain in secondary education.

Conversely, World Bank data in late 2008 demonstrated that the most progress in elementary schooling between 1992 and 2001 was within the poorer part of the population (enrolment in primary education rose from 97 to 99 for the richest 20 per cent of Brazil and from 75 to 94 percent for the poorest 20 percent). The same study pointed to the fact that; because illiteracy ranges from 2.7 percent for the population aged 15-19 to 30 percent for those between 65-69; the educational imbalances of the population look set to change over time.

The number young Brazilians going to university has also increased (enrolments were 1.7 million in 1994 rising to 4.9 million 2008) – however, this statistic remains lower than other countries in South American such as Argentina and Chile.

*** THE FUTURE OF THE BRAZILIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Whilst Goldman Sachs was the one of the first international investment banks to promote Brazil as a future economic superpower, it has been keen to stress that improvements in education are fundamental for the country to be able to maximise its future potential. It is widely thought that the average standards are not meeting the increasingly important relevance the country is having on a global scale. In the medium to long term, it is imperative that Brazil’s welfare state decreases and the knowledge and skills base of the country moves the other direction.

One positive step has been to encourage more teachers to enter the profession which, in the past, has been under supplied. The setting of the salary floor at $BRL 950 per month received criticism for being too broad based and not tailored to individual municipalities (although was generally seen as a step in the right direction). Other progressive measures include funds such as FUNDEF (a sub-national grant scheme aimed at assisting primary and lower secondary education) and FUNDEB (which, by 2007, had granted more than BRL$ 30 billion for basic public education benefiting nearly 50 million students). Furthermore, in order to be eligible for the Bolsa Famlia grant, children aged between seven and fifteen must be enrolled in school and not miss more than 15 per cent of classes (due to the early stages of the programmes development, statistics on its effectiveness are too hard to predict, but it is claimed to have had a positive impact on school attendance levels).

At the two year anniversary of the vast oil findings off the south coast of Brazil, President Lula was seen issuing congressional bills with the intention of diverting a significant portion of the country’s oil wealth towards improving education systems (amongst other welfare provisions). The ever popular national lottery in Brazil continues to donate over 5 percent of its profits to the Ministry of Education. There have also been a number of the country’s leading companies (including Embraer, Petrobras, Randon and Vale) developing their own educational establishments to improve skills shortage gaps.

Among the most recent technological advances that have been promoting the competitiveness of companies, such as call centers, electronic commerce, customer relationship management centers and human resource management centers, is a technology hub that is to realize its full potential – electronic education or more popularly the e-learning format.

By definition, e-learning is the provision of educational programs and learning systems through electronic means. The e-learning is based on the use of a computer or other electronic device (for instance, mobile phone) to provide people with educational materials on the go. Distance education laid the foundation for the development of e-learning, which solves some difficulties in terms of timing, synchronization of schedules, attendance and travel, typical problems of traditional education.

Also, the e-learning can involve a wider range of equipment online education. The term e-learning covers a broad suite of applications and processes such as Web-based learning, computer based training, virtual classrooms and digital collaboration (group work).

Advantages of E-Learning Programs

We present what experts in this area considered the most important benefits to the education industry:

Increased Productivity: The e-learning solutions as Web-based training (WBT, web-based training) and computer based training (CBT computer-based training) allows students to study from your desktop. Direct delivery of the courses can reduce downtime involving low productivity and helps to eliminate travel costs.

Timely: When launching a new product or service, e-learning can provide simultaneous training many participants about the processes and applications of the new product. A good program of e-learning can provide the necessary training in time to meet a specific date of commencement of operations.

Flexible Training: An e-learning system usually has a modular design. In some cases, participants can choose their own learning path. Additionally, users can mark certain sources of information as a reference, thus facilitating the process of change and increasing the benefits of the program.

Cost Savings per Participant: Perhaps the greatest benefit of e-learning is that the total cost of training per participant is lower than in a traditional instructor-led. However, e-learning programs tailored to entry may be more expensive due to the design and development thereof. It is recommended to conduct a thorough analysis to determine whether the e-learning is the best solution for your training needs and training before investing in the project.

What Discourages E-Learning?

The main barriers that have prevented the integration of these technologies of e-learning training programs of companies are:

1. Organizational structure and traditionalism.

2. Lack of best practices.

3. The lack of support and experience.

4. Lack of understanding and vision about e-learning.

5. The lack of human resources and user acceptance.

6. Organizations and traditional processes.

7. The lack of skill on the part of teachers and instructors, coupled with a negative attitude.

8. Lack of strategic actions.

9. Lack of training and support to teachers and instructors.

10. The time required for the preparation of the material.

The Most Common Errors

Like any emerging technology, e-learning requires the involvement of expert consultants who can implement a program leading organizations to success. Then we present the ten most common mistakes when defining a strategy for e-learning:

1. No vision.

2. Confusing strategy with technology.

3. Place the Learning Management System (LMS, learning management system) as the core of the strategy.

4. Focusing on the development and delivery rather than the business itself.

5. Focus on transforming a conventional training program in an online education program.

6. No consensus among partners.

7. No time to diagnose the lack of support from senior management.

8. To think that this new function is a part-time work or short duration.

9. Ignore the weaknesses and dangers.

10. Failure to change management.

Designing Tomorrow’s Education

While in Mexico and there are companies that offer e-learning solutions that involve content developed by experts, and infrastructure management platforms and other services, the acceptance of these technologies is not yet that this industry would have. Experts say that the adoption of e-learning in Mexico has been slow because there are cultural barriers.

Like other initiatives such as e-Mexico, public and private institutions are required to design and implement specific programs to advance the education industry in Latin America. It is imperative to mobilize the educational and cultural communities, as well as economic and social actors to accelerate changes in education systems and training for our countries to move towards a knowledge-based society.

An initiative of e-learning could be a path to modernize our economy. At the same time, through the components of the education industry, can provide the entire community, but particularly to our young people the skills and tools they need to succeed in a globalized economy based on knowledge. Those who are more interested in such projects are indeed educational institutions, which reduce costs for both the student and for the institution itself, mean a great incentive.

Dear readers, this is not my regular work of technology or tech news review. Consider it a highly imagined piece where realistic assumptions are made with collective goodwill to expand the education base. What and how are decided once we are willing to understand the power that digital world gives us in improving life in large scale and have that illusive peaceful sleep. Technology no doubt is going through too many disruptions where there is innovation and mainly more so in the internet world but there is more scope.

First the opportunities. With Skype being downloaded wholesale it is already time for this app to work to deliver online classes. Even in some parts there are classes where international professionals are taking voluntary classes for economically backward masses. The main communication system here is definitely vernacular so that you do not need to teach them anything added for language in priority. Language can move forward with other subjects simultaneously. Once this is implemented it is better as the students will learn more practical oriented education rather than the conventional knowledge and attention challenging theories from these professionals. A very significant role is played by games if they are designed properly in online education.

Why games? This is a sort of entertainment and children will be more attentive to them. So even complex ideas can be easily executed and delivered once you have their full attention. Similarly to test their level of education it is better to use games as there also they will welcome the challenges of the games more than the conventional tests. This way there can be smooth early education for children and then comes the part of monitoring and designing fitting course curriculum. There lie our toughest challenges.

To monitor very individual and find their suitable vocations will need keen evaluation of their progress and at no point we can abandon those students. It is better to remember that most of these students are first generation of learners and they will have difficulty to grasp the education process. So we will have to suite the education to their liking. It is not that tough. We need to keep analysing our every move and monitor their effects.

If the prospects are understood more companies will come up with newer apps for these purposes, they will definitely do once they understand the enormity of their work. What will it give? Reduce education costs and the subsidies used in it. This is where you can save lot of money for other developmental work. This free money can even be used for building infrastructure of education these students will need and spread the process of education worldwide.

There will be difficulties. As the complexity of subjects increase more students will try the escape route. They will desert midway. It is for us to make them understand the impact difference of education can have in their life. Once we can do that we can move to keep them for longer time. Still some will desert. This is natural even in schools and there will come another technology to disturb our status quo of education completely. Till then we can work on our existing ideas.