Higher education is a matter of vital importance for the country. Failing to care for and cultivate access to vocational training would be a step backwards as a society. This was stated by Father Harold Castilla Devoz, general rector of Uniminuto, who also spoke about the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the cloister’s classrooms.
(Further: Government will not submit a statutory bill to reform the education system).
Is it necessary to evaluate teachers?
I ask: How are we going to build quality if there is no evaluation exercise? Universities evaluate ourselves, certify ourselves, and submit to quality processes to guarantee our students the relevance and opportunity of their training.
But if we do not evaluate teachers, how will we know where we need to strengthen and how to reach better levels?
Fecode opposes the evaluation…
I think the country should look at the results of student tests. The Pisa, Saber, Saber Pro and a ranking as serious as the OECD, constantly show that we are doing poorly, especially in public education.
(Read: Petro demands that the new Ministry of Education achieve free education and coverage in the sector).
We are not doing things right and hiding it by prohibiting the evaluation of teachers affects us as a society and as a country.
One minute.
Just a month ago, a bill on education failed in Congress…
I think that the approach needs to be changed. First, describing Colombia’s private higher education as mercantilist is not right. The national system is mixed and this has allowed the country to move forward.
In terms of coverage, higher education in the country has increased by almost 11 percentage points between 2012 and 2022 (last year of consolidated figures available), reaching a total of 54.92%.
So we must build and open the way to all options for vocational training, in-person, semi-in-person, virtual, semi-virtual, distance learning. Using all existing technologies, internet, streaming, video calls, WhatsApp. How are we going to reach the most remote areas of the country where we are needed if we do not take advantage of technology?
(See: Regulation or ban? This is how AI should work in education).
In the perspective of universal enrolment, we must think particularly of the most vulnerable.
What the Colombian higher education system needs most is collaboration, integration, and cooperation rather than other ideas that divide us and leave us out of the educational struggle and, therefore, from the country’s comprehensive social development.
Let’s go back to the center: the students…
This is the responsibility of society as a whole, young people are our future. We cannot think that they are the responsibility of the kindergarten, the school or the university. It is up to all of us: parents, academia, society and the State, we cannot turn our backs on them.
But how do they train today for the future?
At Uniminuto, teachers are migrating; today they are more advisors, coaches and consultants for their students, who work with technology and artificial intelligence.
The world of the cloud also requires a guide to show them what is good, where to go, to achieve their goals. That is why teachers work in constant training, to be able to transmit and are evaluated to correct and improve.
(Further: ‘Young people have among their priorities learning a second language’).
At Uniminuto, teachers are migrating. Today, they are more advisors, coaches and consultants for their students, who work with technology and AI.
How big is Uniminuto? I guess being small helps you take bolder steps?
We are a community of 100,000 active students, of which 20,000 are virtual (it is important to emphasize the exponential growth of the virtual modality, which went from representing 0.8% in 2012 to 18.1% in 2022, according to Dane), and we are present in 910 municipalities throughout Colombia.
With a mission-based educational project, we do not seek ‘commercialism’, we seek to close gaps, reach where those who need us are and offer a relevant education, with values, principles, ethics and the knowledge that people need to face the reality of this fourth technological revolution.
We are not small, but our project is based on educating with love and principles.
(Read: Rise of generative AI underscores need to close digital gaps in the country).
Such a big university, and there are fewer and fewer young people…
The country must start thinking about this. The young population represents an increasingly smaller percentage of the total population, while the populations over 35, 45 and 55 years of age are growing more and more.
This is an issue that we as a society must think about and evaluate. In this ever-changing world, we should all receive an update of our knowledge after a certain age, if we so wish.
And of course, as an academy we must open the doors to the so-called ‘silver generation’, so that adults can enjoy new knowledge or learn what they always dreamed of, as a normal practice.
Is Artificial Intelligence already in your curriculum?
AI is at work in training programs. In fact, we have two artificial intelligence systems: MIA and LEO, which are generative and are used at the university to support the personalization of the student’s program.
(See: Only 36% of Americans believe in higher education).
AI is a tool that, when used properly, benefits the entire educational community.
It should be noted that technology at Uniminuto goes hand in hand with research and innovation, always seeking to have a social impact; here we seek to co-create with communities the solution to their problems, within a framework of open science.
This benefits our students and communities who discover in open science a true accelerator of social well-being.
This is how we understand it and practice it.
BRIEFCASE
