"Rethinking the digital divide" Conference, Leeds, England, 2008: Iwith.org's views

At Iwith.org we were chosen to participate in this years XV ALT-C international conference (a main academic conference on learning technology) organized by ALT (Learning Technology Association), a leading British body that brings users, researchers and politicians together regarding knowledge technology.  

ALT was formed in 1993 and currently comprises over 500 people; besides a majority of the United Kingdom's higher educational institutions and over 50 Schools, as well as a growing number of public and private organizations.

The event is held annually at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, and this year more than 650 people of diverse nationalities attended and had the opportunity of listening to and sharing ideas with the e-learning protagonists and those responsible for the latest technological innovations on the virtual information democratization. The theme for this years Conference was "Rethinking the digital divide”.

One of the more interesting conferences was the presentation given by the Swedish professor Hans Rosling, who talked about the importance of making historical and statistical data that can help make fair decisions in regards to the future of humanity and the energy crisis accessible.

A large part of the topics addressed and the investigations presented showed us the advances in materials for distance education making use of the TICs and the opposing positions regarding the same. Conservative teachers who see a means to humanize education within the traditional education defended a majority these; while the avant-garde educators see the TIC's as a way to modernize the activity.

Iwith.org participated in the Posters area, where some 60 posters from different educational entities and associations from around the world were displayed. This way hundreds of people learned about our foundation's commitment with some of the entities dedicated to education in Southern countries.