noviembre 18, 2009

Technology and education

The new technologies resources have been assembled to facilitate the pursuit of excellence in the University's missions of teaching, research, and service. The opportunity to use computing systems and software is important to all members of the University community. The information technology is a new paradigm in the education, and because of this we need to regulate their use and to make to the technologies a real instrument for the study. For example, the technological resource must be used for educational and administrative purposes, however the Government School don’t use the new technologies in their administration. Anyway, the students also need to learn , since also they use badly the resources of computation.

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In the Government School we need to make the computarisation as something very important in the educational process, and because of it, it’s neccesary to integrate matters of computation in the diverse areas that we study in the university career. For example, in English classes, we write in an Internet blog and we use computers for the interactive and entertaining learning of the language. In another subject that I had the past semester (Theory of the Science), also we use the computation as the principal tool of work. It was in this occasion where I could measure the extensive thing that could be the topic of the communications online, since it was necessary to learn to mention what one was reading in the web as well to begin to use more the resources that I have.

In relation with this new learning of the students, the University of Iowa indicates in his web page that we need to learn individual responsibilities regard to the use of the new technologies. If first time, we need to use resources appropriately, because the inappropriate use of the computer system cause viruses and the next destruction of files. In second place, is appropriate to respect the rights of others, because the privacy of the personal files is very important in the University: the labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse, and the plagiarism and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic community.

The platform U-cursos it is a part of this new vision of the learning, providing tools rapid and easy to develop learnings, both for the student and for the teachers. The university created this platform in order to improve the administration of the resources, arranging this way the matters, notes and materials for the pupils. There was developed by the Faculty of Engineering, which gives to understand his notable quality.

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In view of everything previous, we can conclude that it is necessary that the university, and in specific the School of Government, could have more technological tools that assure a great quality of the education of this Public University, providing ideas for a good functioning of the schedules, rooms, matters and availability of the teachers, and this way to achieve that we could overcome the problems of administration that we have. For this, it is necessary to write principles that could govern this reform, as well as the University of Iowa was indicating in his web: the only difference is that it will have to be collective, not individual principles.

The volcano Chaiten


The news was not specifically this year, but I think that it was schockly and importantly for the country: the Chaiten volcano. Chaiten is (or was?) a very Quite Town without violence and corruption olmost a paradise in the middle of a beauty landscape.

The volcano erupted during May 2 2008, and the homes to the villagers (the most affected communities are the city of Chaitén, Futuleufú, El Amarillo and Chana) needed to evuacuate. Earthquakes and a dense cloud of volcanic ash were the keynote of these days. Unfortunately, all animals, cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits and most unfortunate, all pets, puppies and kittens were abandoned to their fate... One elderly person died while at sea en route for Puerto Montt. The plume of ash from the eruption had spread across Chile and Argentina to the Atlantic Ocean, contaminating water supplies, and reportedly coating the town of Futaleufú to a depth of 30 cm. The BBC reported that the ash plume from this eruption reached an altitude of 30 kilometers.

The news was saying that this eruption is known as the first major explosive eruption of rhyolite magma volcano in nearly a century, since the 1912 eruption of Novarupta.

Personally, this news caused many questions in me, where inclusive I thought of being going to give a word of spirit to the affected persons. Really, there were days which the country was very worried and simultaneously joined by a reason of help. The psychosocial
effect of traumatic events, such as the eruption and the subsequent displacement of people who are forced to leave their houses, required immediate action.

I believe the eruption helps to create the conditions to a climate change in long terms like any eruption that remains for a long time.

This one was an event of the year 2008 that for the people of Chaitén will be remembered, but also it must be overcome.

noviembre 11, 2009

Post # 10: Challenges in your discipline

Public Administration will be an important career to change many things in the country, and because this we need to be connected with other disciplines: Technology, Economic and Social Matters, Education, etcetera.

The technology challenge can be, in the short time, to teach responsibly about all the new technologies, specifically in the informatic area. The evidence about the deterioration to the child competence, with computers (or television too), it is clear and alarming.

In relation to Social Matter, the challenge must be in the people mind and heart, in other words, they must get the autonomic idea out of their heads and put on love, fidelity and truth. Maybe this phrase is “hippie”, but we need to bring to the arena these things and to make better this country.

In relation to the education, we need to professionalize the Public Administration, in other words, to give a professional character or status to this function and because it all the country must be favored. The mechanisms of public employment professionalisation constitute one of the most important dimensions in Chile and Latin America. But, in this kind, we need to change other things, like admission to university. Students can choose between 25 state universities and over 50 private ones, but the admission test maybe terrible: the PSU. There are poorer students, mostly coming from public schools, and more wealthy students, specially those coming from private schools, therefore, poorer students have much smaller chances to enter the most prestigious universities, which hold high entry scores.

To be employed at the administracíon is a challenge and, because of it, I study this career. I believe that I can manage to do many things for my country. I love very much this country and his citizens and I would like to see that they live in love and truth, which sustenance and a good education could deliver to his children.

All things are possible, if also this things are goods.

noviembre 04, 2009

The Government School

First, I want to make it clear that this place isn’t a faculty: The Government School depends of the INAP (Public Affaires Institute), and then of the University of Chile.

The Government School has many things to improve, because in older times this building was a palace, a house in the center of Santiago. It was built in 1875. The Palace is beautiful, said the exchange people, but, the Chilean students want to be at a remodeled place. The Government School needs TO BE a University with a lot of grass and trees, and sun too!

Specifically, we need in this building a rest place (with sofas) or a sport place (with baby-football field or exercise machines). On in other hand, it’s necessary to have all the professors near to the students.

Related to the environment, we need while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations: a sustainable development, related with the electricity and recycling.

We need a big place to make these changes, and maybe we will go to the Chemistry Faculty in Vicuña Mackenna Street, and make our dreams come true. The “Public Affaires Faculty” can be a pioneer in Latin America with careers like a Public Management, Political Science and International Relationships.

We need to support the School cause. For example, it’s necessary to paint the front of the palace, or to clean our bathrooms.