Country overview Colombia

In Colombia, technological modernisation coexists with activities supported through obsolete technologies and conservative mindsets. The country is in a permanent struggle between tradition and innovation, and as the country is not a technology-creator, technology acceptance involves elements of fashion and psychological dependency from developed countries. Technology is intimately related to economic, political and military domination. The local application of information and communication technologies (ICT) to governance suffers these problems. Information Technology (IT) responds directly or indirectly to the interests of the global elite that created it. This report aims at providing an overview of the normative and institutional state of art of ICT-mediated citizen participation in Colombia. The first section provides an overview of the political and civic liberties framework in Colombia. In the second section the landscape of ICT mediated citizen engagement is mapped. In the third section, the report engages with implications of technology mediations for deliberative democracy and transformative citizenship.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

When digital democracy falls short: insights from Colombia

Colombian e-government development has been internationally recognised by the UN as a leader in Latin America, and one of the 20 most developed nations of the world in the area. However, ICT tools and services such as broadband are a luxury. Colombia suffers from an access divide due to economic and infrastructural limitations, and a second level digital divide because of weak information and data literacy. This Brief focuses on identifying the impact of ICT mediation in democratisation and citizen engagement in terms of what is understood as governance, how those representations are legitimised, and the ways in which they change power relations. The authors reviewed Colombian ICT mediation policies, placed them in relation to the context, and contrasted them with previous research about local e-democracy developments. This gave a characterisation of how Colombian e-government routines have evolved. The Brief analyses the government project called Urna de Cristal (UDC), which is the centrepiece of President Santos’ mandate on e-government policy and democratisation. This brief is part of a series from IT for Change produced from its Voice or Chatter research project, which examines the relationship between ICT-mediated citizen engagement and democratic governance.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

Urna de Cristal, Colombia

Urna De Cristal (UDC) is an e-participation platform launched by the presidency of Colombia in 2010. The platform allows citizens to raise queries/concerns to any government department/agency, put in requests for grievance redress with a guarantee of an official response. It also has an e-consultation space where government departments can solicit public opinion for aiding policy development. UDC has Web TV and Internet radio channels, and linkages to social networking and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google plus, Youtube and Instagram. This case study on UDC attempts to address the following questions: What visions of citizen engagement inform UDC?; What norms of citizen engagement are legitimated through UDC?; Has UDC contributed to a cooperative and democratic dialogue between state agencies and citizens? Stakeholder interviews were analysed in the historical context of Colombian democracy, that has been marked by a continued co-existence of electoral politics with violent in-fighting between groups, representing the traditional elites in power, popular movements excluded from the political arena, and criminal organisations funded by narco-trafficking. This study of UDC reveals that the project is marred by deep mistrust and suspicion that citizens bring to any formal interactions with authorities, the lack of government’s investment in ensuring safety and inclusiveness of the platform, and the limited digital capabilities of citizens. As a result, this initiative for amplifying citizen voice runs the risk of ending up as mere chatter.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

Sin enamorarte

Mi idea es seducirte Mi idea es amarrarte Mi idea es que sientas por primera vez Mi idea es que caigas a mis pies.  Es un arte aparte Es una meta incierta Es un reto eterno ¿O un simple asueto?  Me valdré de mi astucia. Tu ingenuidad. Me valdré de mi perseverancia. Tu inocencia. Me valdré de mi piel. Tu piel..

El asistente de demostración como herramienta para la construcción de justificaciones teóricas en problemas de demostración en geometría

En este taller se presenta un software (asistente de demostración), utilizado en la actividad de exploración de teoremas, definiciones y postulados de la geometría euclidiana, en el proceso de construcción de justificaciones teóricas. El uso del asistente de demostración está caracterizado por procesos de razonamiento deductivo y abductivo y ha sido ampliamente difundido entre los estudiantes de la licenciatura en matemáticas de la Universidad Industrial de Santander. Los asistentes serán partícipes de las experimentaciones que se presentarán con el fin de que se familiaricen con el uso del software y de las ventajas que ofrecen en la enseñanza de la demostración

Entre la alfabetización informacional y la brecha digital: Reflexiones para una reconceptualización de los fenómenos de exclusión digital

This article analyzes the evolution of the concepts I–literacy, E–literacy, informational alphabetization (ALFIN as in Spanish) and Digital Divide, to find a common ground to complement conceptually the measuring of the divide. The convergence process between I–Literacy and E–Literacy has been retrieved, reaching the final concept of informational alphabetization (ALFIN as acronym of the Spanish expression 'ALFabetización INformacional'). To propose its differentiation into three levels: the basic level of verbal–technological codification, second level for meta–analysis, and upper level for ethical–critical action. This proposal aims to rethink the digital divide, raising questions about the meaning of measurement, and the necessary precautions to avoid confusing measurement with assimilation. We state that the concept of information literacy (ALFIN – informational alphabetization) should feed the study of the Digital Divide, and describe how this could affect the pyramid model of ICT appropriation developed by the author. In further research about digital exclusion The Pandora's box quality of the Web is emphasized. It can reinforce exclusion, threatens democracy and freedom in the absence of a literate digital citizen, if further simplification is carried under the access–to–infrastructure model, if the citizens' formation in capabilities that exceed the instrumental. We conclude that measuring these meta–analysis and ethical–critical action skills is the advisable way to build a metric for the digital divide. We warn about the possibility of finding a second–order divide much larger and complex than the access divide

Jornada única y calidad de la educación: propuesta conceptual de evaluación de impacto

Este documento busca analizar las principales iniciativas en materia de Jornada Única que se han desarrollado a nivel nacional e internacional con el fin de identificar los principales canales por medio de los cuales un aumento de horas en la jornada escolar incide sobre la calidad de la educación -- Para esto, se hace un análisis de la importancia del tiempo en el proceso de aprendizaje, se describen las experiencias nacionales e internacionales y se estudia la propuesta nacional -- Los canales identificados son el uso que se le da al tiempo adicional y la metodología de enseñanza -- A partir de esto, se hace una propuesta conceptual y metodológica de evaluación de impacto de la Jornada Única en Colombia combinando las metodologías de Diferencias-en-Diferencias y Propensity Score Matchin

La formación del Estado en Colombia y el origen histórico de su debilidad coercitiva. Algunas aproximaciones

Este artículo de reflexión nace del trabajo de grado de la Maestría en Estudios Políticos, titulada: La guerra y la formación del Estado en Colombia, la cual se apoya sobre el supuesto de que la violencia política, y más exactamente la guerra, es un elemento crucial en la formación de los Estados modernos, pues esta actividad impulsa los desarrollos institucionales propios de la Modernidad. Este documento hace una aproximación al origen del Estado colombiano y a la debilidad de sus instituciones coercitivas, lo que ha impedido –en parte– obtener el monopolio de la violencia legítima. Por tal razón, en Colombia las instituciones coercitivas dedicadas a la guerra se han visto obligadas a enfrentar conflictos internos y han abandonado, en gran medida, las reflexiones sobre conflictos interestatales

Únete a la causa: propaganda en conflicto armado en Colombia

El recrudecimiento del conflicto armado en Colombia durante los años noventaobligó al Estado colombiano y especialmente a sus Fuerzas Armadas a realizar unaserie de transformaciones para enfrentar las amenazas que ponían en riesgo suviabilidad. Las comunicaciones y el manejo de la información fue una de las áreas quemayores cambios sufrió, convirtiéndose hoy día en pilar fundamental de la estrategiacontrainsurgente. Así, la propaganda y la guerra psicológica han sido utilizadasactivamente para quebrar la voluntad de lucha de los combatientes de los gruposinsurgentes, mantener la moral de los miembros de la fuerza pública y aumentar elapoyo de la población civil y la opinión pública hacia las Fuerzas Armadas.Estas consideraciones se ponen de manifiesto en este trabajo, el cual es un avanceparcial de los resultados de la investigación titulada: ¨Análisis comparativo de losmodelos de propaganda y comunicación política entre el Socialismo del Siglo XXI y laSeguridad Democrática¨, la cual abarca el periodo comprendido entre 2002 y 201

Enhancing reading comprehension for L2 learners of english :insights from a comparison of mobile applications based on current theoretical standpoints

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the functionality of mobile applications to improve reading comprehension skills in L2 students university students belonging to a language institute in Colombia. This research was developed from the interpretative paradigm. The instruments that were used were: a multiple-choice survey, in a population of ninety-four students who take English as a foreign language at the university level also participated in the study. Additionally, documentary data to understand the functionality of mobile applications was collected from the Google Play app store, which describes the features of the apps in terms of functionality and purpose. A qualitative analysis was carried out through the categorization, labeling and coding of data recurrences. Among the main findings, they converged that the Duolingo, Wlingua and Beelinguapp applications, which were the most complete in terms of the teaching and learning process, and academic performance, were also the most recognized by the population, which should motivate the student to continue using the applications, and in a later period, evaluate how it has impacted the development of English. It should be considered that applications should continue to grow as a tool to learn English. However, these apps must evolve, allowing students to interact with other users, in chat rooms, online classes with student participation, and evaluations with native teachers, among others. In conclusion, paid or free applications do not guarantee learning; Payment only enables app content, but it will depend on the app user.MaestríaMagister en la Enseñanza del Ingle