CEBEM’s philosophy and modus operandi focus on collective work, learning and the construction of knowledge. These principles have guided for the past ten years the building of virtual platforms for the development of learning communities that facilitate those purposes.
CEBEM has created several platforms combining communication, information, distance learning, publication, and research virtual means. All of them have been designed to be used interactively and be self-administered.
The purpose of creating these platforms is a novel way to promote the development of knowledge and learning communities. These communities are conceptualized as groups of professionals, teachers and practitioners actively engaged in collaborative and mutual learning. A community of this kind is expressed “on-line” as a social and collaborative network that uses a common virtual space on the Internet.
CEBEM’s experience to date indicates that the platforms developed are a new environment that can lead to creation of communities and networks with unexpected communication and exchange resources. The identified potential is encouraging and permits to conclude that these types of platforms can be an effective means for identifying, creating, representing, distributing and sharing knowledge of various kinds - theoretical, methodological, practical, or general.
The communities that are developing have reached different degrees of maturity. They have diverse orientations and have as activities sharing knowledge, promoting North-South partnerships, fostering scientific publication, or improving the quality and relevance of post-graduate education on a particular area. The platforms include resources such as:
- Mechanisms for sharing documents and projects
- Document and professional databases, and institutional links
- An information alert and massive information exchange system
- An educational environment for delivering online courses and forums
- A system for publishing articles in a scientific journal
- A system for news, calls and announcements
Professionals, networks and institutions interested in developing their own communities, using the resources created, are invited to contact Amelia Garrett amelia@cebem.org |
