Friday May 11

Professor Aires picked us up in the morning and took us to the Centro do Recursos dos Professores (CRP) in the center of the city. This building is dedicated to training in public education and helping them integrate technology into their curriculum. The first room had about 30 computers for the classes and workshops offered to public education teachers. Some of these include website, programming, etc. Professor Aires signed me up to teach a video class to 20 participants. This class will meet twice a week for three weeks.
The next room was divided into three computer labs each with about 25-30 computers. One lab was open to university students with one hour slots to use the Internet or to work on whatever they want to. The purpose is to introduce a responsible way to use technology to students without stifling creativity. The next two labs are open to professors for class use. The difficulty with this is that the class has to travel to the location.
On the lower level is a smaller lab maybe 18-20 computers that are for free public use. This lab was sponsored by the K House project. Time slots for these computers are basically filled and users range from kids playing games to lawyers submitting their forms.
On a travelers note, since we were there we stopped by the fortress that was created by the Dutch. It is now a military base.
During the afternoon, we returned to the University and were given a presentation on the goals and materials of ProActiva. We viewed their learning objects and then participated in a class that discussed the objectives and purposes of learning objects and what they need to possess and achieve. The methodology of these objects were briefly presented and discussed by the students.