INTEGRATING COMPUTERS AND CURRICULUM IN SECONDARY-EDUCATION - A STRATEGIC APPROACH

This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Pilot Project on Educational Informatics developed as a joint effort by the R&D Group on Educational Informatics (GEI) of The University of Los Andes, and the Department of Education of Santafe de Bogota (DESB), DC, Colombia. The author acted as chief of party in the project, which involved 33 public high schools located in 17 states and from these schools 233 educators. The focus was to enrich education at these schools by designing and developing educational innovations with the aid of informatics. The critical part of the experience was not related to hardware or software, but the development of human resources to participate in the innovation process. This paper presents the general context of the pilot project, its main aspects, a brief summary of the way it was conducted, and a description of the strategic approach far planning computer-based educational innovations and related in-service programs. Major lessons from the project include the importance of the selection and conscious participation of the 'dynamizers' of change, open discussion of results in the education community and a reconsideration of the study of attitudes towards informatics.