"MADRE CORAJE" AND EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT (ED): A COLLABORATIVE EXPERIENCE IN A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

An experiment with a group of teachers from different levels of education (Early Childhood; Primary; Secondary and University Education) is described. Participants took part in a cooperative learning process on a digital platform in a project organized by the "Madre Coraje" NGO to share experiences in the design and testing of Education for Development (ED) teaching proposals. The participants' levels of professional development in this virtual learning environment ranged widely; some were voluntary collaborators with the NGO with some previous experience in ED, whilst others were recruited by the teacher trainers who coordinated the project. The format was based on a non face-to-face asynchronous online network with instructors setting three-phase assignments: the design of an assignment-based classroom activity, its testing and its evaluation. Online work was complemented with classroom work through a number of face-to-face meetings in the form of seminars. The unique process and the participants' heterogeneity have provided some interesting findings as to how they interacted and shared their experiences.