The CEIBAL plan in Uruguay: From a university's perspective on the social and educational impact

Uruguay is the first country to implement the strategy proposed by OLPC through the Plan CEIBAL to reach all children in public education. This article is based on the experience of Flor de Ceibo at the Universidad de la Republica, developed since 2008. Through comprehensive practices, which combine the basic university functions: teaching, research and extension and integrating students and academics various approaches have been developed in order to support and understand the effects of the Plan implementation. The methodology developed with local actors, enables the reflection for this work, integrating also other national research results. The Plan CEIBAL has had a significant impact in terms of access to ICTs, especially for the most vulnerable people. The main challenges in education included the need for further teacher training and the generation of resources to support teaching. Also an important aspect is the promotion of specific curricular adaptations. In the community area, the main challenge is the integration and appropriation of the technologies pointing to the growth of the community. This requires a comprehensive perspective that integrates multiple dimensions such as school-family relationships, the link with other technologies, the intergenerational relationships, gender constructions and also local community aspects.