Integrating Technology in the Classroom Using the C3 Micro-Cloud
Mexico is a geographically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse country with an estimated population of over 129 million people. It is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. The country suffers from economic inequality. In some regions, many families earn a comfortable living, but especially in southern Mexico, many people live in poverty. This inequality is also reflected in the education system: in rural areas, educational participation and attainment rates are extremely low compared to Mexico City. While the illiteracy rate is around 2% in Mexico City, it rises to 14% in the state of Chiapas (a southern Mexican state), which has the highest illiteracy rate in the country. These education challenges are evident in students’ academic performance. Mexico ranks below the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average in science (416 score points), reading (423 score points), and mathematics (408 score points). These disparities may be the result of historically limited access to the Internet, with only 51% of students having internet access, mostly concentrated in central and northern regions, widening the opportunity gap between those with and without access to technology.
Improving Mexico’s education system is essential for addressing challenges like the high unemployment rates among Mexican youth, who are unemployed at twice the rate of the overall working-age population. In recognition of this issue, an education reform program was enacted in 2018, which, among other measures, aimed to leverage technology in the classroom as a means of giving students access to new content and learning methods. Technology companies, such as Google.org, made donations for technological upgrades to help reduce the digital divide between the country’s various states. In 2018, Critical Links and Internet Movil, a Mexican IT company, partnered to send over 800 C3 Micro-Clouds to Mexican schools, enabling the use of digital content, videos, lessons, and learning management systems, among other resources. Some C3 Micro-Clouds were also sent to well-resourced schools seeking to improve their educational standards. These schools saw the potential to enhance their educational excellence through the micro-cloud approach. One such school is Instituto El Pedrogal, a Catholic school in Ciudad López Mateos, State of Mexico. Although the school already offers an above-average quality of education, teachers and administrators recognized the effectiveness of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in schools and believe that integrating technology into the classroom increases students’ motivation and retention, helping them achieve excellence in education.
Gabriela Barcena Muñoz is one of the teachers at Instituto El Pedrogal who understands the power of ICT as a tool to transform teaching methods: “As a teacher, the C3 Micro-Cloud helped me a lot and enabled students to learn more with better results. We use the C3’s capability and speed to share valuable information among ourselves. Students use their mobile devices to access information, and we noticed that they retain more and better understand the content being taught.” Gabriela Muñoz also mentioned, “The C3 Micro-Cloud is a very user-friendly device that helped my students have a better and more meaningful learning experience.”
Many textbooks used in Mexican schools have not been updated for over a decade. With C3 Cloud Control (a cloud-based portal for creating, selecting, curating, and distributing content), students now have access to the most current and engaging content, such as videos, e-books, and learning games. One student said, “Thanks to the C3 Micro-Cloud, I now learn math better. With its videos and examples, it’s much easier to understand.” Another student also shared, “With C3 Micro-Cloud, science classes are more fun, and it’s easier to share information with my classmates when we do assignments.”At Critical Links, we believe that it is possible to encourage new and better ways of learning and reasoning, taking the Mexican education system to the next level and making a significant impact on students’ futures! Technological competence is crucial for students’ future success, and this should be a priority at all levels of education. If students lack technological skills in their early years, they may be less likely to pursue higher education qualifications and may even struggle to enter the job market. With the C3 Micro-Cloud, it has become possible to promote new forms of learning and reasoning, helping elevate the Mexican education system. We believe this innovative approach to learning will have a lasting and profound impact on students’ futures!
