Empower youth through technology in Costa Rica

A lot has happened in Ideas en Acción lately! Today we will to tell you more about MenTe en Acción program and network. 

We held our 2nd edition of MenTe en Acción in Limón, -Costa Rica´s caribbean coast- where we got to meet 36 spectacular young women who graduated from our program last May. We have now begun our 3rd edition of MenTe en Acción with over 40 young women from different areas in four of our provinces: San José, Heredia, Puntarenas, and Limón.

In our sessions they have received training in women empowerment, leadership and other soft skills, but they are also becoming women in tech, by learning about new technologies, such as 3D printing, drones, and virtual reality and beginning to experiment with programming through AppInventor -MIT´s programming tool-.

Our sessions have been very enriching, the last one being on User Experience where the girls began developing the concept for their social or environmental apps. We also had the chance to have a call with some Costa Rican and Colombian engineers who are currently working at Google! This gave the participants a wonderful opportunity to ask questions about their careers, trajectories, etc.

The particiants of this 3rd edition will graduate on October 1^st, and we will keep working very hard to support the inclusion of more women in technology in the country through collaborative innovation and their involvement in more of our ongoing MenTe Network opportunities. 

As part of our events for our MenTe Network (Red MenTe for women in science & technology), we co-hosted an event called “Ticas en el espacio” which translates into “Costa Rican Women in Space”. We co-organized the event with CITEC, ACAE and CFIA, wonderful organizations that believe in the power of having more women in the STEM fields. We had women engineers with impressive backgrounds sharing their stories and experiences, and a very young audience listening to their ideas and advice. Part of this audience was our current and former program participants, we had the wonderful opportunity of having women from the 1st and 3ed edition of MenTe en Acción meet and share their stories!

One example of an exciting story is Camila´s, one participant from our MenTe en Acción 1^st edition and her experience in the Google Computer Science Summer Institute here.

Stay tuned for more updates in Ideas en Acción´s journey of creating social impact through collaborative innovation!

[ENGLISH below] 

 ¡Duolingo en Acción crece! ¡Duolingo en Costa Rica!

Este 2016 esta cargado de crecimiento para nuestro programa Duolingo en Acción.

Empezando por la visita del equipo Duolingo Estados Unidos; Rogelio Álvarez – VP of Business Development y Kristine Michelsen-Correa - Head of Community at Duolingo, vinieron a Costa Rica para impartir el Taller para profesores Duolingo for Schools. El taller contó con la participación de 350 profesores de inglés de escuelas y colegios públicos de Costa Rica, así como la participación y apoyo del Ministerio de Educación Pública y la Embajada de Estados Unidos.

Kristine Michelsen-Correa y Rogelio Álvarez – Duolingo Estados Unidos y Melissa Monge – Directora Ejecutiva Ideas en Acción

Con este capacitación masiva se inicia el proceso para la firma de un convenio nacional con el Ministerio Educación Pública, para colaborar e impulsar el uso de la aplicación Duolingo en los centros educativos a nivel nacional.

Además hemos incorporado hasta la fecha a 7 centros educativos al programa Duolingo en Acción y 7 Fundaciones al programa Clubes Duolingo en Acción 2016.

Centros educativos: 

1. Colegio de Santa Ana 
2. Colegio Técnico Profesional de Escazú 
3. Liceo Alajuelita 
4. Colegio Técnico Profesional Purral 
5. Instituto Educativo Moderno 
6. Liceo de Costa Rica 
7. Colegio Técnico Profesional Pavas 

Fundaciones:

1. Lifting Hands
2. FundaVida
3. CECI Zarcero
4. Academia Idiomas CEDES Don Bosco 
5. CETAV
6. Fundación la Casa de los Niños  
7. Fundación RAHAB 

Duolingo en Acción es un programa que crece con el apoyo de cada uno de ustedes, con su ayuda logramos llegar a más colegios y escuelas, capacitar a más profesores para motivarlos y que pierdan el miedo al uso de la tecnología en el aula.

Próximamente vamos a crear una comunidad de aprendizaje con todos los profesores que participan de Duolingo en Acción para que puedan compartir su experiencias. Además de participar en los Festivales de Inglés a nivel nacional organizados por el Ministerio de Educación Pública. 

¡Manténganse al tanto y los invitamos a seguir apoyando! :)

Duolingo en Acción grows! Duolingo in Costa Rica!

This 2016 is loaded with growth for our program Duolingo en Acción.

We started the year with the visit of part of the team from Duolingo´hadquarters; Rogelio Álvarez – VP of Business Development and Kristine Michelsen-Correa - Head of Community at Duolingo, came to Costa Rica to train english teachers in the use of Duolingo for Schools Platform. We had over 350 english teachers from public schools and high schools participating in the training. We organized this training in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Education and the United States Embassy´s support.

Kristine Michelsen-Correa and Rogelio Álvarez – Duolingo United States and Melissa Monge – Executive Director and Co-Founder of Ideas en Acción

With this massive training we started the process to sign a national agreement with the Public Education Ministry, to explore and support the use of Duolingo app in elementary schools and high schools across the country.

Another exciting news is that we have welcomed 7 High Schools to the program Duolingo en Acción and 7 Foundations to the Duolingo en Acción Clubs 2016.

High Schools:

1. Colegio de Santa Ana 
2. Colegio Técnico Profesional de Escazú 
3. Liceo Alajuelita 
4. Colegio Técnico Profesional Purral 
5. Instituto Educativo Moderno 
6. Liceo de Costa Rica 
7. Colegio Técnico Profesional Pavas 

Foundations:

1. Lifting Hands
2. FundaVida
3. CECI Zarcero
4. Academia Idiomas CEDES Don Bosco 
5. CETAV
6. Fundación la Casa de los Niños  
7. Fundación RAHAB 

Duolingo en Acción is a program that grows with the support of each one of you, with your help we can go to more high schools, elementary schools, train more teachers and motivate them to incorporate technology in the class in order to have better tools and improve our country´s english level and as a result, our competitiveness.

Soon where will be creating a learning community with all the teachers who participate in Duolingo en Acción, so they can share their experience and best practices. Also we are expected to participated in the National English Fest, organized by the Ministry of Public Education.

Let´s keep in touch and we invite you to keep supporting us! :)