Comparative review of national mobile learning initiatives in Latin America: the cases of Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay; executive summary/abridged version

During the last decade, Latin America has turned into one of the most proactive regions in the world regarding integration of ICT, based on the articulation between this and the purposes associated with the social inclusion and democratization of education systems. In this sense, mobile learning has been increasingly strengthening during the last years and has been particularly relevant especially in contexts where the challenge to guarantee such purposes is even more important. Hence, within the framework of the UNESCO Project Comparative review of national initiatives on mobile learning, IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires has coordinated, together with the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems in UNESCO’s Education sector, the elaboration of a comparative study on a cluster of mobile learning initiatives developed in Latin American countries: Computadores para Educar (Computers for Education) (Colombia); Learning with Mobile Technology in Multigrade Schools (Costa Rica); ICT Policy (Peru); y Plan Ceibal (Uruguay). The main purpose of this study was to delve into the analysis of public policies focused on the integration of ICT into the education system as a valid strategy to face some of the most urgent educational needs in the region and the world. Within this framework and based on the perspective of education as a right, improving equity and education quality in the countries of the region undergoing problems associated with education inequality, is considered a priority. Based on the above, the study is presented as a tool for those responsible for policies and other actors involved in their design and implementation, as it provides elements of analysis and recommendations to develop mobile learning policies and programs, both in the 1-1 modality and other alternatives. The information and analysis of the results obtained have been organized in a collection of five titles: four of them describe national initiatives (Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay) and the fifth title, a summary of which is contained in this document, develops a comparative study on the surveyed experiences.