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ProFuturo

The transforming power of e-ducation

ProFuturo is an educational innovation program based in the use of technology with the goal to reduce the educational gap in the world by providing quality education to boys and girls living in vulnerable environments in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. ProFuturo’s intervention models are based on evidence provided by continuous monitoring processes, research and evaluation.
HundrED 2022
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Overview

HundrED has selected this innovation to

HundrED 2022

HundrED 2021

Teachers for a Changing World

Updated April 2024
Web presence

2016

Established

40

Countries
Students basic
Target group
Narrowing the growing education gap in the world through innovative learning and digital innovation. ProFuturo pilots innovations at a considerable scale (through a cascade intervention model), and shares its results and methodologies with authorities and institutions that have the resources (and/or the mandate) to scale them at national, regional or global level.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Two major Spanish institutions, Telefónica Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation, joined their forces and their experience, both in in the field of education and child care, to create ProFuturo under the belief that digital education is a extremely powerful tool to improve the quality of education worldwide and a great mean to reach the most vulnerable.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

ProFuturo combines educational digital resources for primary school children -accessible through an open source LMS- with teacher training, educational assistance and technical support, and a monitoring and evaluation system to measure and assess the impact of the programme. If needed, ProFuturo also provides schools with technological equipment.

ProFuturo relies on innovative teaching methodologies with which seek to help teachers and students develop skills to face the challenges of the 21st century.

ProFuturo adapts its work to the different contexts and has 3 main intervention models: a Comprehensive Model, that addresses key elements to achieve educational quality; a Humanitarian Context Model, adapted to educational needs in emergency contexts; and a Massive Open Digital Education Model that offers open educational content, accessible online, and virtual or in-person teacher training courses.

How has it been spreading?

ProFuturo considers schools as its units of intervention and teachers and school managers as the leaders of transformation. The programme works therefore at the “micro” level and has a bottom-up approach (being this the only way to promote transformation in countries where the capacity, outreach and resources of public administrations are limited).
The programme has also a “meso” level intervention, as it operates at a significant scale and in very diverse environments, aiming to demonstrate that, by fulfilling a series of hypotheses, and taking them to scale, educational transformation, trough digital means, takes place.
From 2016 to 2023 the ProFuturo programme has impacted directly the education of 4,3 million children and trained 1,6 million teachers.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

ProFuturo´s Educational Resources for students and teacher training courses are available, for free, on its website: https://profuturo.education/en/resources-teachers/
The other "componets" of the programme can be seen by visiting a school.

Impact & scalability

Impact & Scalability

ProFuturo Digital Education is working towards quality education for all by providing teacher training and qualification as well as a a school-wide approach that enables students to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. This specific framework ensures increased sustainability and spread by targeting teachers and school leaders and hence having a greater impact on students.

HundrED Academy/Advisory Board Reviews

This project appears to already be scaling up and reaching many countries around the world. Bridging the gap between traditional and digital education, helping to find solutions, not just to developing new pedagogy, but also sustainable technology infrastructure.

In my experience the innovation has a well laid out mechanism to support implementation, partnering with local organizations and government especially in the co-creation and design of the project with the locals has a great effect on my context (Kenya).

- Academy/Advisory Board member
Academy/Advisory review results
Impact
Scalability
Exceptional
High
Moderate
Limited
Insufficient
Exceptional
High
Moderate
Limited
Insufficient
Read more about our selection process

Media

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We continue to expand our Teacher Professional Development project in Africa | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/expansion-teacher-proffesional-development-project-africa-profuturo-exe/
Link
ProFuturo, UPSA and Telefónica renew their digital education cathedra | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-upsa-telefonica-renovation-cathedra-digital-education/
Link
Digital education in humanitarian contexts | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/digital-education-profuturo-humanitarian-contexts-refugee-day-2022/
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Changing course, transforming education | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/education-day-2022-profuturo/
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ProFuturo in renowned international publications | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-renowned-international-publications-profuturo/
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Teachers: Transforming by Educating | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/world-teachers-day-profuturo-2021/
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ProFuturo, winner of the WISE 2021 Award for Educational Innovation | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-winner-wise-awards-2021-innovation-education/
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Do you know what ProFuturo’s three intervention models are? | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/three-intervention-models-profuturo/
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5 years leading the future of education | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/5-anniversary-profuturo-education-digital/
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ProFuturo participated in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2021 organised by the UN | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-high-level-political-forum-osd-un-2021/
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ProFuturo expands its refugee work to Rwanda and Tanzania so as to contribute to the improvement of the education of 16,800 children in 2021 | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-refugee-work-education/
Link
ProFuturo Education application is here | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/application-profuturo-education/
Link
ProFuturo, finalist in the WISE 2021 educational innovation awards | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/news/profuturo-finalist-wise-2021-educational-innovation-awards/
Link
Our wish for 2021: that children go back to school for good | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/our-wish-for-2021/
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ProFuturo helps five million children throughout the world continue the school year during the pandemic | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/profuturo-cinco-millones-de-ninos-curso-pandemia/
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The importance of quality education in times of pandemic | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/the-importance-of-quality-education-in-times-of-pandemic/
Link
An international day for protecting education from attack | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/unite-to-protect/
Link
Driving teacher training in Africa | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/impulsando-la-formacion-docente-en-africa/
Link
Four years looking ahead | ProFuturo
https://profuturo.education/en/noticias/cuatro-anos-mirando-al-futuro/
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Teacher training courses open for all
We want to help all teachers to continue your training and to help your students through our educational resources.  From our digital learning platform you can access more than 160 courses and 2,800 hours of training in different languages, free. We also provide you with educational resources and tools to prepare your lessons from home, recommending activities to your students and supporting them in carrying them out. You can check out our courses here. If you want to register on a course, ENTER THIS FORM*(*Your invitation to the call will arrive within one week after registration).If you are already a ProFuturo teacher and are registered on a course, ENTERInnovating in the classroomIn this category you will find courses with active methodologies to create learning experiences while introducing innovation in the classroom. They are designed for teachers seeking to place the student at the centre of the teaching-learning process:-Innovation path: Basic Level (INNB):The aim of this course is to work on basic knowledge to develop INNOVATION as a fundamental skill that favours student’s personal and professional success. The aim of this course is to work on ICT competence through the knowledge of on-line applications that facilitate teaching and the application of ICT at school.-Innovation path: Intermediate Level (INNM):This course aims to promote INNOVATION as a primordial skill for implementing a quality teaching-learning model. Teachers who do this unit will come from basic level training or the diagnostic test will have shown that they know innovative educational experiences.-Innovation path: Advanced Level (INNA):The aim of this course is to work on INNOVATION as a skill for transforming the educational system. Teachers doing this unit will have done basic and intermediate level training on Mobile Learning and will be familiar with the use of educational experiences in the educational surroundings, or will have passed the diagnostic test placing them at this level.-Innovation path: Professional Level (INNP):The professional level will discuss innovation and analyse what has changed in pedagogical methodologies. It will begin with one of the most important changes in the teaching and learning processes of recent decades: the transition from an education based on transmitting information, to an education based on developing skills.This will be a change towards an innovative school of three learning methodologies that aim to spark interest for this change to begin and that can be applied in the classroom.Using ICTThese courses are intended to help you discover how ICT can be a great ally in your daily practice. Learn to include them in your classes:-ITC path: Basic Level (TICB):The aim of this course is to work on the basic knowledge to develop ICT competence, and more specifically to apply it in the classroom. Teachers who do this unit will have no or basic knowledge of digital literacy and the use of office automation as an educational resource.-ITC path: Intermediate Level (TICM):The aim of this course is to work on ICT competence to effectively apply it in the classroom.  Teachers doing this unit will have done the basic training or will be familiar with OpenOffice applications.  At this level, teachers must be competent at user level in office automation and use ICT to create activities in the classroom.-ITC path: Advanced Level (TICA):The aim of this course is to work on ICT competence through the knowledge of on-line applications that facilitate teaching and the application of ICT at school. Teachers doing this unit will come from intermediate level training, and will be familiar with educational experiences based on collaborative learning.  Here teachers must create and transfer educational experiences based on collaborative learning.-ITC path: Professional Level (TICP):This route aims to reveal the diversity of options that virtual tools offer us in order to include them in our teaching work, and to support the teaching-learning process by applying the knowledge offered by Neurodidactics.
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ProFuturo joins forces with UNESCO to combat the impact of Covid-19 on education
ProFuturo has joined the global coalition launched by UNESCO to combat the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis on the education sector in vulnerable environments. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 1.5 billion learners across 165 countries have been affected by school closures, making it necessary to find alternative solutions to enable them to access education. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has said that a paralysis of the education sector on this scale has never before been seen and she highlighted the importance of fostering public-private partnerships to implement collective measures that mitigate the effects of the crisis on education, especially among those most vulnerable, who suffer the most at times of difficulty.School closures will prevent millions of children from accessing such essential services as nutrition and health, so the coalition led by UNESCO will mobilise resources to support teachers and students by implementing innovative, context-sensitive educational solutions to guarantee access to education, regardless of whether they have Internet connectivity. In addition, it will coordinate the actions in various countries to prevent an overlap of efforts.The coalition includes international organisations, private companies, foundations, NGOS and media organisations. Some of the leading institutions to have joined the initiative are technology giantsMicrosoft, Google and Facebook, multilateral bodies like UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (ACNUR), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), y and digital education programmes such as ProFuturo and the Khan Academy.Media organisations like the BBC are also on board, and will disseminate educational content, as well as informing the various audiences about how Covid-19 might affect them.ProFuturo’s educational resources, available for allAs a result of the health emergency, ProFuturo will open up its digital learning platform to the entire education community. Firstly, it will provide teachers with more than 160 courses and content so that they can continue to acquire training and support their students. It will also provide educational resources and multimedia activities for students, with their families’ support, to strengthen their knowledge of mathematics, language, science and technology from home.We have always believed that technology brings people closer together and is a platform for quality education. At times like this, it becomes a fundamental tool, according to ProFuturo Managing Director Magdalena Brier, for whom the programme’s commitment to reducing the educational gap worldwide by means of digital education now makes more sense than ever.Accordingly, although the educational resources will be made available to all those accessing the platform from any country, ProFuturo will strive especially to disseminate its #SeeYouInDigital initiative in the 38 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia where it implements its programme in vulnerable environments to ensure nobody is left behind.
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Our educational resources for institutions
At ProFuturo, we’re convinced that working with other institutions makes us all stronger. That’s why we operate an open education programme, sharing our knowledge and experience and working in collaboration with other institutions to achieve greater progress. This spirit of collaboration is now more meaningful than ever. With this in mind, we’re opening up our content for children to organisations which share our objectives.We offer more than 1,600 additional hours of language, maths, science, technology, citizenship and life skills content so that students can continue to learn from home. They can travel through the microscopic world, discover the human body, learn about programming, revise calculus and geometry, explore the different literary genres, and much more.Using this content, you’ll be able to help students from around the world to enhance their skills in an innovative, interactive manner. If you’re interested in offering this type of content from your platform and you want more information, you can contact us via e-mail at secretaria.profuturo@telefonica.com with the subject line ‘Resources for institutions’.
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Are you familiar with all of our new educational content for students?
Our commitment to narrow the educational gap through digital education is more important today than ever as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is why we put everything into continuing to bring education closer to millions of children so that they can continue to build the future they deserve. Education is a universal right and ProFuturo has provided students around the world with more than 1,600 additional hours of language, maths, science, technology and life skills content to allow them to continue learning at home. They’ll be able to discover the human body, learn about programming, revise calculus and geometry, explore different literary genres, and much more. From 1 May, we have made more than 1,600 additional hours of content available to students around the world to allow them to continue learning at home in an innovative, interactive manner. Through videos, texts and interactive practical exercises, students will progress in their learning as they complete the different units:Science: Travel the Solar System, the human body, the plant world or the composition of food.Language: Revise the literary genres, how to write an argumentative essay and where to put the accents on words.Technology: Plunge into computational thinking, the history of machines and block-based programming.Mathematics: Explore the world of geometry, time, and different problem-solving methods.Citizenship and peaceful coexistence: Learn about citizenship, peaceful coexistence in the school environment and the different parts of a city.Ways of thinking and acting: Discover learning how to learn and acquire interdisciplinary skills such as creativity and team work.Principles for a healthy life: Find out about health eating habits and how to protectthe environment.Our educational content is available in 4 languages (Spanish, English, French and Portuguese) and is classified by difficulty and topic.ACCESS OUR FREE CONTENT HERE
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Techno-educational solutions in ProFuturo vulnerable environments
For the second year in a row, ProFuturo and Wayra —the Telefónica Open Innovation Hub—, have put out a worldwide call in search of innovative projects to contribute to tackling the technological and educational challenges that ProFuturo faces in the vulnerable environments where it operates. Open until 30 September, this call will assess project aspects such as the social and educational impact, the degree of innovation involved and the project’s sustainability and scalability capacity. Sixty-five candidate projects from 13 countries were received in last year’s call. Of the three winning startups, two have piloted their projects in schools where the Telefónica Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation programme is being implemented.The ProFuturo Digital Education Programme is being implemented in vulnerable environments where schools often have no energy or internet connectivity. On top of these infrastructural constraints must be added the lack of technological resources (routers, computers, tablets) and quality educational content, as well as the relatively poor pedagogical preparation of the teachers who are often founding wanting in the teaching and digital skills required to bring technology to the classroom.Enterprising individuals and startups presenting projects in the call must meet these and other challenges. Specifically, we are looking for projects that offer energy access and connectivity solutions to equip the schools with quality educational and digital resources; or projects that apply Artificial Intelligence to education to personalise teaching and improve learning results using analytics learning tools.Close date: 30 SeptemberCandidates can submit their projects until 30 September. An assessment process will select ten projects the owners of which will have to defend their initiative in person before a selection committee. Aspects such as the social and educational impact of the project, its level of innovation, how scalable and self-sustainable it is, the experience and skills of the project team and the potential the project has to improve ProFuturo’s education proposal, will be assessed.Up to three startups will be selected and offered a workspace in one of Wayra Innovation Hubs, where they will received speed-up and mentoring support for six months from ProFuturo to mature their project. Subsequently, a collaboration plan will be studied regarding project sustainability, and the possibility of conducting a pilot test in one of the schools where ProFuturo operates will be assessed.Trial runs in Mexico, Kenya and BrazilThis is the second time ProFuturo and Wayra have put out a call for projects. Sixty-five candidate projects were received from 13 countries last year. Of the three winning startups, two have piloted their projects in schools where the Telefónica Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation programme is being implemented.Cerebriti, the Spanish startup that introduces gamification into the classroom to enable teachers and students to create and share their own games, thereby boosting creativity and fostering teamwork, have tried out their project in five schools in Mexico with primary-school students from 4th to 6th class. Meanwhile, the British firm Eedi has piloted its assessment solution in five schools in Kenya. This project makes it possible to measure student levels and detect learning weaknesses and confusing concepts by means of digital questionnaires.The Portuguese startup, Ubbu, has created a platform that enables teachers and students alike to take the first steps in computational thinking and digital literacy and programming. This platform is to be piloted in Manaus (Brazil) in 1st to 6th classes in 14 primary schools.
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Implementation steps

Identifying an implementing partner
ProFuturo is a programme that is implemented through local partners.
These are well established organisations whoe are key actors on the management and implementation of the programme, contribute to the understanding of local needs, and actively participate in the Monitoring and Evaluation of the programme, in order to make continuous improvement.
Initial definition and sizing
In collaboration with the implementing partner, ProFuturo makes a selection of areas of intervention and target schools; carries out a Diagnosis of each school; Defines objectives and budget; prepares legal documentation; Manages tax exemptions for the delivery of the equipment; signs agreements and sends the funds.
Preparation and delivery of the programme
In this phase, the implementing partner hires local staff (program coordinator and coaches), ProFuturo implements is 3 phase training programme; there is a process of Raising Awareness in the community that will "host" the programme; conversations with local and education authorities take place and equipment is sent to schools.
Implementation and Monitoring
Once the programme is running in schools, continous support is given at local level (coaches) and at 2 more levels (national and international) both in pedagogic and technological matters; there are refresh trainings offered to school principals and teachers; there is communication about the project and procedures for data collection for evaluation purposes are established.

Spread of the innovation

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