Hi,<br><br>I would like to make two short comments on Diego's message.<br><br>The first one is concerning the monopoly of certification that the educational system has almost everywhere in the world. This is certainly a barrier for a certain degree of decentralization or de-institutionalization. I've notwithstanding witnessed certain movements towards institutions recognizing former experience and/or training and validating it as part of the curriculum of a specific subject. And I'm not talking about recognizing e.g. similar subjects in another university's degree, but trying to assess what the prior knowledge/experience of the student is before he enrolled on a course and despite the origin of this knowledge/experience.<br>
<br>I think the growing alternatives to formal education will push educational institutions in this direction and, if not end up formally with the monopoly of certification, at least break it de facto.<br><br>Concerning what could happen and what is really happening (ie. your examples in Colombia), I guess that is exactly the point I wanted to raise: despite what institutions do within their domains (smart boards in the classroom and so on), what are the pressures like from _outside_ of the system? what are the trends? what are the small though decisive steps that people are taking to change the way they learn and their (in)dependence from formal education?<br>
<br>i.<br><br><br><br>Ismael Peña-López<br>Estudis de Dret i Ciència Política<br>Universitat Oberta de Catalunya<br><br><a href="http://ictlogy.net">http://ictlogy.net</a><br>Av. Tibidabo 39-43<br>08035 Barcelona<br>