During 2020 COVID-19 forced many schools around the world to adopt a hybrid education model that combines on-campus and virtual learning worldwide. The educational programs supported by Tenaris in the communities where it operates were no exception.
The AfterSchool program, which offers STEM activities for elementary school students in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Romania, United States and Uruguay, has been redesigned to offer virtual classes and STEM activities with local needs in mind. Teachers have been closely monitoring students throughout 2020, in order to keep them engaged and to help them face the challenges of virtual learning. In some locations, students were supported with telephones and cellular data plans.
In Campana, Argentina, senior students at Roberto Rocca Technical School closed the 2020 academic year with the GEN Técnico Pitch, a series of virtual presentations during which students shared their technical projects and insights of their first internships in the industrial world.
The Open House of Student Projects was another example of the impact of virtual, project-based learning. During three days, more than 750 people visited the virtual exhibition that included 137 live presentations and 172 booths.
“At first I was skeptical, but the exhibition closed an extremely successful process. We were able to complete all the stages, executingprotocols to apply improvements and having enough time to practice presentations in order to help the students feel comfortable,” said Soledad Lahitte, teacher at Roberto Rocca Technical School in Campana, Argentina.
This shift to a hybrid model has also implied training teachers to maximize new opportunities and to develop new skills. In Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, Tenaris launched last November an online training program for 50 local school coordinators, combining new technologies and resources already used in the classroom.
“The idea is to foster hybrid education and to share techniques and methodologies so that teachers can take full advantage of this model, that is probably here to stay. With the participation of these 50 coordinators, we are now covering all the local public schools in the city,” said Luiz Marcondes, Human Resources Director at Tenaris in Brazil.
To learn more about Tenaris’s educational programs, click here.
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