UF Leading Lucent Technologies-Funded Program In Latin America

March 9, 2000

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Lucent Technologies today announced the funding of a collaborative effort between Bell Labs, the University of Florida and universities in Brazil and Mexico to advance distance-learning education around the Latin American region.

Made possible by Lucent’s philanthropic arm, the Lucent Technologies Foundation, the funding will total $1.5 million over three years.

The collaborative effort, named the Partnership in Global Learning, represents an unprecedented international initiative designed to produce distributed learning on a global scale using technologically enhanced distance learning methods, company and university officials say. It will develop state-of-the-art curricula in science and telecommunications technology as well as in other academic fields.

“Our goal is to advance global education at every level using technology to enhance the learning experience,” said Rich McGinn, president and CEO for Lucent Technologies, at a conference sponsored by Association of Pacific Rim Universities, or APRU, being held in Los Angeles. “The Partnership in Global Learning will initially begin this year in the Latin America region, but I invite APRU universities to join in this collaborative effort.”

UF is spearheading the pilot program in collaboration with The Technological Institute of Higher Education of Monterrey in Mexico, and the Fundacao Getulio Vargas, the Pontifica Universidade Catolica, and Universidade de Campinas, all in Brazil.

UF has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a leader in Latin American studies, and the four other universities are recognized as the leading academic institutions in the region.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this bold initiative that recognizes an opportunity to further utilize available technologies in the global education arena,” said Charles Young, interim UF president. “We congratulate Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs for placing such a high priority on education, one of the most important factors in the continuing development of communities around the world.”

As part of the initiative, the universities will “adopt” primary and secondary schools located in their areas and work with teachers in those schools to develop Web-based curricula — primarily in science, technology and business education — that can be replicated. These Web-based distance-learning courses then will be delivered to other schools to widen the reach and effectiveness of the program throughout Latin America.

Organizers hope that after the initial phase is completed, universities in other parts of the world, such as the Asia/Pacific, European and African regions, will be able to join the program.

“We are focusing on content development which is appropriate, relevant and targeted to K-16 international audiences,” said Elizabeth Lowe, director of the project and associate director of UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. “The aim of the initial phase in Latin America is to create a model program to roll out worldwide.”

“I am very excited about the opportunities to not only enhance global education but to also bridge cultural differences around the world,” said David Ford, president of the Lucent Technologies Foundation. “By providing students an opportunity to interact with other students in distant countries and regions of the world, they will be able to understand and celebrate their cultural differences.”