In Mexico in 2022, Huawei and USICAMM upskilled 136,406 candidate teachers with digital skills to prepare them for today's tech-driven classroom.
By Adela Piña Bernal Head, Mexico's Teachers' Career System Unit
In an increasingly digital world coupled with the ongoing digital transformation of the education sector, integrating ICT into learning environments is necessary to prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s world.
However, many teachers lack the requisite digital skills to effectively use ICT - a shortfall that Huawei is committed to helping address on a global scale. In 2022, USICAMM (System Unit for the Career of Teachers) partnered with Huawei on a large-scale project to implement the Digital Skills Course for those aspiring to enter the national education system.
Who is USICAMM?
USICAMM is a decentralized administrative body in Mexico with technical, operational, and managerial autonomy. Attached to the Ministry of Public Education of the Federal Government (SEP), the organization is in charge of defining the selection processes for admission, promotion and recognition; issuing the provisions under which the processes will be developed; and establishing the minimum requirements to be met to enter or be promoted to another function in educational service. The organization is designed to give teachers access to a fair and equitable career path that promotes their development.
As part of its mission, USICAMM determines the criteria and indicators for different types of learning environments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, it implemented the Digital Skills course to enable distance learning.
Developed in collaboration with Huawei, the Digital Skills course was set as a requirement for candidate teachers in the admission process for basic education in the 2022-2023 school year, which prospective teachers had to pass. The main idea behind the USICAMM project was to provide teacher candidates with knowledge and skills from the ICT world and in turn train them in how they will be able to use these skills and improve their educational processes in the classroom.
Project parameters
The Basic Education course comprised three elements, which were required to be completed in full:
- Fundamentals of Technologies Courses (Huawei)
- Digital educational innovation: TICADD Master Class Cycle with Huawei (USICAMM)
- Technology Course for Teaching (USICAMM)
In these three areas, candidates had to complete the following subjects offered in the Digital Skills course:
- Basic AI Concepts
- Next-generation Cybersecurity
- Cloud Basics: Development and Concepts
- 5G Basics: Introduction to 5G Knowledge
Project roles
Huawei was assigned the task of teaching and providing the digital platform. In coordination with USICAMM, Huawei worked on the content of the Digital Skills course, tracking participant progress, and delivering progress reports.
The course was available from April 4 to May 4, 2022 and it ran 24/7. It was developed online, self-administered, interactive, and flexible. Lasting approximately 40 hours, the course could be accessed by any Internet-connected electronic device.
The following sections were integrated into the course: Technology Fundamentals Courses and the TICADD Huawei Master Class and Technology for Teaching Course.
Upon course completion, USICAMM and Huawei issued a completion certificate.
After establishing USICAMM’s requirements, Huawei Mexico worked with Huawei’s LATAM Talent Development Department and a Huawei HQ team to develop the talent platform, selecting Huawei’s ICT Academy program to implement the project. Huawei ICT Academy is a partnership between Huawei and academies around the world. It delivers ICT training, encourages students to pursue Huawei certification, and develops talent with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community. With 22 technical fields and certifications and 14 professional courses on offer, 2,600 academies train more than 200,000 students in 170 countries each year.
The ICT Academy offered several advantages for this project:
- Course development: The ICT Academy platform included the functionality to develop the courses.
- Access control: The academy administrator could oversee participant access.
- Class reports: The platform includes a report function that shows individual progress by module and lesson.
- Talent ecosystem: The ICT Academy program is designed for students, and can serve as a springboard for expanding Mexico’s ICT talent pool.
A taskforce comprising Huawei’s Mexico office and HQ was then set up to progress USICAMM requests and suggestions, make any required adjustments to the platform and content, create webpages, modify courses, and host links and videos in the Talent Platform.
The Huawei LATAM Talent Development department handled day-to-day operations, including:
- Creating an ICT Academy for the USICAMM project in the Talent Platform
- Creating classes corresponding to the Huawei Courses in the USICAMM ICT Academy
- Regularly tracking course participants’ progress and creating progress reports for USICAMM.
Project outcomes
Running from April 2022 to May 2022, 136,406 teachers registered for the Digital Skills course on the USICAMM and Huawei ICT Academy platform, with the vast majority passing it and receiving the USICAMM/Huawei Certificate. Though not without challenges due to its scale, the project was publicized in an official Mexican Government Secretariat of Education Bulletin, as well as by several media outlets, where it was lauded a great success.
