Omar Dengo
Foundation, over the
past two decades, has
made partnership
constitution, growth
and sustainability as its
fundamental goal,
engaging the
government, corporate,
academic and
international agencies,
to bring about strategic
change in the learning
schemes and the
appropriation of ICTs
in education.
| This article is
based on case study conducted with the support of grant from "International
Development Research Centre (IDRC)". |
The widespread integration of
technology-enhanced learning
environments into Costa Rican
public elementary schools began in
1987 with the creation of the National
Program of Educational Informatics.
The project was conceived in a
moment of growing concern for
the technological, educational and
socio-economic gap that the
country experienced both at the
international level —with relation to
industrialized countries—, and at the
national level —among different
population groups, areas and sectors
within the country.
As a result, the government and
other leading political, social and
economic actors jointly envisioned a
Program oriented to introduce
technology to schools, as a tool to
bring about strategic change in
learning schemes and appropriation
of digital technologies in order to
prepare the country for the
Omar Dengo
Foundation, over the
past two decades, has
made partnership
constitution, growth
and sustainability as its
fundamental goal,
engaging the
government, corporate,
academic and
international agencies,
to bring about strategic
change in the learning
schemes and the
appropriation of ICTs
in education.
knowledge and technology- based
emerging economy.
The Costa Rican national
program of educational
informatics
The Program was conceived as a
key national effort, designed to impact
the education system and the Costa
Rican society. From the beginning,
the computer was considered a tool
to stimulate the cognitive and
creative potential of children,
youth and teachers.
The National Program of Educational
Informatics, Costa Rica, chose
computer programming and projectbased,
curriculum-related learning
strategies as decisive resources for
the new student-centred learning
environment. It has also had a
strong focus on improving learner’s
problem-solving and thinking
skills and strengthening the interest
and understanding of math
and science.
Partners involved in the
program
 Partnerships have made it possible to
reach and even exceed the initial
objectives of the Program.
At the core of these partnerships, is
the collaboration established between
the Omar Dengo Foundation
(www.fod.ac.cr), a private non-profit
entity, and the Ministry of Public
Education (www.mep.go.cr). Other
organizations from the corporate,
academic and international
cooperation sectors have made critical
contributions at different moments
throughout the two decades of
project existence.
From the beginning, the Omar Dengo
Foundation has played a fundamental
role in partnership constitution,growth and sustainability. As is
evident from the description and
analysis of the first members
involved in the initial phases
(1987-1990), there has been a
wide representation of sectors
and organizations:
- The Ministry of Public Education
defines education policy issues.
It also provides a linkage to
educational institutions
participating in the Program and
supplies the educational
informatics tutors who lead the
activities within the computer
labs, as well as the specialized
personnel assigned for its
implementation with students and
teachers. Since this is an official
national program, the Ministry
also supports the program
financially. The relationships
between the Omar Dengo
Foundation and the Ministry are
framed by agreements and laws
that define the roles and
responsibilities of each partner.
- The Omar Dengo
Foundation (ODF) leads the
Program and is in charge of
its academic, logistic and
financial management. It
also conducts the training
of teachers and specialized
personnel as well as the
pedagogical and
technological support
actions. It provides the
evaluation, research and
development components
too. Likewise, it is
accountable to the Ministry
and the National Controller.
ODF also facilitates
funding for the project and
conducts fund raising
activities to support
different Program initiatives.
 - United States Agency for
International Development
(USAID) granted the
necessary funds for the
launching of the program. It
also provided ODF with
an endowment that was
critical to guarantee program
sustainability, particularly in the
initial phases.
- IBM was the IT company from
which the initial computers were
purchased. As part of the tender
granting requirements, it also
facilitated the participation of
Seymour Papert and a group of
Media Lab specialist as
educational and technical
advisors and collaborators.
- The Media Lab of the
Massachussets Institute of
Technology contributed to the
pedagogical and strategic design
of the Program, which was
developed jointly with other
Costa Rican experts. This
contribution extended far
beyond the initial limits of the
IBM-related consultancy
period. Their major
collaboration has always
been associated to
epistemological and learning issues, particularly in
relation to teacher
training in computer
programming
(Logo during the
first phase and
Microworlds and
robotics more recently).
- The University of Costa
Rica assigned six
professors who,
together with other
Ministry of Education
teachers, formed part of
a core leadership group
that was trained at the
Media Lab and that
contributed
significantly to Program
design, policy, training
orientation and follow
up procedures.
- Local communities are
a key stakeholder. They
provide the classroom,
furniture, security
measures and other
elements necessary for the
computer labs to function. Each
school’s education board and
groups of participating
parents do fundraising activities
and organize to comply with
these infrastructural
requirements.
The partnering process
The Costa Rican government set up a
technical commission integrated by
experts in education, technology and
finances in order to establish the
basic guidelines of the project. One of
their first decisions was to create an independent and
private foundation
to oversee the
project. This would
allow the project
have greater
technical,
administrative and
financial autonomy
and to reduce the
risks frequently
associated to
changes in
government
administration. The
Omar Dengo
Foundation was
thus conformed and
soon acquired its
distinct and
own personality. It has played a
crucial role as the lead partner
together with the Ministry of
Public Education.
 ODF launched an international
tender in order to search for a
company that could supply the
computers required for the Program.
It was explicitly required that
participating companies suggest
pedagogical frameworks and
accompanying software within
which the technology would be used.
They were also required to present
research and evaluation information
as to how these educational
approaches had been used in
other contexts and to document
their results.
It was due to the
quality of the
educational
proposal that IBM
won the bid. Its
proposal integrated
Seymour Papert and
a group of
specialists from the
Media Lab at MIT
as consultants. In
parallel, the
technical
commission set out
to raise funds for the
initial phase of the
project and obtained
financial support
from USAID.
The key success factors that
are at the base of this partnership
are clearly related to the vision,
leadership and commitment of
the lead partners and their
representatives. The capacity to
make technical decisions, implement
efficient processes and respect
strict accountability and transparency
measures have been critical to the
excellent partnership outcomes
and to the recognition of mutual
need. Among all members, there is
a clear consensus about the
importance and effectiveness of
the multi-stakeholder approach.
Multi-stakeholder partnerships
have made it possible for over 1.5
million children and youth to
Multi-stakeholder
partnerships have
made it possible for
over 1.5 million
children and youth
to benefit from this
education initiatives
in a country of
4.1 million
inhabitants.
benefit. This is quite an
accomplishment in a country of
4.1 million inhabitants. These
collaborations and others that have
developed over time, have made it
possible to have the Program grow
and evolve over two decades of
uninterrupted work. Today, the
Program reaches 53.0% of students
in public elementary schools
(including a large number of
kindergarten children) and 72.4%
of public high school students
nationwide.
Likewise tens of thousands of
teachers have been trained and have
undergone important professional
development experiences. Students,
teachers, educational authorities
and even parents and community
members have been empowered by
a Program that stresses the
cognitive and creative potential of
digital technologies within
development efforts. 
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