Medellin, Colombia, October 24, 2018 – Organized jointly by the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE), the College of the Americas (COLAM) and the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (UCC), the 2^nd edition of the Mein Award took place in Medellin, Colombia, from 22 to 24 October. The project presented by Brenda Ivonne García Portillo, representative of the Universidad de Monterrey was awarded the first prize.

The Inter-American Prize for Educational Innovation in Higher Education (MEIN) aims to promote the dissemination, exchange and knowledge of educational practices that, due to their characteristics and results, are relevant examples of educational innovation in higher education.

The selection of the winning projects was carried out by an international jury constituted by international academic experts with wide experience in the fields of education and research.

The members of the jury are as follows:

• Gonzalo Lizarralde, Professor of the School of Architecture at the Université de Montréal, Canada (President of the Jury – Gold Medal MEIN Prize 2016 )
• José Guadalupe Escamilla de los Santos, Director of Educational innovation, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico
• Luis Porta, Director of Teacher Education Program, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina
• Cruzana Amparo de Jesús Echeverri Restrepo, Research Professor at the Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
• Nora Elena Gil Ramírez, Academic Subdirector and Institutional Outreach, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia
• Juan Carlos García Burgos, General Director Colombia at Telefónica Educación Digital, Colombia

During the contest were presented 32 cases of innovative educational practices and their final or partial outcomes with the aim of demonstrate their impact, led by Higher Education institutions from 12 countries of the continent.

For Dr. Maritza Rondón Rangel, rector of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (UCC), host of this second edition, the MEIN Award is an opportunity to learn about the wide range of experiences of educational innovation that are currently implemented in the continent and to exchange on the achievements, difficulties, and challenges presented by innovation in higher education.

The three winning institutions of the MEIN Award 2018 are as follow:

1. First Price: Programa de formación en Competencias Interculturales from the Universidad de Monterrey (Mexico)
2. Second Price: Programa de Inclusión Educativa y social para Jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual, presented by the Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico)
3. Third Price: Modelo de formación tecnológica por referencial de competencias para profesionalización sostenible presented by the Instituto Técnico Agrícola (Colombia).

Moreover, according to their merits, Honorable Mentions were given to:

1. Una nueva perspectiva metodológica para la enseñanza del Quechua como una lengua viva, presented by the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (Bolivia)
2. A Universidade no CEU: Uma proposta inovdora de democratização do ensino superior, presented by the Univerisdade Estadual Paulista (Brasil).

In this edition of the MEIN Award the academic public had the opportunity to attend an international event which allowed them to update and be at the forefront of the educational innovation, in the hope of motivate their institutions in order to develop strategies that promote the educational innovation referred in higher education. Besides, the event was also useful to extend professional networks.

 

To learn more : MEIN Award