"The Army, as a permanent institution in a state, must be flexible and adaptable to the changes that society requires, mediated by technology. Military training must therefore be transformed to meet social needs in terms of security and defense, while maintaining a continuous training of his soldiers. "
Speaking is Manuel Alfonso Querembás Altamirano, an Ecuadorian Army officer, currently director of the Army's Centro de Educación Militar, a unit responsible for technological development for military education.
What are the challenges and prospects in the military training of the Ecuadorian Army?
Traditional education stems from a long history born with industrialization, in a behavioral educational model that has remained static over time, clearly military education has the same origin.
In the age of knowledge, where the only permanent thing is change, we cannot ignore the reality where technology has definitively changed all human interactions: communication has changed, business has changed, education has changed.
The military, as a permanent institution in a state, must be flexible and adapt to the changes that society requires, mediated by technology. Military training must therefore be transformed to meet social needs in terms of security and defense, while maintaining continuous training of soldiers. The answer is therefore that the challenges are to maintain an armed, prepared, updated, efficient force in an unstable, uncertain, confused and ambiguous environment, where the threats have become international. The way this will be achieved is through a transformation model in which technology will be one of the most important axes, supported by capacity generation and an appropriate legal framework.
What will it be like in practice?
The military training of the future must be participatory, knowledge must be generated through social constructivism, exploiting the experience of soldiers in operations, to create knowledge through information management technologies in a knowledge society.
Education must be completed by highly qualified teachers who use educational platforms supported by simulators for training, intelligent classrooms, systems that allow immediate answers, using big data and artificial intelligence, suitable for the rigors of military life, always present to be integrated into any type of portable device.
However, military education must be guided by the practice of values and humanity that only the teacher can provide, through any available means of communication.
Let's look at the military professional of the future, what professional profile will he have?
The military professional of the future must have the following requirements:
• Impeccable professional ethics;
• Acting in conventional and asymmetrical warfare operations;
• Acting in non-war operations;
• Exercise the precepts of human rights and IHL (International Humanitarian Law, ed.);
• To operate in space and in cyberspace;
• Communicate in English;
• Participate in joint, combined and inter-agency operations;
• Develop investigative skills in the areas of security and defense;
• Develop environmental awareness;
• Use high-tech equipment;
• Develop critical thinking.
What is the main mission of the Terrestrial Military Training and Doctrine Command (CEDMIL)?
Today our Army is a pioneer in distance education, as the systems have been developed through the Armed Forces Academies which have been enhanced in this transformation process. The CEDMIL or Military Education Center, is a highly technological unit responsible for the development of three main projects: hybrid education, military teaching and strengthening the English language for the military. CEDMIL offers online pedagogy courses for all military teachers, training and providing technical support to the entire military education system. Participate in the development of land capabilities, through military education, land military doctrine, historical studies and training, in order to contribute to the defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity, support for public and state security.
CEDMIL is a Military Education Center: the mission is to teach effectively with an efficient use of technology, mto improve the professional skills of members of the Armed Forces in the educational and cultural fields - both face to face and remotely - in a systematic and methodological way to ensure efficiency and quality in the development of the teaching-learning process.
The pillars of the Direction of Transformation of the Earth Force?
There are 10 in the model, all important:
• Doctrine;
• Organization;
• Training;
• Technological development;
• Education;
• Human management;
• Organizational culture;
• Institutional support;
• Distribution and infrastructure;
• Legal framework.
What is the most advanced transformation process?
Surely the pandemic has accelerated many processes, I believe that one of the most advanced is distance education, since today we are with synchronous classes through videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom, and asynchronous through educational management systems such as platforms based on Moodle.
Similarly, media convergence is used in a hybridization of military education.
Can you explain to me the MOOC (Massive Online Open Course, ed) mode?
Knowledge in virtual platforms must be precise, compact, goal-directed, so these huge online course formats have been developed to take advantage of technological means and not see distance or time as limits, but rather as opportunities.
The MOOC courses allow students enormous access to train themselves on specific topics whenever they want and wherever they are, thus solving two variables: the need of society for a greater perception of safety through units with a greater number of staff and the need for continuous training.
MOOCs are courses designed to be completely self-contained and to motivate soldiers to be prepared in many areas, not just technicians from the military profession, but also on topics such as history, cyber security, health and safety, among many others.
Do companies and universities participate?
The realization of the project requires the hiring of private companies specialized in topics such as educational management systems, an administration that we now carry out independently after an efficient transfer of knowledge.
Universities have participated in the training of our team through courses in both training and technology, CEDMIL manages these two large areas of knowledge, which are replicated in our educational system through the courses mentioned above.
You wrote that Jean Piaget stated: "The main goal of Education is to create people capable of creating new things and not simply to repeat what other generations have done." Is this the challenge of the future of the Ecuadorian Army?
The ultimate goal of all education is to create self-sufficient people, who can adapt to the reality they live in and who can be able to solve complex problems.
Let us remember that today we are preparing the future Army Commander General of 2033, in an environment unknown to us, therefore, our obligation is to prepare efficiently to generate their own solutions.
INTERVIEW IN ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
ENTREVISED TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRO DE EDUCACIÓN MILITAR DEL EJÉRCITO DE ECUADOR: "PREPÁRAR EFICIENTEMENTE PARA GENERAR TUS PROPIAS SOLUCIONES"
"Los militares, as a permanent institution in an estado, must be flexibles and adapt to the changes that the society requires, mediados por la technology. Por lo so, el entrenamiento militar must transform para satisfacer las necesidades sociales en términos de seguridad y defensa, mientras if it maintains the continuous entrenamiento de sus soldados ”.
Para hablar de ello es Manuel Alfonso Querembás Altamirano, Oficial del Ejército Ecuatoriano, actual Director of the Centro de Educación Militar del Ejército, Unidad responsable del desarrollo tecnológico para la educación militar, juntos discussimos en términos generales la estructura de Educación Militar del Ejército of Ecuador.
What are the challenges and perspectives in the field of Education military for the Ecuadorian Army?
The educación tradicional comes from a broad historia nacida en la industrialización, with a conductist educational model that has permanent estática in el time, evidently the educación militar holds este mismo origen. En la era del conocimiento, en donde lo único permanent es el Cambio, no podemos estar ajenos a la realidad en la that the technology has modified the definitive form todas las interacciones humanas, the comunicación has changed, changing. El Ejército, as a permanent institution in an estado, must be flexible and adapt to the changes that the society requires, mediados por la technology. The military education must transform it so much to be able to take care of social needs in terms of security and defenses, which keep a continuous preparation of sus soldados. La respuesta es entonces que los desafíos son maintain una fuerza armada, preparada, actualizada, eficiente, in an environment volátil, incierto, confuso y ambiguo, en donde las amenazas se han internacionalizado. The way it is logrará is a través de a modelo de transformación in which the technology will be one of the most important, apoyados for the generación de las capacidades y un marco legal acorde.
Cómo será en la práctica?
The military education of the future, must be participative, el conocimiento must generate a través of social constructivism, aprovechando the experiencia de los soldados en operaciones, to create saberes a través de las tecnologías para la gestión de la información en una sociedad de conocimiento.
La educación deberá estar complementada por docentes highly calificados using plataformas educativas, apoyados con simuladores para el entrenamiento, aulas inteligentes, en sistemas que permitan tener respuestas de inmediata, using big data y la Inteligencia artificial, que se adapte a los rigores de la vida militar, posible de estar present siempre y en todo lugar, y integrarse a cualquier type de device portátil. Sin embargo, the military education must always be guided by the practice of values and the humanity that only the teacher can toast, a través de cualquier medio de comunicación disponible.
El profesional militar del futuro que perfil debe tener?
The profesional militar of the future must be contar en su perfil de:
-
Intachable professional ethics;
-
Perform in conventional and asymmetric warfare operations;
-
Actuar en opraciones de no war;
-
Ejercer los preceptos de DDHH and DIH;
-
Operar in el espacio y ciberespacio;
-
Communicarse in el idioma inglés;
-
Participar en operaciones conjuntas, combinadas and interactenciales;
-
Desarrollar habilidades de investigador in áreas de seguridad y defensa;
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Leader in all levels;
-
Desarrollar environmental conciencia;
-
Operar equipos de high technology;
-
Develop critical thinking.
What is the principal mission of the Comando de Educación y Doctrina Militar Terrestre (CEDMIL)?
Participar en el desarrollo de las capacidades terrestres, through the educación militar, doctrina militar terrestre, estudios históricos y capacitación, a fin de contribir to la defensa de la soberanía y la integridad territorial, el apoyo a la seguridad pública y del estado.
Por otra part of CEDMIL, centro de educación militar, la misión principal es guiar a la docencia militar with the eficiente use of technology, Mejorar las competencias profesionales de los miembros de Fuerzas Armadas in el área educativa y cultural tanto en la modalidad presencial como In line, of systematic form and methodology to guarantee the efficiency and calidad in the desarrollo of the process of enseñanza aprendizaje. Hoy en día el ejército es pionero en educación en línea, ya que se desarrollo a través de la universidad de fuerzas armadas sistemas que fueron mejorados en este proceso de transformación, a través del CEDMIL or centro de educación militar, que es una unidad highly technológica a cargo of the desarrollo de three proyectos principales, el de educación híbrida, the military docencia and el fortalecimiento of the English language for el ejército. El Cedmil, dicta cursos de herramientas Web educativas, pedagogía a todos los docentes militares, capacitándoles permanently, y toasting a technical soporte to all the military educational system.
What is one of the ejes importantes of the Dirección de Transformación de la Fuerza Terrestre?
There are 10 characters of transformation into the model, all of them important and they are:
-
doctrine;
-
Organization;
-
Entry;
-
Technological development;
-
Education;
-
Human Management;
-
Organizational culture;
-
Institutional support;
-
Despliegue and infraestructura;
-
Marco Legal.
¿Cuál es el process de transformación más avanzado?
Definitely the pandemic nos ha hecho acelerar muchos procesos de la transformación creo yo que uno de los más adelantados es la educación en línea, ya que hoy en día estamos con clases sincrónicas a través de las plataformas de videoconferencias como Zoom, y asincrónicas systems of educational gestión as basadas plataformas en Moodle. De igual forma se están using convergencia de medios en una hibridación de la educación militar.
Can you explain the Moocs mode to me?
El conocimiento en las plataformas virtuales must be precise, compacto, directo al objetivo, por lo so much se han desarrollado estos formatos de cursos masivos en línea para aprovechar las ventajas de los medios technológicos y no ver a la distancia or al tiempo como limitantes, until as an opportunity, Los cursos MOOC, permiten un access masivo de alumnos, para capacitarse en temas punctuales cuando quieran y en donde estén, resolviendo así dos variables; the necessity of the society of a major percepción de seguridad a través de unidades with a major cantidad de personal, and the necessity of the continuous capacity. Los MOOCs are cursos diseñados para ser completely autónomos, y lograr motivar a los soldados en estar preparados en muchos ámbitos, no solo técnicos de la profesión militar, sino también en temas como historia, seguridad informática, salud y seguridad, entre muchos otros.
Do companies and universities participate?
La puesta en marcha del proyecto necesito la contratación de empresas privadas especialistas en temas as a system of educational gestión, administración que llevamos ahora de form independiente luego de una eficiente transferencia de conocimientos. The universidades have participated in the capacity of our equipe to través de cursos as much in the educational field as technológico, El CEDMIL maneja esas dos grandes de conocimiento, and if replican to our educational system in través de los cursos antes mencionados.
Usted wrote that Jean Piaget said "The main objective of the education is to create personas capable of creating what is new and not simply repetir the other generaciones hicieron" es esto el desafío of the future of the Ecuadorian army?
El fin último de toda la education es crear personas autosuficientes, que puedan adaptarse a la realidad que les toca vivir y que puedan ser capaces de resolver problems complejos.
Recordemos que hoy estamos preparing for the Future Commander General of the Ejército of 2033, in an environment that para nosotros es desconocido, por lo tanto, nuestra obligación es prepararlos eficienti para generar sus propias soluciones.
Photo: Ejército Ecuatoriano
