2018 ISSUE #64 MARCH Learning to Take Risks Let’s Read At UTN Plagiarism: What It Is And How To Identify It THogwarts INSIDE COVER PAGE Let’s march into March by learning 2 EDITORIAL a little bit about Hogwarts School UTN NEWS of Witchcraft and Wizardry. No need 3 Let’s Read Initiative At UTN to mention the story this place is 3 UTN Commemorates International part of or its well-known creatro, J.K. Women’s Day Rowling. This story caught children 4 Sustainable Fish Farming Project 2015- and adolescents’ attention, and it 2017 has contributed to a new interest in reading for this audience. WORLD NEWS If you have an awesome picture 5 Gaza: Facebook Is ‘Complicit’ With Israel you think could be the cover of 5 France Unveils Steps To Detect Men- one of The ILE Post editions, send Women Pay Gap it to [email protected]. So far 6 Trump Slammed For Suggesting Teachers several readers have sent amazing Should Be Armed pictures that we will be sharing with you soon. THE ILE ETHOS If you want to know what is happening in ILE, follow us in FACEBOOK. 7 What Makes A Book Worth Reading? Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/es/potter-de-harry-asistente-hogwarts-2089179/ 9 Learning to Take Risks All materials used and produced by The ILE Post are for educational purposes. They can be used ACADEMICS AND MORE and reproduced for educational purposes as long as you credit you for the original creation. 11 Plagiarism: What It Is And How To Identify It 13 VOX POPULI CONTRIBUTORS THE ATTIC Maciel Alvarado Short Story Writer 14 Adolescense Mariano Chaves Paragraph Writer 15 Sadness Train 15 Iris’s Little Secret Jenaro Díaz English For You POP WORLD Melissa González Article Writer 17 Rap Music Clare Goodman Academic Editor VISITING LANDMARKS 18 The Florida Keys Guillermo Hurtado News Writer DISCOVERING TECHNOLOGY Daniela Segura Poem Writer 19 Moodle Aarón Torres Article Writer LANGUAGE CORNER 20 Hogwarts 21 English For You Presents... LOUDER THAN WORDS 22 Holi , The Festival Of Colors https://www.facebook.com/TheILEPost?fref=ts 1 EDITORIAL Work-Life Balance by Eric Herrera (ILE Professor) UTN is a young university,--on- by the institution, to plan additional support for ly nine years or life-- but with a students, to participate in professional confer- highly qualified staff of teach- ences and seminars in the area of expertise, ers. UTN Descriptive Job Manu- and to establish collaborative links with other al approved in 2011 establishes institutions, as well as with industrial, commer- that a UTN teacher must have cial and public organizations. a bachelor’s degree, a licen- Nobody doubts teaching has always been ciatura, a master degree, and a demanding job, but over the last years, in- a certain number of years of experience. In creasing organizational changes that usually addition, there are four (so far) mandato- do not take into consideration teachers’ opin- ry courses every teacher must take: learning ions have made the job more and more diffi- assessment (evaluation de los aprendizajes), cult. research design (metodos de investigación), Has UTN human development department pedagogical mediation (mediación ped- carried out a research to diagnose the real agógica), and learning experiences (expe- needs and condition of teachers? Who cares riencias de aprendizaje). The Pedagogical about the fair structural distribution of work Training and Educational Technology Cen- hours taking into consideration teachers’ ter (CEFPTE) explains that these courses are common responsibilities and the the number based on the teacher’s needs, assessments of of mandatory courses previously mentioned? teacher performance instruments, and specif- Is there an assessment questionnaire for ic area diagnostic activities. Furthermore, the teachers to evaluate the quality of services, implementation of e-learning in the university management, facilities, etc. they have to made authorities include two more mandato- deal with? Why aren’t any initiatives taken to ry courses: virtual environment management promote awareness talks about the many dif- and virtual environment design. ferent changes the university is undergoing? On the surface, all this academic training and The way teachers see this situationis that there preparation looks outstanding; however, the might soon be a breakdown if the wellbeing lack of connection and and clarity of com- of teachers is not addressed. Teachers do not munication between the teacher community refuse professional development, growth, and and authorities has brought a counterproduc- learning but need it to be in a balanced way, tive effect, and the demanding workload is where authorities take into consideration the dramatically affecting teachers’ mental and emotional wellbeing of teachers. emotional health. UTN authorities need to accept its responsibili- Teachers’ Responsibilities ty in this crisis and take positive steps to resolve Teachers are a central and critical ingredient the issues behind the problems of teacher to the quality of the university; the particular workload that are currently blighting the pro- aspects of a professor’s roles and responsibili- fession. ties depend on the discipline she/he teaches. Some of these responsibilities include: design, prepare and develop courses and teaching materials, to assess students’ coursework, to conduct tutorials on a one-to-one basis with students, to participate in activities organized 2 UTN NEWS Let’s Read Initiative At UTN On April 3rd, UTN Extension De- Alajuela . partment will start a program Literacy is one of the most im- called Let’s Read, an initiative to portant foundations for success promote the love of reading and in school and life. It is well docu- storytelling among participants mented that an individual’s litera- Let’s Read supports the devel- cy levels affect their opportunities opment of evidence-based skills, in life for education, employment, practices and environments that income and wellbeing. However, foster emergent literacy develop- it is known that there are serious ment. It is designed to increase signs of vulnerability in literacy de- home literacy resources and build velopment. People who experi- the capacity of both families and ence difficulties with reading are professionals to foster children’s unlikely to catch up to their peers, emergent literacy skills. Let’s Read and it is more likely that the gap in works closely with Alajuela’s City ability will widen as schooling pro- Hall, collaborating to ensure par- gresses. Bayron Espinosa, and “¿Por qué ents, families and caregivers re- Let’s Read Director Christopher los adultos son tan amargados”? ceive consistent messaging about Montero explains that there is a by María del Mar Obando. If you the importance of emergent lit- low rate of book reading in Alajue- are interested in learning more eracy practices in different ele- la of about 1.6 books a year. For about this project, you can send mentary schools and high-schools this first session, they will be read- an e-mail to [email protected]. in the fourteen county districts of ing “Estos Pequeños Milagros”, by UTN Commemorates International Women’s Day thousands of events are held throughout the world to recognize the progress that has been made, to inspire women and to celebrate their achievements. The World Economic Forum 2017 global gender gap report indicated that it will take 200 years to reach gender parity. One look at the International Wom- en’s Day website shows that the official theme this year is #PressforProgress. #PressforProgress reinforc- es the idea that we need to keep putting the pres- sure on to achieve equality. Gender equality is the first step towards bringing women’s empowerment into the world. Wom- On Thursday, March 1st, UTN commemorated Inter- en should identify their strengths and abilities, and national Women’s Day with a conference. Some of move towards a world of empowerment, expressed the speakers were: Student Wellbeing Vice Chancel- Research and Knowledge Transfer Vice Chancellor lor Marisol Rojas, Research and Knowledge Transfer Francisco Romero. Vice Chancellor Francisco Romero, and Minister of Even though the United Nations Charter guaran- Science and Technology (MICIT) Carolina Vásquez. teed equal rights for men and women in 1945, there International Women’s Day is a global day cele- is still discrimination against women all around the brating the social, economic, cultural and political world. Achieving gender equality and empowering achievements of women. This day has been cele- women is the unfinished business of our time, and the brated across the world since the early 1900’s. Orig- greatest human rights challenge in our world, said inally, its aim was to provide a forum for women to Student Wellbeing Vice Chancellor Marisol Rojas. campaign for equality and women’s rights. Over The activity ended with the monologue “Las prince- time, it has evolved and now in March each year, sas azules” by Ailyn Morera. 3 UTN NEWS Sustainable Fish Farming Project 2015-2017 by Guillermo Hurtado UTN presented the proposal: Green Jobs and Value Chain in Vulnerable Communities of the Southern Area of Costa Rica through Intensive Training on Community Sustainable Fish Farm- ing. The proposal is based on the strengthening of communities through the sustainable use of its natural resources and non-traditional pro- duction systems, and it is addressed to female household heads, unmarried mothers, and young people of school age. This project was approved on September 28th, 2015, and a bud- get of $429,300.00 was used in its implementa- tion for over a two-year period. during training exercises. Thanks to this money, fish farming as a social de- This initiative continues with the efforts of UTN, velopment process program was carried out by and with the help of the Costa Rica United UTN Pacific Campus Research Department Di- States Foundation for Cooperation (CRUSA).