Eduardo Cárdenas, a professor at Tec de Monterrey, awarded as “Educator of the Year”

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For the first time, four Latin American teachers are joining the list of educators winning the “Educator of the Year” for their commitment to students’ success and using technology in new and exciting ways.

Eduardo Cárdenas, a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, has won the “Educator of the Year” award, recognition granted by Instructure, the company that created Canvas LMS. This is the first time that the call has been extended to Latin America. Every year, Instructure awards educators with the title “Educator of the Year” to those teachers who excel in their profession. This year’s awards recognize ten teachers from around the world who are “preparing students for the workforce, supporting the inclusion of at-risk populations, and adopting technology in the classroom in new and exciting ways.” Their efforts stand out, especially in these times of the pandemic where academic continuity is essential.

“In an unprecedented school year, we are happy to recognize the talent and effort of teachers in our region, where, in addition to facing the challenges of the pandemic, they have confronted difficulties with budget limitations, infrastructure, and social and political order. These and other challenges have threatened the continuity of education,” says Zyanya Bejarano, Instructure’s Vice President of Sales for Latin America. 

The 2021 Educators of the Year have redefined traditional classroom activities to help students achieve their academic goals, energizing learning processes, and awakening students’ curiosity inside and outside the classroom. This year, four Latin American professors have joined the list of winners: Rocío González, from the Polytechnic and Artistic University of Paraguay; Eduardo Cárdenas, from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico; Mônica Huguein de Araujo Faria of the Pan-American Christian Academy from Brazil, and Christien Lana Rachid of the Centro Universitario Academia in Brazil as well. The winners were selected from hundreds of teachers from different educational institutions around the world.

Eduardo Cárdenas, a professor of Tec de Monterrey Monterrey, has 30 years of teaching experience. As Director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Materials, he has been responsible for scheduling and guiding the training of 60 teachers in the use of Canvas. More recently, Professor Cárdenas helped establish areas of opportunity for teachers to use LMS and other didactic strategies to improve their performance during the pandemic. Eduardo starts his classes with music and inspirational phrases and does simple hands-on experiments with materials found in the home. He adopts a holistic teaching approach for his students’ well-being and success. 

“This recognition has special meaning because it crystallizes the efforts and responsibility of the institution, the teaching staff, and our students. In the evolution of the Tec21 Educational Model, Canvas is instrumental, allowing us to design courses, share experiences among colleagues, evaluate knowledge, homogenize content, measure competency levels, and provide feedback to students throughout the various Tec campuses in the country,” said Dr. Cárdenas.

Eduardo Cárdenas, a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, has won the “Educator of the Year” award

Winners of Instructure’s 2021 Educators of the Year award

  • Angela Girol – Second-grade teacher, Central Elementary School (Elizabeth, PA, USA).
  • Jamie Morlock – Fifth-grade teacher, Sam Jamison Middle School (Pearland, TX, USA).
  • Suzanne Denny – Health & physical education teacher, Harry S Truman High School (Bucks County, PA, USA).
  • Carol Stallworth – Chemistry and student life skills teacher, Hillsborough Community College (Plant City, FL, USA).
  • Rami Salahieh – Cybersecurity, Ivy Tech Community College (Valparaíso, IN, USA).
  • Lucas Myers – Human anatomy and physiology teacher, Lower Columbia College (Longview, WA, USA).
  • Christien Lana Rachid – Director of Innovation, Centro Universitário Academia (Brazil)
  • Mônica Huguein de Araujo Faria – Professor, Pan-American Christian Academy (Brazil)
  • Eduardo Cárdenas – Director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Tec de Monterrey (Mexico)
  • Rocío González – Law professor, Campus Salto del Guaira, Polytechnic and Artistic University of Paraguay (Paraguay)

The award winners were selected under the following criteria with particular emphasis on adapting hybrid learning or online teaching and promoting the use of technology in novel and motivating ways during the pandemic:

  • The teacher went beyond traditional classroom activities to help their students achieve their academic goals.
  • The teacher supported and promoted diversity and inclusion of minority or at-risk students.
  • The teacher inspired students to go beyond what was presented in class and supported their growth and goal achievements.
  • The teacher supported their colleagues and institution to adopt and improve the use of Canvas.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Source: Tec Observatory

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