The online courses are offered on semestral bases and represent the core activity of the Foundation.

The online courses main features are:

"Web based": they are asynchronous and each participan has flexibility or organize its own time within some deadlines.

Tutorized: tutors attend demands from participants on regular bases in order to set up a fluid dialogue during the course. No more than 35 participans are admited in each programme.

Practice oriented: the main goal of the courses is to provide knowledge and tools for solving out real work challenges. Tutors are practitioners interacting with colleagues from different countries that are also requested to add their own experiences throughout the programme.

Experience Exchanges: CEDDET devotes special attention to admit experts with different profiles and coming from different countries in order to enrich the process.

Their profile will correspond, in general terms, to that of a professional from public administrations and/or public or not-for-profit organisations, as well as from private companies that develop their activity within the scope of the course.

The participants will hold a university degree or equivalent.  At least three years of work experience in a course-related sector is preferred.

In order to participate in the course, access to IT equipment with an Internet connection is required.  The programmes used are the usual office applications: text processor and spreadsheet. If any other programme is required - like Acrobat Reader for example - the participant will be able to download it free of charge from the platform.  A broadband Internet connection is not required; a standard Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is sufficient to follow the main course activities.

It is important to point out that participants do not need advanced IT knowledge. Basic user knowledge and familiarity with e-mail is sufficient.  The communication functions used by the telematics platform are very simple and you will learn how to use them during the module on how to use the platform's tools which takes place the week before the course begins.

Given that the CEDDET Foundation is a cooperation centre for development and that it awards grants for participation in these courses, the candidate must be recommended by a person holding a higher hierarchical position in their organisation, the training manager or HR (guarantor). The guarantor is someone that verifies that the candidate works for the organisation and that the training requested is pertinent to their duties.  They are also the only person authorised to receive information about their admission and their level of progress on the course.  Therefore when the management or the training manager requests information about the participants from their institution, they should endorse it. On the other hand, CEDDET cannot send them information without consent from the participant.

1. Interested parties will find all information about the course on Course Index. They should then fill in every field in the form, including the particulars of their guarantor or recommending person. All the details can be found on the CEDDET Foundation website, consult the Guide for users,but if you require further information you can write  to Help form or call +34 91 376 88 00.
2. Every registered party and their guarantors will be notified by the   CEDDET Foundation on the outcome of the process.

The methodology used in CEDDET Foundation courses is based on peer learning.  The objectives are achieved through the interaction of participants with the tutor and each other. For this purpose we use Internet tools and an e-learning platform. It is a fully personalised method and is supervised by experts using the Teaching/Learning process.

The number of participants is limited (maximum 30). The tutor leads the work and actively participates in the course.  His relationship with the participants is direct and continuous, practically daily.

The course has a Teaching Technical Coordinator (TAC) who assists the participants with IT issues relating to the platform and with monitoring of the course.

We should emphasise that the course content is eminently practical so that it essentially assesses participation in the activities offered and the sharing or experiences from various countries. It is not about presenting institutional models, but rather about exchanging experiences relating to how to solve problems, which solutions are appropriate and which are not, most visible results, as well as reflecting on case studies together.

All the assessable content will be provided in the documentation given out for each of the course modules. Participants will use PDF format to facilitate downloading and offline reading. The documentation format facilitates quick understanding, including graphs, diagrams and summaries.

There are planned activities, some of which require a connection to the platform, such as test self-evaluation exercises and debate forums and others which can be done offline such as case studies or other types of constructive exercise.

The test exercises serve to evaluate comprehensive reading of the documentation, the debate forums moderated by the tutors to promote the exchange of experiences and opinions and the case studies or constructive exercises to apply the concepts learnt during the course in practical situations.

Plan for a total of twelve to fifteen hours of dedication per week, which will be split evenly between comprehensive reading and the carrying out of practical activities.

The recommended bibliography and the documents published in the course's documentation centre is optional reading and is provided for those who want to deepen or expand their knowledge in a course subject area.

The course programme doesn't include video-conferences, chats or other real time activities mainly due to the different time zones of the participants. If the teaching team deems it necessary to plan any of these kinds of simultaneous activities during the course, they will be scheduled far enough in advance for the participants to be notified.

If the participants have any questions, the Teaching Technical Coordinator (TAC) will be available at all times taking into account the time differences.

Finally we think it is important to point out that the participants should not consider this course as an alternative to classroom training with less dedicated time.  This course - carried out over the Internet - requires a commitment of between twelve and fifteen hours per week.  Its main advantage is that it allows you to interact with and exchange experiences, as well as giving you the opportunity to work varied and flexible hours (with set times for the submission of activities). For this reason, professionals interested should be aware of the workload that fulfilling the course satisfactorily will require. The candidate should be aware that leaving the course will invalidate the grant that has been awarded, given that once the course begins the grant is non-transferable. In this regard, we ask that those interested consider their professional workload for the duration of the course and take into account that they should dedicate an average of between two and three hours daily to it.

At the beginning of the course, students will receive a Participant’s Guide, aimed to help them with their diary organization and which includes both a time-based calendar — that is, daily and weekly—, and a calendar arranged by activities, in order to get the most out of the course.

Participants can rely on support from the teaching team for the resolution of any academic issues.

The course is also supported by a Teaching Technical Coordinator at the CEDDET Foundation who assists the participants with IT issues relating to the platform and with monitoring of the course. He/she will be available at all times (taking into account the time differences).

The CEDDET Foundation carries out continuous monitoring of course quality, taking into account the assessment that the tutors and participants carry out at the end of each module and at the end of the course, among other elements.

The participants will answer an evaluation questionnaire in which they are asked about the programme, the team and the teaching methods, the coordination and the telematics platform.  These contributions will help to resolve specific problems relating to each course and to improve future editions.

The CEDDET Foundation periodically holds meetings with the teaching team and course coordinator, in order to resolve possible issues and to implement improvements to future editions.

The course tutors will continually evaluate the commitment of each participant and the quality of their participation in terms of the following aspects:

• Participation in exchange activities in the virtual environment (forums, messages etc.).
• Solutions to the activities (questionnaires, case studies, reports, etc.) based on the quality of content submitted, the student’s clarity of understanding and level of presentation attained.

The candidate will be evaluated during each module and at the end of the course. Depending on the length of the course, there will be one or two weeks of remedial activities for those participants who have not passed some of the course modules.

The Ibero-American Network of Experts Programme is a project promoted by the CEDDET Foundation in collaboration with various public institutions, set up at the end of 2004. The aim of the Programme is to stay in contact with professionals from different areas and to encourage the exchange of knowledge and best practices. Its ultimate aim is to contribute to strengthening the participating institutions by generating knowledge via networking.

In 2009 a general Ibero-American Network of Experts, which all participants admitted onto the online courses co-organised by the CEDDET Foundation are part of, thus creating transversal synergies between all participating institutions.