San José – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has begun 2019 with the launch of E-Campus, a free online learning platform on migration. E-campus provides an opportunity for government officials, civil society, students, academics and anyone interested in updating their knowledge in human mobility. 

The E-Campus online learning tool, which was initially created as the Migration Learning Platform (PAM, by its acronym in Spanish), already has thousands of users. Most courses can be completed within three to five hours, with an IOM certificate awarded at the end.  

The platform can be accessed here: http://www.ecampus.iom.int/.   

Currently, E-Campus has more than 20 courses in Spanish, English, and French. The languages on offer depend on the course and will be expanded over time. All courses are facilitated by experts and specialized institutions with broad, updated content covering diverse topics such as migration management, attention to migrants in conditions of vulnerability, LGBTI migrant populations, human trafficking and labour migration, among others. 

According to the International Journal of Information and Education Technology (2018), some of the benefits of e-learning include more immediate feedback for students, improvements in performance and encouragement of high thinking skills, that is, analysis, evaluation, and creation.  

“The world is changing, and solutions must adapt. E-Campus is an excellent migration learning tool which is easy to access and is laden with high-level content. Also, it is an opportunity for other organizations to conduct courses on common issues, in coordination with IOM,” said Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. 

The platform was first piloted at the regional level, within the framework of the IOM Regional Migration Programme: Mesoamerica-Caribbean, with more than 6,000 students completing a course between 2015 and 2018. 

For more information, please contact Alexandra Bonnie at the IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: ++ 506 2212 5304, Email: abonnie@iom.int