Jenny Triana
Beatriz Ramirez
Ricardo Ustariz
Universidad Externado de Colombia
Gustavo A Yepes López
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The Project emerged as a response to the school work of a low-income Colombian student called Juan Manuel Lopera. Juan Manuel grew up in a neighborhood of Bello Antioquia where drugs are normal, however, in the tenth grade he found a teacher who inspired him to start thinking about starting a business from an early age. He always had the support of his mother. At age 14, he had his first computer and learned how to program software and also discovered there were possibilities to earn money through technology.
While studying the middle school, Juan Manuel became associated with Alejandro Sepúlveda, a school friend, as they wanted to be entrepreneurs and make a mark in their country. For this reason, they worked as a team with commitment and responsibility in technological ideas for education and software and hardware solutions for inspirational teachers.
This is how they created the company Aulas Amigas with the invention TOMi7, reaching the teachers of schools that did not have access to technology, taking internet to their classrooms, showing that the classes could be more interactive and that they contained help for the teacher, and also offering contents to prepare the classes.
Juan Manuel Lopera is the founder of Tomi7, this achievement was achieved with his friend Alejandro Sepulveda working as a team with commitment and responsibility. He has not only innovated with Tomi7 but has created more products through his own company called Aulas Amigas. This Colombian company was born with the purpose of facilitating and enhancing the work of teachers. For this reason, it is dedicated to innovation and technology for education with the commitment to provide interactive and fun tools that allow quality education.
Tomi7 was created taking into account that the students of today are more dispersed and digital. For this reason, teachers must face a greater challenge in education. Tomi7 is a computer for teachers that offers to improve the methodology of the classes making them more didactic and interesting, at the same time guaranteeing a better performance to the students.
This tool comes equipped with a processor and an operating system that allows teachers to qualify exams, scan notebooks, call list, and customize student study plans. Also, it is a digital board and device capable of enabling internet so that students can navigate. It also allows teachers to develop functions of creating and editing documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, because it has Office installed. In addition, it allows users to send tasks, organize calendars, do study groups with teachers from other cities or countries, follow up on the participation of the classes, and to have communication with the parents, among others.
A teacher was the inspiration for Juan Manuel Lopera to create Tomi7 and his company Aulas Amigas. The project was born because of those teachers who not only dedicate themselves to reading and writing, but also seek to inspire the lives of children with technological tools.
Juan Manuel believes that education is transformed through inspiring teachers and that with Tomi7 they can dedicate themselves exclusively to the high quality of their students.
Tomi7 is a Colombian device that wants to improve the education of low-income people, seeks to close the education gap, so that all children from different geographical areas have access to a quality education and that teachers have a tool that allows them to facilitate teaching processes.
The founder of Tomi7 says: "Beyond teaching, accompanying or transmitting knowledge, teachers are inspiring that motivate us to dream without limits, to create without borders and to transcend the unimaginable"
Tomi7 has had a positive impact on society because it has ensured that all children and teachers have access to high quality technology, and that it can easily reach the most remote places in Colombia. For example in the Department of Valle del Cauca , it reached 892 friendly classrooms in rural areas, also in Antioquia. It has managed to enter other countries such as Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Southern Cone and India.
TOMi7 is an affordable and accessible technological tool, which can be obtained through the official website of Aulas Amigas. The device comes in a configuration of 32GB for a value of 1,430,000 Colombian pesos, while the one with 64GB of storage capacity has a value of 1,700,000 Colombian pesos.
The social impact is reflected mainly in equality in education, high quality education for all social strata and geographical areas of the country. The founder is an example of innovation and improvement because even living in a marginalized neighborhood he believed in himself and in the contributions he can make to society. He believes that the important thing is to dream and want to change the world.
Tomi7 helps conservation of the environment because it is a technological tool that reduces the use of paper.
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Oscar Lombana, Aulas Amigas Services Manager
TOMi7 will allow Colombia and its teachers to provide quality education and serve users of different socioeconomic conditions in the country and in the world, in addition to contributing to the country's main objective of becoming the most educated nation in Latin America by the year 2025 .
Friendly classrooms with their product TOMi7 ratify their commitment to provide fun and interactive tools of excellent quality and so children remember their teacher as an inspiring teacher.