The CEVALE2VE case

A virtual research and learning community can be a powerful tool for educational purposes. It has a wide range of possibilities for multi-institution participation, such as synchronous and asynchronous online engagement, decentralized student discussions and academic networking - as well as being cost effective. In this context, the CEVALE2VE virtual community (Centro de Altos Estudios de Altas Energías) is a Venezuelan initiative to support the new generation of researchers in High Energy Physics (HEP). Its goal is to contribute to the scientific dissemination of fundamental physics and the regional modernization of university education. The members of CEVALE2VE are a group of Venezuelan researchers, currently involved in projects related to the HEP field, and geographically located in different academic institutions of Europe and North America. The project involves several academic institutions in Venezuela and Colombia in order to reach a wide audience, and exploits current communications technologies, where data, software tools and information resources are shared. Several activities have been hosted by CEVALE2VE, including a series of public lectures, virtual visits to the ATLAS experiment, the implementation of a virtual course "Introduction to Particle Physics" for undergraduate students with the recent addition of dual Spanish-English material, and the supervision of masters theses in physics and internships in other fields like language studies. The use of the current technologies to share material and interact with the students creates a vibrant and participatory learning environment, having as its meeting point the www.cevale2ve.org portal.