Aula digital

What it is

The DANE Virtual Classroom, which the site calls "Cursos virtuales - Aula digital", is the free online course offer of Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística, DANE) and the National Statistical System (Sistema Estadístico Nacional, SEN). It sits on the SEN website and teaches one subject in depth: how official statistics are produced, checked and put to use.

The page describes the space as the home of DANE and SEN virtual courses "sobre temáticas relacionadas con el proceso de producción de información estadística y el sector estadístico en general" (on topics related to the process of producing statistical information and the statistical sector in general). The courses aim to strengthen the national statistical system and to give its members the tools to apply the government's Statistical Information Management Policy (Política de Gestión de la Información Estadística). It is a learner product for the people who make public data: statisticians, analysts and officials in agencies that collect or publish figures, and anyone else who wants to understand how that work is done.

What it costs and how enrollment works

The terms are short and generous. "Todos los cursos son completamente gratuitos y cuentan con certificación oficial, lo que respalda su participación y aprendizaje" (all the courses are completely free and come with official certification, which backs your participation and learning). Because the courses are virtual, the page adds, learners can study from anywhere and at their own pace.

There is one rule to plan around: "puede inscribirse a máximo dos (2) cursos por cada uno de los ciclos disponibles" (you can enroll in at most two courses in each of the available cycles). The page links to the 2026 course schedule, a frequently asked questions page and an enrollment form, and each course in the current cycle has its own information link and sign-up button.

Courses run in cycles. The 2026 program has four: cycle 1 opened on the platform on 27 February, cycle 2 on 05 May, cycle 3 on 13 July and cycle 4 on 21 September. A news item from 17 August 2026 announced that enrollment for cycle 4 was open, "con una nueva apuesta por la ética estadística" (with a new focus on statistical ethics). Earlier course years, 2025, 2024 and 2023, stay listed in a results section.

The course catalog

Every course lists an objective, an estimated study time and the date it opens on the platform. Study times range from 16 to 48 hours, so each one is a substantial piece of study. The cycle 4 catalog shows the full spread:

• Política de Gestión de la Información Estadística (40 hours): understanding and applying the Statistical Information Management Policy inside one's own organization.
• Diseño y Construcción de indicadores (30 hours): designing, building and interpreting indicators within statistical planning.
• Proceso estadístico (40 hours): a standard reference framework and harmonized terminology to modernize how statistics are produced.
• Fortalecimiento de registros administrativos para su aprovechamiento estadístico (40 hours): applying DANE's diagnostic method for administrative records, to improve the quality and coherence of their data for use in official statistics.
• Condiciones para la evaluación de la calidad estadística (40 hours): what the bodies of the national statistical system must consider about the conditions that govern the evaluation and certification of statistical quality.
• Metodología de formulación de un plan estadístico (40 hours): how to write a statistical plan.
• Norma Técnica de la Calidad del Proceso Estadístico NTC PE 1000:2020 (40 hours): handling, interpreting and applying the technical standard for the quality of the statistical process.
• Configuración de registros administrativos (20 hours): good practice for setting up administrative records that serve both administrative and statistical needs.
• Datos en Acción (30 hours): strategic management and implementation of citizen data projects, with a focus on data governance.
• Gestión Ética para la producción estadística: SETE (40 hours): DANE's statistical ethics system, for bringing an ethical framework into production, data use and dissemination.

A set of classification courses covers the international statistical classifications that DANE adapts for Colombia. Two economic ones teach the industrial classification of economic activities, CIIU Rev. 4 A.C. (48 hours), and the Central Product Classification, CPC Ver. 2.1 A.C. (48 hours). Two social ones cover the education classification CINE A.C. with the Colombian occupation classification CUOC (40 hours), and the time-use classification ICATUS 2016 A.C. with the crime classification for statistical purposes (40 hours).

Earlier 2026 cycles add courses that are not in cycle 4: "Enfoque diferencial e interseccional en la producción estadística" (45 hours), on bringing a differential and intersectional approach into statistical production; the quality assurance framework for Colombia, Marco de Aseguramiento de la Calidad (MAC), at 16 hours, the shortest course in the program; and "Datos ciudadanos: fundamentos para la generación de información estadística" (20 hours), on citizen data, statistical culture and the ethical and technical basics of producing such data.

How the courses fit the wider system

The courses are one part of a larger capacity-building effort on the SEN site, and that context is useful for a learner. The same site publishes the National Statistical Plan (Plan Estadístico Nacional) 2023-2027, which it calls the roadmap for decision-making based on official statistics, together with a national code of good practice, the quality assurance framework and its instruments, the technical quality standard, guides and manuals, standardized concepts and the statistical classifications themselves.

Alongside the virtual courses, the site runs the SEN Training Plan 2026 (Plan de Capacitación del SEN 2026), with workshops and discussion sessions open for registration, a network for building statistical capacity, a toolbox, good-practice pages and instruments for diagnosing an organization's statistical capacity. An official who takes the course on statistical quality conditions can turn to the pages on evaluating and certifying statistical processes and the annual quality evaluation program. Someone who studies administrative records can follow up with the records strengthening program and peer reviews of administrative records.

Accessibility and support

Each page has accessibility controls for high contrast and larger or smaller text, a link to a relay center (Centro de Relevo) and a chat window that opens with "¿Podemos ayudarle?" (can we help you?).

Contact details are published in full. The SEN lists its address in Bogotá, office hours from Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., a switchboard at (+57 601) 597 8300, a free line at 01 8000 912002 and the email address sen@dane.gov.co.

Who it suits

The DANE Virtual Classroom suits Colombian public servants who produce or manage official data: staff of DANE and of the other bodies in the national statistical system, especially those dealing with indicators, administrative records, quality evaluation or classifications. Because every course is free, certified and self-paced, it also serves a university researcher, an analyst at a nonprofit or a student who wants a solid grounding in how official statistics are built in Colombia.

Its limits come from that focus. These are courses in the methods and rules of official statistics, not in general data science or business analytics, and they are taught in Spanish with Colombian standards at the center. With a cap of two courses per cycle and study times of 16 to 48 hours, a learner should plan their year across the four cycles rather than try to take the whole catalog at once.