By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
As the country continues to transition into the "new normal," the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) launched an online portal that will serve as a digital hub of course materials for higher education institutions (HEIs) shifting to a flexible mode of learning amid the global pandemic.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Commission unveiled on Tuesday PHL CHED CONNECT, an online resource application that contains higher education course materials in text, audio, and video format, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and research purposes.
"Ito 'yung online resource file na dinevelop ng CHED. Ilalagay diyan lahat ng mga learning materials na pwedeng gamitin ng mga faculties at mga estudyante doon sa kanilang pag-develop ng bagong paraan ng pagtuturo," CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera said in an interview.
(This is the online resource file developed by CHED. It will include all the learning materials that faculties and students can use as they develop new ways of teaching.)
During the virtual launching on Tuesday, De Vera said that the launching of the online platform is very timely as the country continues to transition in the new normal where face-to-face learning will now be limited to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The online hub, which is accessible through phlconnect.ched.gov.ph, contains learning resources in various fields such as agriculture, architecture, business, engineering, fine arts, humanities, information technology, maritime, mass communication, medical studies, and social sciences among others.
According to the Commission, the PHL CHED CONNECT aims to "expand opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning by allowing instructors to integrate and revise multiple educational resources."
Currently, De Vera said there are at least 16 HEIs that have so far shared their resources in the online platform such as the University of the Philippines (UP) Open University, and its Diliman, Los Baños, and Baguio campuses, STI College, University of the Cordilleras, Pangasinan State University, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Ateneo de Davao University, and Mapua University.
Other universities have already committed to contribute their existing resources too, De Vera added.
Aside from local colleges and universities, CHED also partnered with international groups and schools such as the British Council Philippines and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada to acquire learning materials for the website.
The higher education chief assured the quality of the content on the platform as they were screened by the contributing schools and the commission's technical experts and officials.
"The content we are putting online are all quality content. We are harnessing the expertise of universities that have been in the business of doing online work for a long time now," De Vera pointed out.
"We want materials that have already been tested, have been used in the classroom, and used by the faculty members. We are hoping that this incoming school year, the universities that are just developing their online learning system, will see this material and start developing their own," he said.