Educators are encouraged to attend the free online seminar in preparation for the school year ahead
Times are changing. And the changes we observe and experience right now are what we call the “new normal.” Work, home, and socialization, everything’s been altered. As we see some sense of normality returning, there is no doubt our way of living has been modified around the pandemic. This is true in all aspects of life, including education.
In collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB) is now accepting participants for a five-day free online training course designed to equip professors from colleges and universities who have limited opportunities prepare for the opening of flexible learning in August.
Borderless Benilde: Learning Online Teaching for the New Normal is an initiative in line with HiEdBayanihan, CHED’s virtual and free cooperative learning environment for training, capacity building, and resource sharing among faculty members of Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs).
From 120 HEIs, 480 faculty members or four teachers per institution will be accommodated to attend the online synchronous session that will be conducted via Zoom. The series of training are scheduled on Aug. 3 to 7, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The lecture aims to discuss the new roles of educators in the digital world. It will likewise assist participants to create online courses and other resources through Google Classroom, a free web service for schools that simplifies facilitation of classes, grading assignments, and file sharing among teachers and students. Another important lesson to be tackled is the proper administration of online quizzes through Google Forms. The course will also highlight the important policies of data privacy and intellectual property rights in relation to online classes.
The modules are patterned after the Be ConnectEd Training Course, which was previously used to train over 500 Benildean educators for the July opening of the Benilde Online Learning Term (BOLT), the college’s fully online teaching and learning program.
According to Benilde vice chancellor for academics Geronio Ulayao, it is time the educational institution shared its practices with other HEIs. “This is our commitment to support CHED in the transition of Philippine education to online modality as necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says. “The program aims to share with the schools the basic know-how to jumpstart their transition to online delivery.”
The training program was carefully designed by the director of Benilde Center for Instruction, Research, and Curriculum (CIRC), Marissa Fearnley with their EdTech team Rogelio dela Cruz Jr., Lea Abarentos, Diana Ilishera Go, Jenesis Adriano, Rogelio del Cano, and instruction associates Isagani Triste and Vanessa Puente.
“As an HEI, technology-supported learning and teaching has always been part of Benilde’s work toward inclusion and innovation,” says Marissa. “Our college offers to capacitate other HEIs because we are capable. Benilde is blessed with a pool of administrators, faculty, and associates who do not think twice about adding a little extra to what they ordinarily do.”
Philippine Normal University (PNU), Far Eastern University (FEU), Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF), Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU), and Central Luzon State University (CLSU) have joined CHED’s initiative. Each institution will utilize its own training program.
“Universities are rising to the challenge. Napapakita na kayang-kaya magawa ng universities through bayanihan, and this is the first time to happen in CHED’s history (Universities are rising to the challenge. It shows that the universities can do it through cooperation, and this is the first time to happen in CHED’s history),” says CHED chairman J. Prospero de Vera III.
Interested HEI faculty members may sign up at bit.ly/BorderlessBenilde until Sunday, July 26. The confirmation email will be sent starting Monday, July 27, 2020. Only one person from each institution is required to register. The primary applicant will then list down the names of three other colleagues who will participate. | [email protected].