Recognizing how technology can make the delivery of education more effective, the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to initiate efforts to ensure the stakeholders - particularly the teachers - are equipped with educational technology skills that they might need.
“There are a lot of technologies today, so many gadgets which make us do so many things and achieve so many goals and projects all at the same time,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement issued Thursday, July 22.
“We surely can multi-task,” Briones said, noting that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) “will help us in the long run as we continuously provide basic education to our learners.” Meanwhile, DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua shared the efforts being done by the agency to uplift educational technology in the country.
“In the Philippines, we have been innovating and implementing programs such as the use of TV, Radio, the use of different authoring tools for the development of Open Educational Resources (OER), and the use of different Learning Management Systems (LMS). All of these education technology tools are being scaled up at a rate that has never been seen in our country and around the world,” Pascua said.
Teachers from PH join int’l webinar
To help upskill and equip Filipino educators on educational technology, DepEd and the Global Networks Association of Teachers as a Foreign Language (GENTEFL) of Thailand conducted the Free International Multidisciplinary Webinar Series for Teachers from June 30 to July 2.
“Education is about sharing, and we are very pleased to share our learnings from implementing these various programs through the speakers that are lined up in this webinar,” Pascua said. “We also look forward to learning about your best practices so we can adopt them in our country,” he added.
The three-day webinar series gathered experts and specialists from different areas of studies and from all parts of the globe to equip and empower educators in their areas of specialization integrated through educational technology.
Making education delivery more effective
Meanwhile, DepEd Information and Communications Technology Service Director Abram Y.C. Abanil explained how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has changed people’s lives - especially the way children are educated.
“We are glad to co-organize this event where teachers from all over the world can share their experiences in responding to the pandemic,” Abanil said.
The webinar also provided an avenue for teachers from different parts of the world to connect and share teaching experiences during the pandemic, and to develop the adaptability of the participants in the application of concepts learned in their context.
While Abanil acknowledged the huge challenge to education brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, he also noted that is also paved the was for a big opportunity to introduce new ways of doing things.
“These new ways of using technology help make the delivery of education more effective even after the pandemic,” Abanil said. “We hope that this webinar series will give you some insights and some ways you can take back to your respective classes,” he added.
For GENTEFL Thailand President Andy Cubalit, part of their goal is to strengthen and expand partnerships with other organizations to provide an avenue for teachers to connect, share, and learn best practices and experiences.
The said webinar also set the stage for the launching of the Literary Expo which is a project under the Literary Special Interest Group. It aims to hone and showcase not only students’ but also teachers’ skills in writing poetry, short stories, as well as poetry reading, declamation, oration, storytelling - among others.