To guide learners and their parents as they navigate distance learning, the Department of Education (DepEd) launched a free online tutorial platform facilitated by expert educators.
Dubbed “ETULay,” the new learning platform aims to bridge the gaps and improve the quality of learning under the distance learning setup currently implemented this school year amid the continued threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“We have to come up with creative ways in modernizing our education system and it will require the upgrade of learning delivery through the full and creative use of technology in the digital age,” said Education Secretary Leonor Briones in a statement issued Saturday, Feb. 13.
Briones explained that the “ETULay” initiative is “one of the many steps being taken by DepEd to ensure that this transformation happens for the benefit of our learners.”
The “ETULay” initiative is spearheaded by the DepEd’s Information and Communications Technology Service - Educational Technology Unit (ICTS-ETU),
“ETULay” was derived from the wordplay of ETU and itulay which means “bridge” in Filipino.
“The lessons are delivered in tutoring format while guiding how to answer exercises and explaining the details of the lesson,” said ICTS-EdTech Unit Head Mark Anthony Sy.
Sy explained that at the start of 2021, the initiative's goals to empower and give the parents full confidence in assisting their children, help learners to fully understand the lesson, and help teachers in explaining the lesson.
“ not strict in the structure of classroom format, the concept really is tutoring online,” Sy said. “ETULay” uses StreamYard and broadcasts it via Facebook and Youtube so these can be viewed repeatedly.
DepEd said that “ETULay” was also designed based on the weekly Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs). This is to provide parents and learners an easier way to answer Self-Learning Modules (SLMs) - which were modeled from the “PIVOT 4A QuBE” program of DepEd Region IV-A.
While the said initiative encourages learning of the topic and mastery, DepEd said that it also focuses on having “remediation programs” on Reading and Mathematics.
It also includes sessions on Storytelling, Wellness, Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), English, Filipino, Mathematics, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (EsP), and Health for a comprehensive learning experience for all Filipinos.
Livestream of the sessions are available on the official Facebook pages of DepEd Philippines, DepEd Tayo, and DepEd EdTech Unit. These can be viewed this on DepEd Edtech Unit and DepEd TV’s Youtube channels.