One of the teachers and contestants from the viral "Mentalympics" Tiktok video shed light on the importance of incorporating academic learning with today's digital platforms.
https://www.tiktok.com/@maambinibini/video/7156938183630916891?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
"Our migration to the digital age can be seen and we have to embrace it," said ED Goldilaine N. Flores in a mix of English and Filipino.
"Because if we do not evolve with what is the trend in society, we will have a hard time towards growth especially in molding our knowledge on different aspects," she continued.
Using online mediums for learning is already the "new culture" of our society, she added.
Flores is a senior high school English teacher from Panabo City National High School in Davao del Norte who, together with her co-teachers, has gone viral online for sharing learnings and laughter in their Mentalympics TikTok videos.
Teachers, not just students, answer challenging quizzes too
The first Mentalympics or mental Olympics video of Flores and her colleagues, which has 645.3 thousand views as of writing, gained massive attention from netizens for their hilarious yet competitive ways of answering science and general knowledge questions prepared by their “quiz master.”
And the venue of their self-made quiz was no other than the school’s faculty office, said Flores in a Manila Bulletin interview.
Mentalympics started when she bought board games in an online shop for her advisory class to use.
"I let the other board games be used in the faculty office for fun as well and to refresh our (teachers) minds," she said.
"Then one time, when we were talking I mentioned the idea about having a quiz game and so everyone clicked and decided to participate," she continued.
https://www.tiktok.com/@maambinibini/video/7157339307542367514?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
Flores did not expect that their video would go viral online as she only recorded it to post on her personal Facebook account.
"My colleague posted it on TikTok first and it clicked," she said.
She then uploaded it on her own TikTok account and that was when it started to gain hundreds of thousands of views, some have even requested to see more fun Mentalympics videos from them.
"And as the editor of the video I was happy with the comments and editing videos for TikTok has become a part of my weekly routine since then,” the teacher said.
Mentalympics videos by Flores and her co-teachers, or whom they dearly call themselves "The Cast", has now five parts with views ranging from 560,000 to 3.2 million.
Expansion of educational content
Since many have shown support and expressed positive feedback on their Mentalympics videos, The Cast decided to create a Facebook page and YouTube account where they plan to expand and post more educational content free for everybody.
The group consists of Flores, Dhan Febmar S. Cajegas, Johanna Mae D. Sitchon, Chelsi Grace R. Esparagoza, Brenn Joedale S. Lopez, Ella Mae B. Artillo, Grace A. Alfornon, Daina Jeane Sumiga, Lydia O. Bustamante, Ellen Joy J. Sombilon, Dioprey S. Ebol, Agnes M. Godoy, and Rogie Jr. Vergara.
Their page called "Team Quizmiz Kaalaman" has now almost 5,000 likes and 16,000 followers.
The Cast plans on creating "educational content but in other forms of mechanics that are same as fun as what we are doing now," said Flores.