As new school year opens, digital adoption is vital to redefine education experience
MANILA, Philippines — Despite the non-conduct of physical classes due to the pandemic, quality education remains to be a right of every Filipino and needs to be accessible to all.
However, the shift to new modalities of education—be it modular, online or blended—came with challenges and questions on accessibility and quality.
According to a recent survey, difficulty in self-studying is one of students’ concerns, along with lack of gadgets, insufficient mobile data allowance and unstable internet connection.
Digital adoption is deemed vital to address such woes. Through adoption of various technologies, educators can guide their students real-time and facilitate engaging classes, which can lead to greater lesson retention and an overall better learning experience.
“Iba kasi pag real-time na nakakausap mo ang mga bata at sila ay nakakainteract sa discussion. Very important din ang real-time at immediate feed-backing sa teacher dahil doon ay nabibigyang linaw ang mga tanong ng mga bata sa lesson,” shared Glenny Lapping, Head Teacher III of Punta Engano High School during a Globe media event.
Quality education for all
Globe Telecom recently launched GoLearn, its unified, company-wide platform aimed at creating a better tomorrow for the country’s educational sector by addressing accessibility gaps in online education and other hurdles in digital adoption.
“It is our commitment in Globe to work with the whole education sector to bring forth everyone’s aspiration for better education, ensuring that learning never stops for all, wherever they are, regardless of their status,” KD Dizon, Globe head of Small, Medium Business Group, said.
“This is the heart of GoLearn—Globe’s unified initiative to bring together products, programs, services, and solutions that will empower the whole learning ecosystem,” Dizon added.
GoLearn is a platform for everyone who aspires to further enrich their education. It promotes continuous learning and further bridges the digital gaps in the education landscape in the country via access to connectivity solutions, learning platforms and solutions.
“We advocate digital learning and we partner with Globe for the fulfillment of this advocacy. That's why importante ang mga ginagawa o gagawin pa nating mga interventions para hindi tuluyang bumaba ang kaalaman ng mga kabataan,” stated Senator Joel Villanueva who is also a digital learning advocate.
“Makakatulong dito ng malaki ang initiative ng Globe to ensure na tuloy-tuloy ang learning ng mga bata. GoLearn is a digital solution to widen the access to training. With GoLearn, learning is at your fingertips kaya very convenient,” the senator added.
Improving students’ experience
Senator Villanueva also cited a study that reports the possibility of learning loss or “COVID slide” because of schools closing.
“Long term po ang impact sa mga bata na pwedeng makaapekto sa competitiveness at performance nila sa trabaho in the future,” Villanueva said, highlighting the need for initiatives and partnerships to address this concern.
According to him, there are already resolutions in congress that are aimed at improving the digital learning system. Among that he has mentioned was the inclusion of the plan of establishing digital smart campuses through the P4-billion fund included in the Bayanihan 2 Act.
“We also fought for the P600 million augmentation fund for students where we can help them buy gadgets. Ito po ay para sa tatlong ahensya ng pamahalan natin—Department of Education, CHED and TESDA,” he added.
Echoing the need for a stronger push for digital adoption is DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali.
“We have more or less 22.5 million public school learners and more or less 900,000 teachers. When you talk about blended learning or online-based learning, ideally, each of the students and teachers has the gadget to use,” Umali said.
“Kung meron silang gadget, dapat meron silang kakayahan kumonekta sa internet, so you will need a wifi gadget. Kung meron ka na, kelangan mo naman ng pangload,” he added.
To aid students who are burdened with insufficient data allowance, Globe offers a promo that is specially made to cater to online education—the GoLearn90 which gives students access to more learning resources by offering 8GB of data for all sites and free 1GB for GoLEARN apps.
More than that, parents and students are given access to free webinars, free materials from different learning resources, including Globe eLibrary which houses a wide selection of age-appropriate digital storybooks and eLearning videos tailored to children and young adults.
Assisting educators
During the event, Gal Alburo, an Education Program Supervisor in Marikina City SDO, shared how digital adoption can open opportunities for teachers to make processes more efficient, such as how online tools can facilitate easier submission and retrieval of students’ activity sheets.
On the other hand, Emerson Dalangin, Head Teacher I, Sico 1.0 Integrated National High School, stressed how digital adoption can also protect teachers from COVID-19 as they no longer need to transmit modules to households.
“Sa digital learning, di na kailangan ng physical contact pero tuluy-tuloy na matutuo ang mga bata at ang mga teachers ay safe rin. Malaking tulong iyon para quality of learning hindi mababawasan, pero ang safety ng lahat na concerned ay ma-address din” he said.
Given these opportunities technology could unlock for teachers, Globe, through GoLearn, presents highly specialized education offers that can greatly help teachers in embracing digital adoption and facilitate better online education.
From connectivity offers to communication services, to Google workspace and learning management systems that provide teachers a suite of tools for digital learning—GoLearn basically has everything a school would need to provide quality online education.
With this, Undersecretary Umali shared what DepEd has learned from a year and a half of online learning. They could not do all things on their own, and they need partnerships with LGUs and private companies like Globe.
“In partnership with various local government units, we purchased gadgets using the special education fund and the general fund from LGUs and gave it to our learners. In partnership with Globe, we had meaningful seminars equipping our children na maging maalam sa online, mga dapat bantayan, mga platforms,” Umali said.
Tuloy ang learning, tuloy ang bukas.
Different groups inside Globe also lead programs that support GoLearn’s mission to continue education amid a pandemic. Among these are:
- Globe Enterprise provides students from low-income households with access to new normal education through the enhanced Phinma Education data plan.
- Globe Small and Medium Enterprise assists institutions with digital transformation to enhance teachers’ teaching abilities and support learning competencies of students through E-Skwela Webinars and Online Training Program
- TM has a FunAral E-Campus to be rolled out in different TM Campus Connect partners and national school organizations”
“We hope you’re as excited as us to really raise the quality of education in the country together,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO on how the company places priority on the enablement of online learning.
“With the launch of GoLearn, know that the entire One Globe group is with you to continue to provide affordable connectivity, accessible platforms and a safer learning environment for all,” he concluded.
