The future of Philippine education

MANILA, Philippines - Ever since the advent of academic institutions in the Philippines, our students have been lugging around very heavy textbooks and notebooks packed away in their backpacks and lockers.

Through the decades and to the dismay of concerned parents, kilos have packed on as educational curricula developed in complexity and sophistication.

Through its first year of mobile learning device deployments to schools who have been quick to understand both the short-term and long-term benefits of e-Learning, the 2013 Samsung School experience breaks through as the debonair rival of what has long been the status quo of the academic system.

Most of these schools thus far, have been Catholic schools. After Samsung’s full-scale deployment to La Salle Greenhills – a project that was famed as the largest single-campus deployment of e-Learning tablets globally – unexpected successors followed in the form of local parochial schools such as Pasig Catholic College (PCC) and San Isidro Catholic School (SICS).

 Both PCC and SICS are now proud successors of the e-Learning torch, having Samsung Galaxy Tabs on their students’ hands on a 1:1 ratio instead of heavy backpacks on their shoulders.

Because high-quality, wiFi-enabled e-Learning tablets are now made accessible to schools such as PCC and SICS, they can now experience a more effective, environmentally friendly, modern, and interactive way of learning through an all-in-one tablet device that houses their grade-level customized curricula via e-books from publishing companies such as Vibal, Salesiana, Abiva, Anvil, and Rex.

Features also include electronic assignments and homework dissemination, real-time participation trackers and attendance trackers, and other more complex systems that manage their mobile devices so that teachers can assure that only educational content are accessed while in school.

This is all possible through Samsung’s partnership with Galileo Education Services. Galileo provides the Mobile Learning Device (MoLDe) applications, such as the ELMA (Education and Learning Management App) which enables the school to administer the Samsung devices as learning tools. For parents and teachers who worry about security, the globally groundbreaking TARA (Theft Apprehension and Asset Recovery App) proactively deters theft and possible harm to the users by enabling them to search for their tablet by activating their device’s high-volume alarm through a simple SMS of their personal pass code. Another application borne out of the first mover experience of Galileo together with Samsung is the ISIS tablet authentication system, which enables the seamless deployment of policy and contents to the thousands of Samsung devices in the school.

These mobile learning devices, packed to the brim with tech-based educational information and content, enables increased levels of engagement and performance from both students and teachers. At best, the solution facilitates the development of a fully interactive learning environment by offering dynamic question and answer sessions through teacher-to-student or student-to-student screen sharing, allowing everyone in the ecosystem to work flexibly- independently or in collaboration.

 The full Samsung School experience here in the Philippines would eventually include the adoption of a 60 to 70-inch full touchscreen electronic board (E-board) where learning not only becomes highly graphic and impressionable, but also more empowering as tablet-to-board screen sharing becomes possible in seconds.

Contrary to first impressions, this new and dynamic world of e-Learning is not far up and out of reach to students, parents, schools, and teachers who understand how this investment can change the way our students form and grow in the most precious years of their academic life.

The Samsung Smart School can be for anyone and everyone. Learning becomes enjoyable and engaging. Problems are solved better. One lightweight device prevents scoliosis incidents with our pupils. Our high-quality Samsung Galaxy Tabs enable our children become so technologically adept that they become more competitive in the real world. It is all in short, smart learning.

 For more information on the Samsung e-Learning project, contact Samsung’s academic leader, Bobby Khan at [email protected] or www.samsung.com/ph/business