TO help upskill and equip Filipino educators with the integration of educational technology, the Education Department and 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.
“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. We surely can multitask,” averred Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones. “[Information and communications technology] will help us in the long run, as we continuously provide basic education to our learners.”
Education Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua shared the efforts being undertaken by the department to uplift educational technology in the country: “In the Philippines, we have been innovating and implementing programs, such as the use of TV and radio, …of different authoring tools for the development of Open Educational Resources [or OER], and the use of different Learning Management Systems [or LMS]. All…these education technology tools are being scaled up at a rate that has never been seen in our country and around the world.”
He added, “Education is about sharing…we are very pleased to share our learning from implementing these…programs through the speakers…We also look forward to learning about your best practices, so we can adopt them in our country.”
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.
“As many of you know, the…pandemic has changed the way we live, the way we work, and the way we educate our children,” noted the Department of Education’s Information and Communications Technology Service Director Abram Y.C. Abanil. “We are glad to co-organize this event, where teachers from all over the world can share their experiences in responding to the [health crisis].”
The online event also provided an avenue for teachers from different parts of the world to connect and share their teaching experiences during the contagion, and their ways in developing the participants’ adaptability in the application of concepts learned in their context.
President Andy C. Cubalit of GENTEFL Thailand shared that 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.
“Some topics include something new, something old, and something forgotten…” Cubalit said. “But our hope is for you to produce a strategy or technique: something fresh, unique, engaging, and helpful for…students.”
The webinar also set the stage for the launching of the Literary Expo. A project under the Literary Special Interest Group, it aims to hone and showcase not only the skills of students, but also those of teachers’ in writing poetry, short stories, as well as poetry reading, declamation, oration, storytelling, and the like.
Acknowledging the huge challenge of the pandemic to education, Abanil believes it presents opportunities 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,” he concluded.