Department of Education (DepEd) eyes total shift to digitized mode of learning in Central Luzon under the new normal of education.
During the Oplan Balik-Eskwela Virtual Media Conference, DepEd Region 3 Curriculum and Learning Management Division Chief Librada Rubio disclosed that Schools Division Offices (SDOs) have already started the distribution of self-learning modules (SLMs) on storage devices such as USB On-The-Go and tablets last school year.
“This only shows that schools began to move toward digitization and reinforce existing modalities through television-based and radio-based instruction (TVI and RBI) to achieve paperless learning, which is cost-effective and environment-friendly,” she said.
Rubio recalled that during the fourth quarter, schools that solely rely on printed SLMs have decreased by 3.14 percent while blended learning modalities increased by 21.32 percent.
“With the strengthened TVI and RBI in the region, schools that opted for RBI ballooned from 139 to 292. Tarlac province, which has school-based radio stations, has the greatest number of schools implementing RBI in Central Luzon,” she stated.
Aside from this, she mentioned Tarlac province has the greatest number of procured tablets for online distance learning with 58,555 tablets allocated for 27% of its enrollment.
Other SDOs who purchased tablets for learners were Mabalacat City, San Jose Del Monte City, Zambales, Pampanga, Cabanatuan City, Tarlac City, Olongapo City, and Nueva Ecija.
“About 11 SDOs still consider the procurement of tablets to address students’ needs and materials for learning,” she noted.
Also, Rubio recognized the support of local government units and stakeholders in the provision of radio equipment, tablets and laptops to learners leading to an increased usage of digitized and blended learning modality.
“All these milestones were attained by ensuring that every learning center has an enabling and supportive environment that ensures the availability of the learning provision including learners’ welfare. Stakeholder participation is very important since they serve as partners who share the responsibility along with the government for ensuring the development of life-long learning,” Rubio stressed.
On another note, DepEd partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to equip schools on specialized Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training, and to improve the ICT capability of teachers, especially in far-flung areas.
Proposed topics include Cyber Security Awareness, Data Driven Governance, Information Data Literacy, Digital Collaboration Tools, Data Visualization, and Digital Content Creation. (CLJD/TJBM-PIA 3)