DepEd, UPOU hold congress to prepare public schools for technology-based learning

Educators and information communications technology policy-makers gathered recently at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City for the third National ICT in Basic Education Congress.

Their mission: to help prepare students and teachers in public schools all over the country for the challenges of technology-based learning.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus noted that the multisectoral meeting was attended by officials from different colleges and universities and members of non-government organizations who discussed issues that seek to integrate ICT in basic education, and how this strategy will benefit public schools.

Welcoming the participants at the conference were Dr. Grace Javier Alfonso, chancellor of the UP Open University (UPOU), and Roberto Romulo, chairman of the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED). They were both hopeful that the participants would apply the knowledge, information, and insights they learned from the speakers in their own teaching.

Lapus unveiled the Department of Education’s Five-Year ICT4E Strategic Plan during the first plenary session of the congress.

This was followed by the presentation by Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo of the department’s ICT competency standards for teachers. Dr. Philip Wong Siew Koon of the National Institute of Education in Singapore, Dr. Jan Herrington of the University of Woollongong in Australia, and Prof. Patricia Arinto of UPOU served as speakers during the plenary session.

The two-day exchange of best practices included 48 presentations and demonstrations given at concurrent sessions along three main tracks: ICT integration into and across the elementary and secondary school curricula; teacher professional development and instructional support; and distance education.

Guided by the theme “Teaching the Net Generation: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Challenge of 21st Century Learning,” the event was jointly organized by DepEd and the UPOU, which is the country’s e-learning competency center.