QC Mayor Herbert Bautista, Rep. Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo lead ceremonial turnover
Realizing the power of Information and Communications Technology in providing meaningful 21st century learning, Globe Telecom brings its Global Filipino School (GFS) program to Quezon City via Masambong High School (MHS).
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Rep. Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo led the ceremonial turnover yesterday which was attended by teachers and students of MHS. The school, which has 1,300 student population and 65 teaching and non-teaching staff, represents the Department of Education (DepEd) Quezon City division and is, therefore, the 1st public school in QC to benefit from the GFS program which now covers 142 schools all over the country.
“It has been my dream that every public school teacher and student in Quezon City will be able to increase their learning capacity using the modern tools of information technology. We are already in an ICT-enabled world and the goal of our local government is to be a smart city — that means all basic operations of the city will be managed efficiently through computers. Thus, if we do not teach ICT to our students early enough, they will be ill-equipped to be competitive in the modern world,” Bautista said.
On the other hand, Yoly Crisanto, Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications said: “Quality education goes hand-in-hand with ICT which allows learning to take place not only within the classroom but even beyond it. Mobile internet adoption and the availability of affordable data-capable gadgets make it easier now for both students and teachers to access a vast library of information previously out of their reach. We believe that by providing the teachers and students with the tools they need, we can help uplift the state of Philippine education one school at a time.”
The GFS program provides select public schools with infrastructure support and ICT equipment such as the Globe Digital Learning Lab – a mobile cart of ICT gadgets composed of Globe Prepaid Supersticks, charging station, netbooks, tablets, and projectors powered with superior internet connectivity. The Lab can be used to teach different subject matters whether inside or outside the classroom to encourage creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.
For MHS, Globe, in partnership with Habitat For Humanity, also spearheaded the renovation of an underused classroom to create a multifunctional ICT Laboratory with a collaborative working space which includes modular tables designed to be quickly and easily moved around to form various shapes appropriate for individual learning, small-large group discussions and conferences.
The Creative Space can, likewise, be used as a teacher training center for the DepEd Division of Quezon City as part of the partnership between Globe Telecom and DepEd. Under the program, MHS teachers were given training on how to seamlessly use internet connectivity and ICT tools in their subject expertise. The teachers in turn, are responsible for sharing the knowledge with neighboring schools as MHS will be serving as a teacher training hub for DepEd Division of QC on the use of internet connectivity and ICT tools in the classroom.
At present, many public schools are still missing out on the benefits of ICT, prompting Globe to help address the concern through GFS. The program, which started in 2012, intends to transform at least one school in each of the 221 school divisions under the Department of Education into centers of ICT excellence within the next four years.
Based on the impact assessment released by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Global Market Research Company last year, digital skills among teachers and students particularly on the usage of mobile technology and computer software, showed marked improvement as a result of the GFS program. Students also became more well-rounded due to increased engagements driven by various pillars under the 21st Century Learning Framework. The notable increase in the presence of ICT equipment also resulted in more students and teachers now using ICT in their daily academic proceedings and becoming more engaged in the lessons.
