The Department of Education (DepEd) decided to shift to online and allowed the adoption of “distance learning” for this school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic,
For teachers, it meant making use of the internet as their main platform and go online to conduct classes, upload learning materials, and monitor their students’ progress.
Globe At Home knows this. For teachers to effectively perform their tasks online, they will need a fast, reliable and affordable internet connection. So Globe At Home heeded DepEd’s call to support their Distance Learning program by making a donation of 1,000 Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi modems through its WiFi2Teach program.
The modems will equip selected public school teachers with connectivity to help ensure that the teachers remain connected and that education remains unhampered in the country despite the current global health crisis.
WiFi2Teach is also part of the telco’s ongoing efforts and contribution under the Brigada ng Ayala – Ayala Group of Companies’ group-wide participation in the DepEd’s Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) and Brigada Eskwela (BE) programs.
“The migration to digital learning poses a lot of challenges for us at DepEd and most especially to public schools and teachers who commonly have limited access to the Internet and online learning tools,” shared Abraham Abanil, Director at DepEd. “With Globe’s WiFi2Teach program, we can gradually address these challenges and help more public educational institutions and teachers to become more adapted to the new normal of remote, online learning for the upcoming academic year.”
“The new normal has compelled all of us to transform our households to centers of productivity and learning,” shared Barbie Dapul, Vice President and Head of Marketing for Globe At Home. “WiFi2Teach is designed to assist public school teachers in carrying out their work and duty of teaching students remotely. Like our partners from DepED, we advocate for quality, accessible, and relevant education to help uplift the lives of more Filipinos as we continue accelerating the country’s digital transformation.”
Aside from its efforts to provide the needed connectivity and access for teachers at home, Globe launched its eLibrary platform with DepEd to give K-to-12 students, educators, and parents around the country free and quick access to hundreds of ebooks and educational videos.
The eLibrary includes international titles under public domain as well as local titles provided by DepEd. This will allow for continuous learning during the enhanced community quarantine which prompted many schools in Luzon and other parts of the country to suspend classes.
Further, Globe has been working with DepEd to support various skills development programs for teachers nationwide. One of these is Global Filipino Teachers, a component of the department’s learning continuity plan. Globe, together with DepEd’s regional offices, has rolled out a series of training sessions that focuses on 21st Century skills needed by teachers most especially in the new normal, including digital literacy and overall capacity-building to maximize the digital tools available to them.
The partnership between Globe and DepEd also involves conducting training of teachers for Psychological First Aid as well as How to be Responsible Online Citizens under the Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP). DTP is an award-winning series of workshops designed to educate learners, parents and educators alike on digital citizenship, online safety, and the responsible use of the internet.
Learn more about this story and how you can help power digital learning for public schools nationwide via https://www.globe.com.ph/help/broadband.