Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
To strengthen its efforts to integrate technology into learning, the Department of Education (DepEd) will provide e-learning carts to thousands of schools this year.
(DepEd / MB Visual Content Group)
“We will be giving out e-learning carts to schools this year,” DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesman Michael Poa said in a DZBB interview on Friday, June 16.
E-learning carts, Poa explained, are like “rolling libraries with laptops” that can be moved from one classroom to another.
“We are targeting around 5,000 schools for this year,” Poa said.
Through the e-learning carts, Poa said that DepEd aims to provide knowledge to learners when it comes to using technology. “Ito din ang gagamitin nila (They will use this) when they graduate and find employment,” he added.
Technology and education
Poa said that DepEd aims to beef up its efforts to utilize technology — through the use of gadgets — in education.
“In DepEd, we have learned a lot of things from the pandemic especially in terms of using gadgets to help augment the gaps in schools,” Poa said.
Recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of letting learners use gadgets, Poa said that DepEd will continue to improve the curriculum.
“What we really want to have is the responsible use of these gadgets,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. “It’s about teaching our learners to use technology the right way,” he added.
Currently, he noted that topics on social media literacy in terms of using technology are also being discussed in schools.
Poa explained that DepEd will strengthen its initiatives on technology in education to address learning gaps.
“Traditional solutions like building more classrooms and hiring more teachers are no longer sufficient to close the gaps,” Poa said.
Alongside these traditional solutions, Poa said that DepEd is looking into tapping technology [by] providing schools with necessary technology and gadgets to be used as a “learning tool and not as a distraction.”
Since DepEd cannot provide gadgets to millions of learners and thousands of teachers overnight, Poa said the agency would continue to find ways to promote the advantages of using technology in education.
— Merlina Hernando-Malipot
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