March 29, 2024

The Department of Education-Cordillera plans to digitize self-learning modules to lessen the use of paper.

DepEd-Cordillera Director Estela Cariño said the agency is now working on different learning modalities with the use of online and offline connections aside from the printed modules.

Cariño said there are schools in the region that started to create their learning management systems (LMS) that would complement modular learning. 

LMS is a software that allows teachers to create virtual classes and assigning the activities the learners need to go through; monitor if the activities have been completed; grade submissions; and conduct online quizzes to assess comprehension in conditions where face-to-face classes are not allowed.

Earlier, DepEd-Cordillera has identified printed modular, online, video or TV, and audio or radio as modes of learning in the region. But the absence of Internet connection in many areas promoted most schools’ divisions to implement modular learning. 

She said schools in the region like the Benguet National High School, Dacudac NHS in Mountain Province, Rizal National School of Arts and Trades (RNSAT) in Kalinga, and Cudal NHS in Tabuk City have established their LMS that lessened the use of printed modules.

Aside from lessening the use of paper, DepEd has observed that some teachers are hard up in retrieving these modules from the learners thus the need for innovation.

“Our goal is to lessen by at least 50 percent of printed modules,” Cariño said.

Deped-Cordillera information technology officer Jumar Yago-an said Dacudac NHS and RNSAT have Internet connections where the learners would go and sync their gadgets in the main system to access their lessons. The learners then bring home the lesson and could access their lessons offline. 

BeNHS, on the other hand, is using purely online mode for its LMS while in Cudal NHS, a network where students and teachers can access their portal offline has been established. 

Yago-an said DepEd is also working out a partnership with Smart and Globe to provide free access to these LMS in the various schools.

DepEd-Cordillera announced P28 million has been set aside to procure tablets for 3,000 selected learners, especially those in far-flung schools in the region.

The tablets would be loaned to the students wherein the parents will sign a memorandum of agreement. At the end of the school year, the gadget would be brought back to the school to be used in the next school year. 

“Not all gadgets will come from DepEd. If the parents could buy their children a tablet or a smartphone, please do so,” Cariño said. – Ofelia C. Empian