MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is set to conduct online seminars or ‘webinars’ to teachers under the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
The program is aimed at preparing teachers to adapt to alternative learning systems under the ‘new normal’.
In a press release issued on Saturday, the DICT said it has directed its ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau (ILCDB), Cybersecurity Bureau, and Regional offices to be the line agencies that will “formulate and facilitate the conduct of webinars aimed at capacitating and upskilling the ICT competencies of teachers, administrators, educators, and students in different public and private educational institutions and state universities and colleges (SUCs).”
The department is confident that these capacity building activities will better arm the teachers “for the potential use of available ICT enabled education services, such as online learning management systems, video conferencing platforms, and online educational resources, with due regard to raising awareness on safe cybersecurity and privacy practices.”
This project is in line with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF-MEID) Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines which directs schools to decide on the specific learning delivery modes, such as blended and online learning that they will use to contain the spread of COVID-19 during the schoolyear.
“ICT has become crucial for retaining a sense of continuity for our society, especially in the education sector. DICT is here to help upskill the ICT capacity of our teachers in order for them to utilize the full potential of ICT in providing quality education to their students given the disruptions in holding face-to-face classes,” Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said.
The DICT initially offered free online technical and digital trainings to concerned personnel and professionals in the government and private sectors.
“We will continue to work towards providing digital literacy and capacity to different sectors in order for our nation to better adapt to the new normal. All of these initiatives is in support of the administration’s efforts through the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 crisis,” Secretary Honasan said. — /mbmf
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