HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
It is not a surprise that the Philippines has been a pioneer in education in the whole of Southeast Asia or even in Asia in general. There was even a time that we are above our neighboring countries in terms of being the most educated, that is, a higher percentage of the most literate individuals in the region with a higher number of enrolled students in schools.
The Spanish era brought about top schools and universities that even after many years, are still relevant in the education sector.
The radical change in the educational system that brought about the increasing level of literacy was during the American colonial period. In history, SS Thomas brought teachers, Thomasites as they are called and started to reform the educational system. They build schools, planned major cities and took an overall reform in the social picture. It was during these years that Philippine education was patterned after the United States, after all the P.I. was the only colony back then.
It would not last long though. After the war in the 1940’s independence was sought by Filipinos and this started to change the landscape of Philippine education. As the country was left to find its way in implementing the changes done by the Americans, so does the decline of enrollees in schools.
Changes has been done in the coming years. I was brought up in the period where the DepEd now was then called DECS( Department of Education, Culture and Sports) as embodied in the 1987 constitution. In 1994, Commission of Higher Education was established and TESDA in the following year to regulate tertiary and technical and vocational non-degree programs. DepEd now primarily focuses on basic education. With these institutions, there could be a brighter future for us.
TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION
Learning and instruction happens in and out of the classroom. In most of these situations, technology plays a big part.
In the advent of computers and digital technology, the leverage has been unprecedented. I learned how to use a computer in high school. It was not the kind of structured learning when I started using the computer in the laboratory. My teacher, a very technical man would just leave us alone in the lab to do our thing. It was the very epitome of learning by doing. He would tell us to open programs, play everything out until it burns. Yes, until it burns. Then came the structured instruction after he left the school and we were all bound to a manual of end-user instruction that we need to memorize and be quizzed about. I never really liked how it was taught. I learned more when I was left on my own. But sometimes, you have to learn to impart some structure in learning and somehow I had my best moments. I remember being a representative of our school in a provincial quiz bee sponsored by Informatics, a pioneer IT school in the country. It earned me 4th place amongst thirty plus delegates. So, even back then, I already have an inkling to information technology.
Now, the internet brought the whole picture into a different level. Dial up connection was the latest. I used to rent a unit for hours checking emails and doing correspondence with my sister abroad. My first email was with a popular purple-colored brand that up until now, I still have access to but I have not been using it, just an alternate email on my online accounts. Computer education became a course and a high following for information technology careers became a sought after position. By this time, internet speed has steadily grown and infrastructures have become somehow efficient.
Not until it was manipulated and monopolized by greedy capitalists which landed the Philippines as having the costliest and slowest internet connection in the world.
CONTROVERSIES & ISSUES
After the glorious days of high literacy rates, the past few years we have slid down to become one of the worst in the region. The lack of classrooms, teachers and basic facilities for instruction hindered the progress in education we all envision. Teachers rallied on the streets for lack of proper remuneration for their services. Classroom facilities have dwindled in number as the number of students wanting to enjoy the basic right to education increases. The government takes no heed of these calls and continues to do budget cuts causing a decline in the the number of school children and an increasing out-of-school youth.
Barrio folks have a different kind of problem though. Due to the remoteness, schools are only available in the center of the town and pupils would walk hundreds of kilometers just to learn and experience being a student. Somehow this scenario discouraged others, instead of going to school, they would just toil the land helping their families put out a meal for everyone to share.
Let’s not go far in the barrios of yore. Look at the looming population of the cities within Metro Manila. Fifteen million people crammed in 638.6 square kilometers of land. No doubt, it has been hailed as one of the densest cities in the world. And most of these people live in squalor. Access to basic education is there, but the high prices of commodities would prompt them to instead of sending children to school would choose not to. Families cannot just afford education and this is a major problem. Children now resort to television and other media to learn. The invention of mobile and smartphones provides a different niche for learning. Usage of internet through the years have increased immensely. Telcos offered affordable solutions. Somehow it was accessible to the masses but still overpriced and very slow as compared to our emerging market counterparts.
THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION
With accessible internet, affordable units like tablets and smartphones, came the rise of cloud based solutions. Cloud computing is here. Mobile devices are possible to assist in learning and teaching. Eight out of ten students have mobile phones. And the demand for a more affordable brands are increasing. This is a new era of an educational revolution that the Philippines need.
Then came Google and its partnership with the DepEd circa 2012. Yes, it was just around that time that we saw a turning point in the education history. The department back then began to invest in unsustainable technology solutions for its problems. Licenses, maintenance and other overhead costs were too much to bear. The government promised support and began building additional classroom facilities. Teachers have now been appeased since an increase in salary was done.
As an emerging market, Google invested time and effort in the education sector with its education arm Google for Education and began offering technology driven solutions to schools in the Philippines. Pilot schools and universities were successful. Major universities have Gone Google across the country. Now it’s time for the basic education sector to step up their game and integrate technology in the classroom. Then enter the Google Educator Groups where a community of teachers learn, share, inspire and empower colleagues to develop professionally and personally.
Though in its earliest stages, we have seen the development and growth of communities focused on educational technology flourished all over the country.
It was this time that I have the opportunity to be in the education sector as a certified trainer for Google. Me and the team goes around the country conducting workshops on cloud technology, the future of education in the Philippines. It was nothing new for developed countries and right now we are keeping up with the pace. A regional roll-out for public school teachers will be done aided by a web application to secure their accounts. Pilot K-12 schools has been successful in their pursuit to leverage technology in education plus more and more schools will turn to cloud computing.
Just like what I always tell my trainees, and I make them recite it with me, plus the matching gesture of looking up in the clouds, with hands together up in the air, slowly going down creating an imaginary bubble;
...because everything is in the cloud!
Repeat!
-edtechbeki-
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