Philippines to succeed in E-learning via ICT
MANILA — Senator Edgardo Angara highlighted the importance of developing a progressive Information and Communication Technology sector in the Philippines seeing it as the key in achieving the promises of distance education or E- Learning.
“If we are able to connect each person in the archipelago through broadband, for example, we would be able to provide quality education even to those in the most distant barrios,” Angara said during his recent keynote address at the 1st International Conference on Open and Distance E- Learning (ICODEL).
Organized by the University of the Philippines ( UP) Open University, the conference brought together stakeholders and the leaders of the different distance learning institutions throughout the country.
“When e- learning came, the whole learning environment changed — in the way we think, the way we read, the way we teach and learn,” the Senator said.
Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Education,
The Philippines is not far behind from the best distance learning providers in the world. The next step is to make e-learning even more accessible for each and every Filipino.
Senator EDGARDO ANGARA
Arts and Culture, suggested the introduction of virtual classrooms to address the ever- present scarcity in physical resources especially in public schools.
“Imagine having enough virtual classrooms that we do not worry anymore about the lack of teachers, the lack of desks and the lack of books for every student,” he stressed.
Angara explained Filipinos must be quick to study the new methodologies, new techniques and instruments in facilitating distance learning. To accomplish this, he said the country needs qualified professionals with a progressive vision.
“We need dedicated leaders, and technology- savvy professionals. New technologies abound— developing so rapidly that gadgets become obsolete in three years, which is why we ought to harness it as a valuable instrument for distance learning,” Angara said.
Distance learning had a very humble start in the Philippines.
It was pioneered in the 1950s in Iloilo through a program called the Farmers School on the Air, which provided lessons for the farmers and their families.
“The Philippines is not far behind from the best distance learning providers in the world,” Angara claimed. “The next step is to make e- learning even more accessible for each and every Filipino.” — Philstar. com