Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Forum tackles ICT, learning
MORE than 800 educators, education policyma-kers, directors and superintendents, deans of colleges and government and nongovernment institutions in the field of information communication technology (ICT) are expected to participate today in the 3rd National ICTs in Basic Education Congress in Cebu City to discuss issues on the use of ICT in primary and secondary education.
The two-day event, to be held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, is spearheaded by the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The congress theme is “Teaching the Net Generation: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and the Challenge of 21st Century Learning.”
The biennial event is jointly organized by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the University of the Philippines Open
University (UPOU).
The DepEd, under the leadership of Secretary Jesli Lapus, has embraced technology as a strategic tool to bridge the current information and education gap in the country.
Consensus
Former foreign affairs secretary and FIT-ED chairman Roberto Romulo said that this will be the largest gathering of Philippine educators and education stakeholders that focuses on ICT in primary and secondary education.
“While we at FIT-ED are fully committed to assist teachers and schools in utilizing ICT, we would like to arrive at some consensus during the congress on how to most effectively benchmark progress across the country, as well as to formulate strategies for moving forward,” said Romulo.
FIT-ED, a private, non-profit organization advocating the sustainable and responsible integration of ICT in local education,
has been working closely with DepEd.
UPOU, which is the national center of excellence in open and distance education, has been FIT-ED’s partner in several teacher professional development programs in ICT and curriculum integration in basic education since 2000.
Convergence
The three organizations will dissect local and international efforts in ICT for Education (ICT4E) so that congress participants can critically examine what methods can work and can be adopted in the Philippines.
“What we want to achieve during the Congress is a convergence of priorities across the education sector, with particular focus on how to most effectively utilize ICT to benefit our students and teachers,” said Lapus.
Lapus is expected to unveil DepEd’s five-Year ICT4E Strategic Plan during the first plenary session of the congress. This will be followed by the presentation by Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo of DepEd’s ICT competency standards for teachers.
Sessions during the forum will tackle ICT integration into and across the elementary and secondary school curricula; teacher professional development and instructional support; and distance education.
The 3rd National ICTs in Basic Education Congress is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Export Corp.–Philippines Division, Intel Technology Philippines, the International Container Terminal Services Inc., Smart Communications and the British Council. (PR)
