CONVERGE ICT Solutions Inc. and the City Government of San Juan launched a suite of learning tools and activated the intranet connection to make the virtual classroom a reality for the city’s 12,000 public school students and teachers.
In a ceremony held May 7, top officials of Converge and the local government of San Juan came together to introduce the Learning Management System (LMS), an all-in-one virtual learning platform, equipped with video conferencing functionality, learning module database, exam management and grade computation tools among others.
Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge co-founder and chief executive officer, witnessed the launching alongside San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora and Vice Mayor Jose Villa as fiber-powered intranet connection was activated on-site.
The launching is part of the broader "Learn From Home" program of Converge and the San Juan government, which aims to provide intranet services to public school students and teachers to access online learning resources and tools.
Converge is not just providing the broadband connection for intranet access, but through its parent company, ComClark, is also providing subscriptions to the LMS to the 12,000 students and teachers.
Converge has already conducted training of teachers and school administrators on the LMS.
For the pilot program in San Juan, students and teachers may access the Learning Management System, DepEd Commons (a database of learning modules), Makabagong San Juan Learning Management System (San Juan’s dedicated learning portal) and Makabagong San Juan Learning Communication System (chat facility).
Aside from the mentioned San Juan systems, the City Government provided tablets and laptops on a one-to-one ratio to its public school population, and shouldered the costs of fiber optic installation to make online learning truly accessible and at no cost to the students.
This partnership ties in with the recently signed Memorandum of Agreement of Converge with its affiliate Pacific KabelNet and the Department of Education, which essentially gives line agency recognition to the Learn From Home program and adds the component of broadcast access to learning materials.
The "Learn From Home" program is also in the early stages of implementation in Imus, Cavite.
Uy said the long-term goal is to engage more local government units and replicate the program in key cities in the Philippines.