‘Community of Practice’ expands in Malay, Aklan with Text2Teach

MANILA, Philippines - Leading telecommunications operator Globe Telecom brings innovative learning system Text2Teach to the municipality of Malay, Aklan as part of its “Community of Practice” program which represents various advocacies of the company in the areas of environmental protection, good governance, volunteerism, and access to social services.

Text2Teach is now being adopted by all of the eight public elementary schools in Malay, thus, setting the bar for implementation in the province of Aklan. The schools are Argao Elementary School, Balabag ES, Caticlan ES, Cubay ES, Malay ES, Manocmanoc ES, Nabaoy ES, and Yapak ES.

“We have identified Boracay island as one of our communities of practice wherein we try to establish all our advocacies so that we can actually give more value to the community aside from just being a mobile network operator,” said Fernando Esguerra, OIC, Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.

He added: “To complement the completion of the Globe submarine cable system in Boracay for more improved network coverage, we decided to partner with Sangkalikasan Producer Cooperative in the Boracay Code Blue coral reef preservation project. We also provided communications facilities to Barangay Manocmanoc as well as accident insurance for the village patrol in line with our Sagot Ka ni Kap program. This time, we facilitated the introduction of Text2Teach for a more wholistic approach.”

Since 2004, Globe has been one of the original cast members of the Text2Teach Alliance which includes Ayala Foundation, Nokia, the Department of Education, and Pearson Foundation. The company has committed P9.4 million for the fourth phase of the project which involves the provision of special SIM cards with discounted call and text rates to the teachers as well as Internet connectivity for all the target 850 schools.

Text2Teach aims to improve student performance in English, Math, Science, and Values Education through some 400 pre-downloaded instructional videos. The materials help create an environment of strong interaction and engagement for Grades 5 and 6 students.

“The education that we had before may not be appropriate anymore because the curriculum has to change. In this 21st century, there are skills that are needed. Primary of which is technological skills. We’re so used to having teachers talk to the children but another delivery mode which we can utilize is technology. Text2Teach never intends to replace the teachers but it is a tool for the teachers to use to make learning more fun and exciting,” said Dr. Jesse M. Gomez, CESO V, Schools Division Superintendent, DepEd Division of Aklan.

Conceptualized in the United States and piloted in the Philippines, Text2Teach provides teachers with a highly effective visual aid, creating an interactive, student-focused learning environment in the classroom. The videos are watched using 29-inch television sets provided by the project. The lesson plans that come with the teachers’ guides are fully integrated into the basic education curriculum and created to meet local education guidelines and standards.