Devices for distance learning distributed to 93% of public schools nationwide- DepEd

An education official said on Monday that about 93% of public schools nationwide already have devices that will be used in the online learning modality for this school year.

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The Department of Education (DepEd) said that as it prepares for the opening of classes amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, a total of 1,042,575 devices have been distributed to 43,948 public schools, which comprise 93% of all public schools in the country.

DepEd Information and Communications Technology Service Director Abram Abanil in a virtual press briefing said,

There are 1,042,575 devices in 43,948 public schools all over the country. These are computers, laptops, tablets that can be used by learners. Additionally, we'll deliver 211,344 devices before the end of December 2020,

Abanil added that the devices delivered by DepEd will increase the existing devices owned by students. 

Apart from the devices, DepEd also provided a learning management system (LMS) where teachers can create online classes and schedule online activities and collaborative tasks which can be monitored.

For example, they can assign students to read an article or watch a video lecture, and through the learning management system, they'll know if the students have completed or not the tasks assigned by the teachers. The teachers can also create online quizzes and formative assessment,

The LMS can be accessed through a browser or a mobile application and it is zero-rated with the telecommunications companies so that learners need not pay for data to access it with their smartphones.

On August 31, the DepEd will issue all the official email accounts of all high school students.

For the time being, the official email accounts of all elementary school students will be issued on September 15. Abanil said,

These email accounts will be used by the students in accessing the LMS to ensure the security of our learners,

In terms of capacity building, Abanil revealed that DepEd has already trained a total of 385,471 teachers on ICT-based teaching through online trainings from April to June, which accounts for 45 percent of teachers nationwide.

He explained that DepEd’s intention in having video lectures is to reach out through the television, teachers who do not have access to the internet.

According to Abanil, DepEd is now in the process of developing an orientation program for parents and students using television as a medium so they can also learn how to use the learning management system for the resumption of classes.