The University of San Jose-Recoletos and the Coalition for Better Education are working together to conduct capacity-building workshops to the top 10 schools of the first run of the Seal of Excellence in Education Development (SEED) of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).
The project, dubbed as the ICT Skills Enhancement Training Workshop Series, is geared toward improving the ICT skills of in-service teachers from the Top 10 SEED 1 schools in Cebu. Specifically, it seeks to train both adept and non-adept users of technology tools and use this knowledge in designing project- based learning (PBL) activities in the classrooms. It also intends to train principals to develop ICT roadmaps for their schools.
The trainings were divided into three modules — basic, entitled “Basic ICT Skills Training for Teachers,” intermediate or “ICT Integration through Online Tools and PBL Approaches,” and advanced or “Sustainable Education Leadership: Leading and Managing ICR Integration in Schools.” While school heads automatically proceeded to the Advanced Class, the teacher-participants took an online digital literacy test prior to the trainings to determine to which module they will be assigned.
Trainings for the basic, intermediate and advanced classes were held last April 10 to 14, 2018; those who passed the basic course and moved up to the intermediate module were trained on April 16 to 19. The trainings were well-attended, with 88% of the Basic class showing up, 87% for the Intermediate and 81% for the Advanced. Over 50% of the Basic Class in Week 1 returned the following week to take up the Intermediate class.
Post-training feedback shows that participants were satisfied with the training, which they said was informative and helpful in their own school setting. Basic Course participants, for instance, appreciated the integration of productivity tools in classroom instruction.
They also learned how collaborative learning enhances student participation and how to be a 21st century teacher to 21st century learners. The Intermediate Course participants were oriented on project-based learning (PBL) approaches and how these cut across disciplines and enable mastery of competencies with the seamless integration of ICT. They were also trained on how to do a PBL project and had an oral defense of the project in front of PBL experts.
School heads in the Advanced Course, meanwhile, learned how to develop school ICT roadmaps and project proposals, including budget and SWOT analysis. SEED-1 schools will be revisited later in the year for the monitoring of the training outputs.
The Top 10 schools are:
Elementary:
• Asturias Central Elementary School
• Balamban Central Elementary School
• Boljoon Central Elementary School
• Cayang Elementary School; and
• Subangdaku Elementary School
Secondary:
• Awihao National High School
• Gelacio Babao Memorial National High School
• Jovencion N. Masong National High School
• Juan Pamplona National High
• Mandaue Comprehensive National High School
• Jovencio N. Masong National High School
• Awihao National High School
• Gelacio Babao Memorial National High School; and
• Juan Pamplona National High School.
The Education Development Unit of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI-EDU) helps in the formation of effective learning environments by providing high-quality, cost-effective school infrastructure and by capacitating school communities for the continuous improvement of learning outcomes.
