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By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter
Virtual training studios under
the Cyber Education Project will help the Department of Education
train close to half-a-million public-school teachers.
Using satellite-based
technologies, education officials and training experts can interact
directly with 470,004 public-school teachers nationwide.
The department said the training
studios would allow frequent direct professional development
sessions for the teachers. At the same time, computer-based training
materials and standby Training Support Experts will be available to
supplement live training broadcasts.
“Through Cyber Ed, we are
bringing our teachers from all over the country closer to quality
teacher training activities and materials,” said Education
Secretary Jesli Lapus. “We will ensure that all our teachers are
provided the much-needed training they need to significantly improve
teaching and student learning.”
The department said the project
uses satellite technology to provide an efficient and cost-effective
solution to the need to deliver educational services to public
elementary and secondary schools throughout the country. It links
these schools to a nationwide network that provides 12 video
channels, wireless wide area networking, local area networking and
wireless Internet connectivity.
“We will now be able to provide
the same quality of training to all our teachers, no matter where
they are,” Lapus said.
He said teachers would no longer
have to travel long distances to attend training seminars, which
translates to huge savings for the government.
Lapus said his department would
be able to ease the limitations of the cascading model for teacher
training currently being used. Through Cyber Ed, teachers will be
able to receive training from the best instructors firsthand.
“Teacher training requires
frequent contact for it to be really effective,” Lapus added.
“Cyber Ed provides an opportunity to create this condition and
this translates to better teacher performance in the field.”
The department is allotting P5.8
billion for the first phase of the Cyber Ed Project which will be
operational by next year.
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