DepEd Commons is an innovative solution rolled out by the Department of Education to deal with the current challenges that the education sector is facing right now due to the global pandemic.
It is a platform for teachers and students to access crucial lessons and educational activities wherever they are by tapping the proven power of the Internet.
But in this web-oriented learning, one of the biggest concerns that teachers and students face is the cost of accessing the DepEd’s platform.
As we all know, credit loads, or simply ‘load,’ as most Filipinos call it, are needed to access contents on the web.
To bridge the gap that would limit the DepEd Common’s full potential, the top telecommunication companies in the Philippines (Smart and Globe), provided much-needed help for both teachers and students.
The top telcos, in the spirit of “Bayanihan,” assisted the Department of Education by allowing their respective subscribers to access DepEd Commons even without load credits.
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Additional Assistance From Top Telcos
Aside from the generous offer mentioned above, the top telcos realize that they shouldn’t stop at only giving free access to DepEd’s platform.
To help the Department in bringing quality education into a full circle, they decided to provide additional assistance for both teachers and students.
Here are the specific offerings of each telco providers:
Smart Communications
- Utilizing their very own ePLDT VITRO Data Center, the telco offers to host the back-end requirements of the DepEd Commons platform.
- To provide additional support on the teaching facilities currently being used, Smart offers to tap the power of educational suites by forging alliances with the big names in the tech industry such as Google and Microsoft.
- The telco also offers to co-develop mobile application to furtherly assist learners in the new educational environment.
Globe Telecom
E-Skwela Virtual Learning Sessions
It fully supports DepEd’s Sulong Edukalidad Campaign and provides assistance, not only on DepEd but also on its various bureaus by being an open platform that allows stakeholders to perform much-needed knowledge-sharing.
Setting Up Provincial Learning Hubs
Globe also offers to help build more remote hubs in different schools around the Philippines in cooperation with DepEd Division Offices.
The established hubs have been provided with technical support and teacher training to complete all the necessary requirements in pushing digital and remote learning in the country.
Communications Support
The telco also provides support for the educational sector’s skeletal workforce by providing load cards during Extensive Community Quarantine.
Strategic Resource for DepEd Planning
Globe also plans to roll out more assistance, such as converting various learning contents into digital documents, sponsoring knowledge sharing on international schools, and hosting remote learning sessions.
Globe E-Library
The E-Library consists of free storybooks specially crafted for K-12 and is integrated within the DepEd Commons.
It is a giant library at your fingertips which houses local and international titles, including storybooks authored by public school teachers. Aside from books, the E-library also consists of educational videos for English, Maths, Science, Values, Arts, Music, and Filipino.
The Spirit of Bayanihan
Indeed, all this assistance from the top telcos for the Department of Education is “Bayanihan” in action.
It also shows that with every goal, no matter how big it is, it can be reached if Filipinos go hand in hand in achieving it.