DepEd ICT strategy off to a good start

This story was taken from www.inq7.net

DepEd ICT strategy off to a good start
Posted 11:42pm (Mla time) April 22, 2005
By Alexander Villafania
INQ7.net

The Department of Education (DepEd)’s National ICT Strategy for Basic Education is getting a big reception from both government and the private sector. With the Federation for Information Technology in Education Development (FIT-ED) and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), DepEd is working on a long-term multi-sectoral strategy to integrate ICT into the Philippine education system. The group conducted a three-day workshop in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus last week to institutionalize groups that will focus on each aspect of the strategy. DepEd Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo said in an interview that they have identified several areas for developing strategy – like curriculum changes, student competency standards, teacher training, and the financial aspect of meeting goals. Among their goals is to complete the integration of ICT into basic education by the year 2010, along with deployment of facilities and other physical infrastructure to connect schools across the country. Hidalgo said they would be meeting again on April 29 to finalize the members’ technical working group assignments. Each group will be focusing on a key areas identified in previous meetings. Hidalgo reiterated that the national ICT plan for basic education does not aim to teach only IT in elementary and high schools but rather to use technology in teaching traditional courses. “We're already using technology in our daily lives but we've not used it fully to improve our basic education. Perhaps now with this endeavor we could finally pave the way for new opportunities among Filipinos,” Hidalgo said.