Globe Forefront 2020 presents digital learning and teaching strategies with British Council’s Graham Stanley

Globe celebrated World Teachers’ Day with Forefront: The 2020 National Conference on Digital Learning. This learning forum was held last October 5, 2020, via livestream on the Globe website with the support of the British Council

Through Forefront, educators and institutions from all over the country had come together to exchange views on a variety of issues pertaining to new modalities of remote learning and teaching, which is an important matter today with the country’s shift to distance learning due to the impact of the pandemic.

“We at Globe recognize the influence of educators to change the education landscape and prepare the school ecosystem to transform and be introduced to the growing knowledge of digital learning and educational technology in 21st-century learning and teaching,” said Globe myBusiness Segment Head for Education, Mark Arthur Abalos.

In his special message, Commission on Higher Education Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III expressed his gratitude to Globe for holding the event, citing that technology is of crucial importance because it allows people to be flexible in the new normal and education stakeholders to work together and learn as one.

For the plenary lecture, international guest speaker from the British Council Graham Stanley, English for Education Systems (EES) Lead for Americas, has imparted valuable insights to the participants on strategies for digital learning and teaching.

In order to understand the needs of education departments, teachers, and school leaders, the Digital Task Force unit of the British Council EES launched two global surveys. Stanley shared a summary of the findings in his presentation.

“It finds that for most, remote teaching was new, but teacher and teacher educators were reasonably confident in their ability to do their job remotely. However, there was a need for more training and support, and clear guidelines from their ministries of education,” he said. “[Some] challenges they faced included the inequalities in access to remote education due to poor connectivity, developing and maintaining the engagement of students in remote learning, and responding to the role of parents and caregivers.”

Participants were able to get expert knowledge on general guidelines to observe in remote teaching, integration of technology in teaching, and ways to keep learners engaged, which were based on various studies and projects of the British Council on the matter particularly in Argentina and Uruguay.

Stanley advised educators to avoid overcomplicating things that can lead to being overwhelmed with the wide array of platforms and resources available. “The important thing to do is for teachers to start with what they know best: to teach. Teach as you would in the classroom and adjust slightly to the online [demand].”

Ultimately, Stanley detailed how technology can be used to humanize the learning experience that can help maintain the engagement of learners and be an opportunity for educators to be innovative and creative despite the challenges of remote learning.

After the plenary lecture, participants were grouped into four breakout rooms where they listened to presentations of shortlisted papers for the Pandemic Pedagogy: Reshaping Philippine Education Through Digital and Learning Technologies.

“Globe recognizes the power of educators to transform the education landscape and prepare the school ecosystem to introduce the growing knowledge of digital learning and education technology in the 21st century. We are mindful that in the midst of uncertainties, things will eventually be better for all of us, our students, and our educational institutions, said Derrick Heng, Globe myBusiness Senior Advisor.

In the end, Maridol Ylanan, Head of Strategy and Marketing of Globe myBusiness announced the best research presentations:

The Promises and Challenges of Collaborative Online Learning towards Authentic Assessment in the Tertiary Level by Dr. Reuel Seño

#NoStudentLeftBehind: Designing a Flexible and Inclusive Remote Learning Continuity Plan by Prof. Marvin Olaes

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programs for the Filipino Teacher by Maria Theresa Carlos

Grasping Technology: Increasing Technological Awareness Through Systems Development by Bob Mathew David-Sunga

Forefront: The 2020 National Conference on Digital Learning is available for viewing at [globe.com.ph/digital-learning-conference.html].