By Lily O Ramos
MANILA, Sept 29 (PNA)– The country’s first Master of Education, Major in e-learning graduate degree program was launched Tuesday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City with Miriam College president Dr Rosario Lapus and Bato Balani Foundation Inc (BBFI) president Dr Brian Belen sealing their partnership with a contract signing .
The pioneering graduate degree program was designed to support new literacies in the 21st century and equip teachers with innovative and non-traditional instructional approaches to effectively nurture and teach digital natives of the present.
Under the graduate program, Miriam College provides the curriculum design that features the country’s first learning content and management system (LCMS) developed by Diwa Learning Systems Inc (DLSI).
”Our shared belief in the capacity of Filipino scholars and educators to make e-learning work, particularly in basic education has led us toward the direction of preparing specialists in this exciting area of teacher education,” said Dr. Edizon Fermin who also helped in designing the project
Dr Fermin added that the newest degree program for teachers/educators and experts will enable learners to see the ever-expanding global community as a space of infinite possibilities especially with the implementation of the borderless Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) starting this year in terms of jobs and opportunities.
A total of 15 scholars comprise the first batch who will take the program beginning second semester of the current academic year.
They are teachers in Science, Mathematics, Information Technology (IT) and English in different levels.
Most of the scholars have taken the Summer Institute on Technology in Education (SITE) which is a certificate program jointly implemented by Miriam College and Diwa since 2013 focusing on the use of mobile technology for learning and teaching.
The program also introduces a comprehensive curriculum to fully equip teachers with the right skills to take on challenges teaching a generation living in a highly digital world.
It features courses including Learning and Teaching using Mobile Technology; Digital Law which addresses the legal and ethical issues surrounding academic transactions in an online environment; Game-based Learning and Gamification; tackling methods and approaches to integrate educational games into e-learning environs and Digital Citizenship to provide understanding of human, cultural and societal issues related to the use of online and other digital platforms.
The graduate degree is open to all educators, especially migrants who wish to upgrade their skills in the area of e-learning. (PNA)