High-tech teaching creates unlimited learning chances

SAN MIGUEL, Leyte, Jan. 22  -- A more modern approach to teaching using higher technology is keeping students in school and is boosting attendance and participation in classes in this sleepy town.

The alternative learning board, also termed “AlBoard”, first introduced in 2016 at the San Miguel Central School here, has helped children increase their knowledge absorption, attendance rate and earn higher grades in their subject classes.

Kenneth Bagangan, a science teacher of the school, said pupils have become more interested in learning the daily lessons, especially science, through the interactive board that provides more visual presentation of the topics being presented.

“It has always been hard to capture the children’s imagination especially in science when you have nothing to show, but the alternative learning board, the visual element of the approach helped a lot in making the lesson more fun and more interactive,” Bagangan said.

An alternative learning board allows computer images to be displayed onto a board using a digital projector. The teacher can then manipulate the elements on the board by using his finger as a mouse, directly on the screen. Items can be dragged, clicked and copied and the lecturer can handwrite notes, which can be transformed into text and saved.

The AlBoard has become a powerful tool in the classroom adding interactivity and collaboration, allowing the integration of media content into the lecture and supporting collaborative learning. Used innovatively they create a wide range of learning opportunities.

For San Miguel Central School, the AlBoard was given by the Betty Bantug Benitez Foundation Inc. and Pass It Forward Foundation, an Israeli non-government organization, and the Playtech Corporation through Negros Occidental (3rd District) Rep. Alfredo Benitez.

Benitez, who recently visited San Miguel to assess the effectiveness of the modern teaching approach said he has expanded the AlBoard project to other areas in the Visayas to improve the delivery of quality education emphasizing on the need for modern technology in terms of teaching-learning process.

He extended the project to other areas being head of the Visayan bloc in House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Mayor Cheeryl Enrica Esperas pushes for more interactive learning boards to be installed in other schools in her municipality.

“Since the use of the interactive boards has boosted pupils’ attendance and participation, we can perhaps duplicate this project in other schools to achieve the same enthusiasm and interest among our students,” Esperas said.

It was learned that one alternative learning board package which consist of a large interactive white board, computer set and projector cost around PHP200,000. (ACR/PNA)