“The Intel Teach Program in the Philippines” aims to promote the quality and the level of education in the country through the use of new teaching methods, complemented by ICT. One of the innovations of the Intel Teach Program is the “Communities of Learning”, which has become the convergence point that allows all education stakeholders to help move Philippines education in the 21st century.

Intel¹ established its assembly and test operations in Makati City, Philippines in 1974 and opened another site in General Trias, Cavite in 1996. It then consolidated its operations in a 49 acre location in General Trias, Cavite in 2002. As of August 2007, Intel Technology Philippines, Inc. (ITPI) employed around 4,000 full time employees and about 2,200 contractual workers. Intel Technology Philippines, Inc. is Intel's second offshore assembly and test operations center in Asia, and the first American multinational and semiconductor company in the Philippines. It is the pre-eminent high volume assembly/test site for Intel microprocessors.

ITPI is considered to be an active contributor to the Philippine economy through its investments, tax contributions, employment income and direct exports contributions; and acts as a stimulator to local business growth in General Trias, Cavite.

The Philippines, an archipelago located in Southeast Asia, had a total population 76.5 million people as of 2000.² Its medium-term development plan for 2004-2010 adheres to the United Nations Development Project's Millennium Development Goals, and focuses on poverty alleviation, promoting education, job generation, and infrastructure and transportation development.

1.2.1 The Economy
From 2001 to 2003, the gross national product (GNP) of the Philippines increased at an average rate of 4.5 percent, while its gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 4.0 percent.³ Although the increase in its economic activities was described as "respectable", this remained modest relative to the growth rate of other Asian countries.

In the period 2001-2003, the services sector served as the key driver for the Philippine’s economy, increasing as it did at the yearly rate of 5.1 percent. This development was possibly linked to the expansion of the telecommunications sector as telecommunication companies expanded their offices and services beyond Metro Manila.

In the same years (2001 to 2003), the average employment rate in the Philippines was 88.6 percent, with majority of the country's labor force belonging to the services sector, followed by agriculture. The potential job generating sectors include tourism, agribusiness, ICT, exports, and mining.

Meanwhile, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) identified the primary reason behind the 12.13 percent unemployment rate in 2004, which was the lack of investments in the Philippines. As of 2007, however, there was a significant increase in the presence of multinational companies in the country, especially in the area of business process outsourcing, has become evident. This phenomenon is believed to be largely a result of the high English proficiency and IT-enabled management manpower of the country relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

1.2.2 Human Development
Due to the sustained growth of the Philippine economy in the past years (2001-2003), President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was confident that this would continue in the next five years.⁴ However, this was not reflected in the life of every Filipino. In 2003, for example, approximately 24 out of every 100 Filipino families did not earn enough to satisfy their basic food and non-food requirements; while looking at the data from the population perspective, this implied that 30 out of every 100 Filipinos had income short of the minimum level needed to satisfy their basic requirements.⁵

In 2006, the Philippine's Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.763, which ranked it 84th out of 177 countries in terms of quality of life, education and health.

1.2.3 Governance
Per the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Philippines is a "democratic and republican state". The Philippine government has three co-equal branches: the executive, a bicameral legislature, and the judiciary.

The Philippine President is elected by a direct popular vote for one fixed term of six years and may not be reelected. Aside from being the Head of State and Government, the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Legislative branch consists of the Senate or Upper House, and Congress or the Lower House. Like the President, representatives of both houses are elected through direct popular vote. While the members of the Senate are elected nationally, those of Congress are elected by their respective districts. The Legislative branch of government formulates the laws and approves the budget submitted by the President.

The Philippines consists of 17 regions, two of which are autonomous regions. These regions are further divided into 81 provinces, 131 cities, 1,497 municipalities, and 41,994 barangays. Each province has its own autonomous local government unit, a privilege deriving from the Decentralization Act of 1991.

1.2.4 The Education System
English and Filipino, the country's official languages, also serve as the mediums of instruction under the Philippine's education system. Patterned after the American education system, the Philippine education system prescribes one of the shortest number of years of formal schooling in Asia at six years of elementary (primary) and four years of high school (secondary).

Schools are classified as either public (government-operated) or private (non¬government). Majority of the students both in elementary and high school are enrolled in public schools.

The role of the national government: The 1987 Philippine Constitution stipulates that education is the right of every Filipino, the Constitution also prescribes that education be prioritized in terms of budget allocation. Corollary, the Philippine government offers free education for the primary and secondary levels in public schools and subsidized tuition fees in state universities.

On the national level, the Department of Education (DepEd) monitors and regulates the Philippine educational system. Its mission is "to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all and lay the foundation for life-long learning and service for the common good." DepEd, which manages the Philippine education system, is organized into two major structural components. The Central Office maintains the overall administration of basic education at the national level, while the Field Offices are responsible for the regional and local coordination and administration of the Department's mandate.

The Teacher Education Council: In August 1994, the need to enhance teacher competency and education was addressed through the legislation of RA 7784 or An Act Strengthening Teacher Education in the Philippines by Establishing a Center of Excellence and Creation of Teacher Education Council. This policy aimed to "provide and ensure quality education by strengthening the education and training of teachers nationwide through a national system of excellence for teacher education." Its vision is to develop a teacher education system, "whose mission is to educate and train teachers of unquestionable integrity and competence, and who are committed to their continuing professional growth and obligation to help their students grow as responsible individuals and citizens of the Philippines and of the world."⁶

The legislation also prescribed the establishment of a Center for Excellence and the creation of Teacher Education Council. Among the functions of the Teacher Education Council was to identify and designate among existing private and public schools, teacher education institutions, as Center of Excellence for Teachers Education (COETE) at the national, regional and provincial levels. The Center for Excellence's primary functions included the following:⁷

• Experiment and try out relevant and innovative pre-service teacher education/training programs;
• Organize and coordinate collaborative research on identified areas for systematic investigation in teacher education as basis for improving teacher education/training programs;
• Serve as teacher resource center for curricular/instructional materials development;
• Serve as the center mode for networking specific data;
• Provide professional assistance to Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) that have expressed the need for such assistance;
• Encourage mutual support among TEIs in the region for upgrading their programs; and
• Facilitate and help expedite accreditation among TEIs.

The Teacher Education Council consists of eleven members with the DepEd Secretary as ex-officio chairman, and three other ex officio members, namely: a Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), a representative of the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCAA), and the Chairman of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC). The Council is tasked to oversee the administrative and strategic planning for the development of the TEIs, and the design of the programs for the in-service and pre-service training of teachers.

1.3.1 Infrastructure
In promoting educational development, DepEd sought to improve the quality of and access to basic education through ICT-based educational interventions. Since 2000, DepEd has promoted the use of ICT in student learning and classroom pedagogy under its Computerization Program, which has been supplemented by the ICT-related initiatives of the other national government agencies, local government units, non¬government organizations, private firms, foreign governments, corporations and international aid donor agencies.

Despite this campaign, the public education system faced two challenges in the continuous use of ICT: (1) a low penetration rate and (2) limited availability of software.

That the penetration rate of computer technology among public elementary and secondary schools is low is attested to by the 2002 estimates of DepEd which indicate that there is only one computer for every 25,000 elementary school pupils, and only one computer for every 728 elementary school teachers. On the other hand, while the penetration rate among secondary school students is better, it is nonetheless low at one computer for every 111 secondary school students, and one computer for every three secondary school teachers.

In schools, subject-specific educational software available is similarly limited in terms of number and variety. The only available educational software that are widely used are limited to English, Science and Mathematics subjects. Access to educational software on music and arts is poor, just as it is for subject areas like Social Studies and Filipino that require content to be presented using the local language.

1.3.2 Integration of ICT in the Curriculum
While the DepEd is slowly addressing the problem of ICT penetration among public schools, there remains a significant need to develop technology-enhanced curricula and training opportunities for teachers.

As a component to ensure proper ICT integration, teacher training opportunities are limited. According to the 2002 survey conducted by the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED), 58 percent of schools reported that fewer than half of their teaching staff had undergone computer-related training, while 12 percent reported that their teachers had absolutely no computer-related training.⁸

1.3.3 Teacher Training: Institutional Challenges
Other than the lack of training opportunities, there are institutional factors that also affect the participation of teachers in training seminars, such as insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge, lack of post-training support, lack of time, lack of motivation, and lack of administrative and policy support for ICT integration.

Insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge. Teachers are hesitant to participate in training seminars because they do not want their peers to know how insufficient their content and pedagogical knowledge is, not to mention their ICT skills which are most likely very basic. Teachers lack knowledge/skills in using computers/ the Internet for instructional purposes.

Lack of post-training pedagogical support. All training seminars are limited to on-site lectures for the teachers. After the training, the teachers are expected to apply their newly acquired skills and methods in the classroom. But the training fails to take into account the teacher's capacity to absorb and master the principles learned, which may be limited. As such, teachers are only knowledgeable about the theoretical underpinnings of the concepts and are unable to properly implement these in the classroom setting.

Lack of time.Lack of time. Due to the limited classroom facilities, public schools have two to three shifts of primary or secondary students per day. Because of the tight schedule of classes, teachers do not have enough time to prepare additional subject-curriculums and exercises that incorporate the lessons and innovations they learn during training seminars, like ICT-related ones.

Lack of motivation. Because of the insufficient incentive structure at the professional and institutional levels, teachers have very little motivation to pursue continuous training to enhance their skills.

Lack of administrative, policy, and financial support for ICT integration. Because of the lack of administrative and policy support from the education divisions, schools are not prioritizing the need to develop ICT integration in their curriculums. This phenomenon is accompanied by the high cost of maintaining and supporting the schools' ICT facilities.

ITPI and the Philippine government, through the DepEd launched Intel® Teach in the Philippines in 2001.

Christian Morales, then vice president and general manager of Intel Asia Pacific and Robin Martin, then Intel Philippines general manager, presented the Intel® Teach program to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo⁹, who promised that her administration would address three areas of concern for ICT namely:

• Building the physical infrastructure;
• Enhancing the policy and legislative environment to further promote information technology; and
• Human-resource development.

The program embodied Intel's long-term commitment to help improve the quality of education in the Philippines. "Aligned with the Philippine government's information technology (IT) initiatives, Intel® Teach will help build for the country an IT-smart workforce for tomorrow,"¹⁰ Martin stressed.

The organizations anticipated that the program would be the major teacher-training component of the government's computerization programs for public schools, among them the Personal Computers for Public Schools (PCPS) Project¹¹ and the Adopt-a-School Program.¹²

2.1.1 Partners
Intel: Intel provided financial assistance, collaborated with the government and non¬government partner organizations and universities in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Intel® Teach program. The grant covered the implementation and coordination efforts across partner organizations, namely FIT-ED and UP-NISMED. It covered the operational expenses, accommodation of participants, honoraria of trainers, and the monitoring and evaluation expenses. The education program managers under the Corporate Affairs Group of Intel's local subsidiary, Intel Technology Philippines, Inc., were responsible for the formulation of the overall strategies and budget, after thorough consultations with partner agencies and organization. They likewise ensured that the implementation of the program was aligned with the general global format and were responsible for submitting reports to the head office.

Department of Education (DepEd): As the national policymaking and governing body responsible for both public and private primary and secondary schools, DepEd was expected to make quality basic education accessible to all and to lay the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good.

Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED): FIT-ED was established to increase awareness of information technology as a tool for development through Pilipinas SchoolNet (PSN), its flagship ICT in Education program. PSN was expected to become a sustainable network of schools in the Philippines that uses a broad range of information and communication technologies as effective tools for teaching and learning.

In 2005, FIT-ED became the implementing agency for the Intel® Teach In-Service Program in the Philippines and was responsible for developing the strategies for the effective and sustainable implementation of the Program in the country, as well as for the overall management of Program activities. FIT-ED also designed and delivered professional development activities and provided planning and management support to all education policymakers and administrators covered by the 2005-2006 Program.

University of the Philippines - National Institute for Science and Math Education Development (UP-NISMED): As a research and extension unit of the University of the Philippines (UP), UP-NISMED's goal was to raise the quality of science and mathematics education in the Philippines. UP-NISMED believed that ‘’learners learn most effectively from experiences that are engaging, meaningful, challenging and relevant; and from teachers who facilitate construction of knowledge from such experiences.’’

UP-NISMED was responsible for the Content Localization¹³ and Teacher Professional Development components of the Intel® Teach program (In-service and Pre-service). This included developing and conducting the Philippine version of the Essentials Course, designing and implementing Enhancement Workshops for MTs and National Forums for educational stakeholders, providing PSM to MTs, and monitoring Unit Plan implementation and the conduct of school-based Participant Teacher Trainings.

2.1.2 Target participants
In-service teachers: The government's computerization program prioritized the distribution of PCs to secondary public schools. Consequently, the Intel® Teach Program concentrated on training secondary public school teachers in the Intel® Teach Essentials course which focused on effective technology integration in teaching to maximize student learning and outcomes. Since its launch in 2001, over 50,000 in-service teachers have benefited from the program.

Basic Education Statistics (2005-2006)

Public Private Total Elementary Schools 37,161 4,788 41,949 Teachers 341,789 — 341,789 Enrolment 11,982,462 931,383 12,913,845 Secondary Schools 4,915 3,372 8,287 Teachers 126,141 — 126,141 Enrolment 4,979,030 1,287,985 6,267,015

From 2005-2007, the program has trained teachers from ten regions, 19 divisions, and 53 schools

Program's Impact (2005-2007)

SY 2005-2006 SY 2006-2007 Total Regions 5 (NCR, Region III, Region IV-A, ARMM and Region XI) 6 (NCR, Region I, Region VIII, Region IX, Region X, CARAGA) 10 Divisions 10 9 19 Schools 33 20 53

Pre-service teachers: Over 50 Philippine universities have received training under the Intel® Teach Program. Since its launch in 2001, over 25,000 pre-service faculty and students have received training in the Intel® Teach Essentials Course. The objectives of the Intel Teach Pre-service Program in the Philippines are as follows:

• to develop a pool of future teachers who will play lead roles in using and integrating information and communications technology into school curricula to improve student learning.
• to develop competencies among College of Education faculty in preparing future teachers.
• to use and integrate information and communication technology in school curricula.
• to upgrade and strengthen the educational technology and related methods courses of key teacher education institutions in the country by providing them with high-quality training, curriculum, and resources.

At the pre-service level, the Intel® Teach program involves upgrading educational technology and related methods, as well as professional education courses in teacher education curricula. It also entails the development of competencies among education faculty through the provision of ready-to-use curricula, resources, and faculty training.

The pre-service component also aims to upgrade and strengthen Educational Technology, Teaching Strategies/Teaching the Major Fields, Student Teaching, and similar courses of key teacher education institutions in the country by providing them with high-quality curriculum, course modules, and faculty training.

Intel® Teach developed in me and the teachers' new patterns of thinking. It challenged me to make a difference. Integrating it in the curriculum has greatly improved the learning outcomes of students. Intel's involvement in education initiatives will make our education in secondary schools globally competitive.

Lawanbai B.Macacua, Ph.D
Malabang National High School
Lanao del Sur.

2.1.3 Training
The Intel® Teach Essentials program is focused on training teachers how to effectively integrate technology in the classroom to improve student learning. The program trains teachers where and when to strategically incorporate information and communications technology (ICT) into their lessons, in order to develop 21st century skills in their students.

The initial plan for the program was to equip public school teachers with competency to integrate technology in their teaching methods. The STs trained MTs, who were nominated by their schools; and these MTs, in turn, trained 20 more PTs within two school years. Under the pre-service program, STs trained 25 pre-service (PS) faculties of teacher education institutions (TEIs). These PS faculties were then expected to train two classes or 80 students.

In-service training was conducted during summer months (March-May) and semester breaks (last week of October to first week of November).

From the Essentials Course training program, MTs learned how to integrate ICT in classroom teaching. At the end of the training, they were expected to be able to envision the teaching-learning process from the perspective of the students, and to develop a more interactive approach to teaching. Further, the MTs were expected to be more confident in their mastery of the essential skills to use the basic and advanced features of relevant computer software. They should be able to produce outputs and create products enhanced by ICT technology.

In their training workshops, MTs were exposed to the inquiry approach. They learned to formulate essential questions and to make sure that the students worked on certain activities and pursued the answers to their own questions. MTs created productivity tools for their students, such as team-building exercises and analytical activities. To develop outputs from a student's perspective was one of the most difficult aspects of the training.

In the training session, the teachers learned how to objectively evaluate the technology-based outputs of the students. The teachers were taught how to develop a "Rubrics grading sheet" ¹⁴ template to assess the performance and output of their students. ¹⁵

The crafting of the learning objectives and principal questions for the unit plan proved to be one of the most challenging modules in the Intel® Teach Essentials Course training because teachers had to integrate the BEC in the learning objectives and ensure that the students developed higher order thinking skills, as opposed to lower level and basic skills, which focused on rote memorization. Higher order thinking skills included technology and digital literacy, effective communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. The 21st century learning and thinking skills would prepare students as they enter higher education and the workplace. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, "As much as students need to learn academic content, they also need to know how to keep learning—and make effective and innovative use of what they know—throughout their lives." ¹⁶

The skills that the training program promoted were also aligned with the Revised Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC) ¹⁷ which focused on student center approaches, interactivity, technology integration, and higher order thinking skills ¹⁸ (HOTS), as well as authentic assessment.

Beginning school year (SY) 2005-2006, the Intel® Teach Program in the Philippines implemented a systems approach to ensure the sustainability of efforts around ICT integration. The systems approach pointed to the recognition of all stakeholders within "communities" (e.g., principals, teachers, ICT division coordinators, etc.) and introduced innovations to link and promote ownership of the identified stakeholders. Innovations introduced to foster the formation of sustainable communities of learning (CoL) included the competitive selection of schools and teacher education institutions (TEIs), the introduction of planning and management strategic workshops within schools and divisions, and the provision of pedagogical support which created the links between many different players within and across the schools, divisions and TEIs.

A Community of Learning (CoL) is defined simply as a network of teachers, trainers, support providers, students, education policymakers, planners, and administrators, technical support staff, education researchers, parents, local governments, and other education stakeholders that shares information, expertise, and resources in support of technology integration in schools. We believe that establishing this network and encouraging interactions within the network are key to institutionalizing ICT integration in schools.

Under the CoL Approach, the team used a three-step competitive process to identify schools that fostered an environment in which the program was most likely to flourish. Three general criteria were set, namely, an environment conducive to quality performance, the effective diffusion of innovative practice, and long-term sustainability. The purpose of adopting a competitive selection strategy, instead of mass training, was to ensure that the stakeholders in the community would assume ownership and accountability over the success and sustainability of the program.

Step 1: Pre-selection process
Stakeholder's meetings were co-organized with the office of the DepED Undersecretary of Programs and the Bureau of Secondary Education. The selection of regions invited to apply was based on DepED data on computer and Internet penetration.

Regional and Division IT Coordinators of these identified regions were then asked to pre-select schools to be invited to apply based on criteria set by FIT-ED, as follows:

• Must have at least 10 computers with simultaneous Internet access.
• Must have minimal power outages from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; must have at least 8 hours of uninterrupted electricity.
• Must be able to recommend 5 subject area (Mathematics, Science, English, or Filipino) teachers for MT training.
• Must be able to designate one full-time or two (or more) part-time laboratory managers

Step 2: Application process and evaluation
Invited applicants were required to accomplish and submit the following forms:

• School Profile: This form asked for general information about the school (size, history, location); history of ICT use and existing policies and objectives.
• Infrastructure Profile: This form asked for basic and ICT-related infrastructure data.
• Administrator Profile: This form asked for information about the administrator/school head's knowledge and attitudes towards ICTs.
• Technical Personnel Profile: This form asked for information about the technical staff and his/her experience in managing and maintaining the school's ICT infrastructure, from simple troubleshooting to network administration.
• Teacher Profile: This form asked for information on the nominated teacher and his/her experience in using ICTs in teaching, and his/her interest and skills in ICT integration in teaching and learning.

Step 3: Ocular inspection
Visits for validation of information provided in the submitted application forms and to gain a better understanding of the operational context of each applicant-school were scheduled in schools that passed the paper review. The schools were clustered geographically for maximum efficiency, while the schedules of the visits were coordinated through the Divisions. The Division IT Coordinators accompanied the selection team.

The school visits began with a brief overview of the Program, after which interviews with the school administrators, technical personnel, and five (5) teacher-nominees were conducted and documented. A tour of the school's ICT facilities concluded the visits.

The school visits allowed the Selection Team to get a better "feel" of the schools and to document intangible factors that might contribute to the success or failure of the Program in the school. These factors included the actual dynamics in a school -between and among the administrators, teachers, technical personnel, non-teaching staff, and to a certain extent, the students; and the level of readiness and commitment of the school to the program as gleaned from interviews.

Another strategic enhancement of the Intel Teach Program in the Philippines introduced in 2005 was the replacement of the Principal's Forum with a more comprehensive intervention directed at policymakers and administrators. This intervention was twofold: the first involved the conduct of the Strategic Planning for ICTs in Basic Education, while the second entailed the implementation of the Planning and Management Support Scheme.

FIT-ED adapted a training model and the materials developed for a project similar to Intel Teach. It also introduced a professional development activity for policymakers and administrators on Strategic Planning for ICTs in Basic Education. This workshop was designed to introduce participants to Technology Planning as a critical component in successful technology integration in schools. During the workshop participants were provided a framework for understanding and making decisions about how to appropriately, effectively, and sustainably use technology in an educational setting. They were also taken through the different steps in technology planning, in the process examining relevant implementation issues and reviewing various planning resources and tools. The goal of the two-day workshop was to develop knowledge on the components and processes of developing a useful five-year strategic plan for technology use in their respective educational units.

The Technology Planning Workshop was complemented by the second component of the intervention directed at policymakers and administrators, the Planning and Management (P&M) Support Scheme. The scheme was designed to facilitate two main tasks:

• The preparation of an organization-wide Technology Plan for Technology Use by participating DepEd units, and
• The fulfillment of Program commitments, in particular the Unit Plan implementation by MTs, and PT Training.

FIT-ED constituted a three-person team to provide Planning and Management (P&M) support. Support was provided in the form of consultations (either face-to-face, by email, by telephone, or by SMS) on both planning and program implementation issues, as well as the review of planning outputs.

The Intel® Teach Pedagogical Support System (PSS) was set up as one of the Program's post-training activities. It provided instructional support to newly trained MTs to encourage them to implement the Unit Plans they developed during the training and to help them overcome the challenges during implementation. It also aimed to help the MTs prepare for the conduct of Participant Teacher (PT) Trainings in their respective schools.

The efforts and optimism of Intel to transform and create a pedagogical paradigm shift is simply remarkable. A lot of Intel® Teach teachers have shared their knowledge with other teachers, which is creating a domino effect in the improvement of the public school system.

Rosalie E. Bongon
San Francisco High School
Quezon City

The provision of support for the Pilot Pedagogical Support System had two components: the Instructional Support and the Participant Teachers' Training Support.

The Instructional Support consisted of an array of activities, resources, and services carried out in three stages, namely,

• Unit Plan Enhancement,
• Unit Plan Implementation, and
• Reflection and Evaluation.

The Participant Teachers' Training Support on the other hand, included the following:

• Coordinating the schedule of the school-based PT Training,
• Providing assistance to requests for training materials for use during the PT Training,
• Conducting pre-training orientation
• Gathering of narrative reports, and
• Assisting MTs in the submission of accomplished End-of-Training evaluation forms to a third-party evaluator.

Each component included a reflection/evaluation that enabled all Support Providers and the new Master Trainers to recommend changes aimed at improving the processes and tools.

The program's evaluation is not solely measured by quantitative indicators. Rather, the experiences and insights of the target beneficiaries are crucial in assessing the program's impact, which could be seen in the improvement in student learning and productivity.

Generally, the program has improved student learning by presenting a more participant- based structure. It has also enhanced the student's interest and productivity.

The U.P. College of Education's report declared that: "There was a strong observation among student-teachers that their students became more motivated and had experienced more positive outcomes as a result of their technology-based lessons."¹⁹

This claim was further substantiated by the MT respondents who said that

ICT-integrated classes enhanced the students' comprehension of concepts, developed their higher order thinking skills and ability to articulate views, increased student achievement and productivity, sustained their attention and interest in class, and provided opportunity for collaboration among them.²⁰

Since the launch of the Intel® Teach Pre-service Curriculum in May 2002, there have been 277 teacher educators and over 25,000 student teachers from 56 universities who have been trained on it. Both University administrators and student-teachers have appreciated the innovations introduced under the program.

The student teachers experience recognition and appreciation after taking Intel® Teach training because it has not only enhanced their skills and employment qualifications, but has also given them greater confidence and motivation to adopt new teaching principles and strategies.

Teacher educators in TEIs have seen the benefits of the program on the student-teachers. Teacher educators feel that the pre-service training program has the capacity to develop among the students higher-order thinking skills, which is evident when students are asked categorical and abstract questions.

Based on the report of the third party evaluation team, it was observed that in the Philippines:

Among the student-teachers and the young teachers, there is deep sense of recognition and appreciation of their Intel Teach training. Not only has Intel Teach enhanced their skills and employment qualifications, it has also given them greater confidence and motivation to adopt new teaching principles and strategies.²¹

The Congressional National High School (CNHS) was the only school in its district chosen in SY 2005-2006 for the Intel Teach program, even without the support of its school division. It became one of the high performing schools among the Intel® Teach CoL schools. Currently, they are in the third year of program implementation and are beginning to show the desired program impact.

CNHS has around 2,800 students and 54 teachers. Like any ordinary public school in the Philippines, it has two shifts of students or morning and afternoon classes, with each class composed of 80 students.

Emmanuel Resurreccion, principal of CNHS, learned about the Intel® Teach program in 2005 through the DepEd memo indicating that there was an open call for public high schools to participate in the program. Upon hearing this, Mr. Resurreccion asked his staff to conduct an Internet search to gather more information about the program. The staff were able to download the application form from FIT-ED's website. After completing the form, they submitted it directly to FIT-ED which sent a team to interview the teachers and the school administrator to assess their commitment and capability. The team concluded that CNHS was ready for the program.

The principal championed the program and understandably so as it was his passion to promote ICT in his school. Such passion emanated from his guiding principle that "Public school students should not be at a disadvantage when it comes to ICT just because they are poor. ICT is a means by which the public school students can be at par with students from the private schools."

Resurreccion was also able to manage the school's budget thereby ensuring the sustainability of the program. DepEd's Php25,000 monthly allocation for the school's maintenance and other operating expense (MOOE) was insufficient; it could not even cover the school's electrical needs amounting to PhP30,000 for the school campus and another PhP15,000 for the computer lab. To generate enough resources, he used the profits from the canteen, fieldtrips, and cooperative bookstore to pay for the bills. Any surplus was then used for the purchase and maintenance of the computers. To date, the school has been able to purchase an additional five computers. Students are charged PhP300 per year or PhP30 per month as laboratory fee. Through Resurreccion's initiatives, the school was able to solicit computers from the municipal mayor (2 units), its district's congressman (5 units), and a Korean foundation (20 units). In 2007, the school received 80 computer units under Intel's 1:1 eLearning Model Classroom Program. The objective of the program was to broaden the students' access to the Internet through a one student per computer ratio and to promote the effective use of technology through improved learning.

In 2005, the school began training new teachers in the school, who would utilize the skills and competencies learned in classroom teaching. Resurreccion also fostered an environment that encouraged teachers to effectively integrate technology into their teaching methods through the implementation of ICT for Education programs such as the Intel® Teach program and other education technology training programs like WebQuest and Online Treasure Hunt. In a memo dated June 2007, Resurreccion announced that teachers who submitted a unit plan on any of these programs would be given a computer ink cartridge. He offered other incentives namely, a USB, an MP3 player, or a printer for the department.

Developing various unit plans based on these training programs would create a "case bank" from which teachers could easily access and review lesson plans for future use. This initiative would secure the sustainability of the program since teachers would not need to create a unit plan, which usually took six to eight weeks to finish. Instead, they could simply borrow and pattern their unit plan on what was available.

As a result of the school's initiatives, it received the 1st Intel Teach Recognition Award for being a Champion School during the 1st Intel Teach Awards for 21st Century Educators in 2006. Its school administrator and teachers received a special citation for having the Most Outstanding Technology Plan and Integration. CNHS's success, Resurreccion said, could also be attributed to the fact that almost 90 percent of the teachers in the school were young, being around 20 to 30 years old. As such they were able to adjust and were open to the use of new technology in the classroom.

The school also put up an e-Club for the students through which they learned how to operate and do minor repairs on basic education ICT equipment. As students developed these technological competencies, they became teacher assistants whenever problems occurred. This set-up minimized the time spent by ICT teachers on computer troubleshooting. It also gave them more time to develop ICT-enhanced lessons plans.

At CNHS, the students utilized only 33 computers, effectively affecting the ratio of computers to students as well as the period of time spent in the computer labs. The school's ratio per class was about 1:5, which was too low to ensure that all students would be able to complete a hands-on computer exercise. Teachers, therefore, divided the class into groups of two, three or four to ensure that all the students would have a chance to use the computers. However, given that the school ran on two shifts, the time available per subject was only 50 minutes, which proved insufficient for the completion of exercises. To provide ample time for the students, the teachers usually extended the time by starting the class 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Students were also given a chance to complete their projects in the computer lab if there was no class scheduled thereat.

Per the school administrator and teachers of CNHS, the program greatly improved the quality of education and the behavior of students in the class.

The College of Education (CED) of MSU-IIT was considered one of the most established CoL using the Intel® Teach program. Since its inclusion in SY 2004-2005, MSU-IIT CoL grew to involve various education stakeholders from TEIs, LGUs, DepEd Division Office, and secondary public schools.

The missionary zeal by which the program is implemented in a local setting like MSU-IIT allows Intel Teach to soar. What sustain it in the field is the "love of teaching" and the commitment of young teachers "to teach to the future." Clearly, a new breed of teachers has emerged, imbued with new pedagogical principles and strategies, and with enhanced competencies for the school of the future.²²

When the seasoned Intel® Teach Master Trainer, Prof. Amelia T. Buan, joined the CED faculty in June 2004, the College gained a fourth Intel® Teach-trained faculty member who was determined to immediately implement the Intel® Teach Pre-service Training Program.

In SY 2004-2005, the first year of its implementation, CED focused its training on integrating the Intel® Teach pre-service curriculum courses such as, Educational Technology, Principles and Methods of Teaching, Multimedia Applications in Teaching, and various strategy courses. During the first year of the Intel® Teach implementation, 380 out of 480 would-be teachers completed the program.

The CED Intel® Teach implementers trained not only the pre-service teachers but also their colleagues and the faculty members of other TEIs. Buan spearheaded the first training program at the Integrated Developmental School (IDS) of MSU-IIT. She coordinated with Monalisa T. Sasing, the Intel® Teach In-service Training Program Coordinator, and with Prof. Digna C. Padura, the IDS Principal, in organizing the seminar. Of the 16 participants, Dr. Myrna E. Lahoylahoy and Prof. Rizalina G. Gomez were CED faculty members. The other five who were able to implement their own unit plans were Mrs. Rudy Phel D. Sabaduquia, Ms. Rhea D. Febro, Ms. Joy R. Magsayo, Mr. John Alan D. Lee, and the CED Dean herself, Prof. Lydie D. Paderanga. Their participation increased the number of trained teachers under the Intel® Teach Program.

By the first semester of SY 2005-2006, there were 11 implementers of Intel® Teach. The semester began with the echo training of the Pre-service Faculty Enhancement Workshop. With more CED faculty members implementing Intel Teach, the number of CED students undergoing the program also increased to 481 from 380 in SY 2005-2006.

After a year of implementing the program, Yvonne Garcia-Flores, former Education Manager of Intel Technology Philippines, described MSU-IIT as an "outstanding" implementer of Intel® Teach. Ms. Celia Balbin, on the other hand, remarked that MSU-irr was "soaring high" and was setting a standard that other TEIs would be able to use as a model. Dr. Merle C. Tan, Director of UP-NISMED, invited MSU-IIT to share its Intel Teach experience with prospective Intel Teach implementers during the Deans' Forum on October 27-28, 2005 because of "our high capacity" and successful implementation of Intel® Teach.

Consequently, MSU-IIT was one of the few universities selected to participate in the pilot phase of the Intel® Teach Pre-service Program Evaluation for Asia. Balbin informed the teachers that, "The way the results of the non-survey component of the study were reported brought out outstanding details of IIT's accomplishments".

The team was able to conduct three Intel® Teach programs from November 2005 to February 2006.

Intel® Teach Programs conducted by the ICT Training Team of MSU-IIT

Training activity Date Participants Educators' Forum and Enhancement Training November 28-29,2005 52 from the DepEd Division of Iligan City Orientation    of    Practice    Teachers    and Enhancement Training December 6-7, 2005 171 CED Practice Teachers Intel  Teach   In-service Training  for  Public Elementary Schools December 10, 2005 to February 25, 2006 20 DepEd Elementary Teachers

The commitment of the stakeholders played a significant role since they [CED] were able to train the most number of pre-service and in-service teachers in the whole Intel® Teach program. These MTs, who composed the ICT training team, reported to school to train, and worked overtime without additional compensation. Their support and monitoring were credited for the high rate of unit plans implemented at 90 percent.

The designation of an Educational Technologist as a "dedicated" Media Coordinator and a member of the College's Executive Committee (CED-EXECOM) helped in creating a conducive infrastructure for the Intel® Teach program since its main task was the integration of ICT in the curriculum. Other factors included:

• A vision coupled with action
• The involvement of the leadership - the Dean herself became a participant and implemented her own unit plan
• Teamwork, close and continuous coordination and cooperation among the university administrators and CED faculty in managing the activities and using all resources efficiently and effectively
• The stakeholders' united efforts

Strategies for Successful Program Implementation. As a Training Education Institute (TEI), MSU-IIT integrated the Intel Teach program into the different courses that pre-service teachers took during their course of study.

MSU-IIT conducted a curriculum review to realign subjects with the Intel® Teach Pre-service Curriculum. As a prerequisite for subjects where Intel Teach was successfully integrated, students had to first enroll in Computer Science (or ICT). After taking CompSci, students had to enroll in both Ed 105 (Educational Technology) and Ed 107 (Principles and Methods of Teaching) where Modules 1, 2, 3, and 5 were integrated. Thereafter they had to take Ed 114/Strategies where Modules 4, 6, 7, and 8 were integrated. When they enrolled in Ed 197A (Observation and Internship), they were expected to do Modules 9 and 10 since they would already have been exposed to the actual classroom settings. When they enrolled in Ed 197B (Practice Teaching), they were therefore expected to have already completed their unit plans and to be ready to implement them during Practice Teaching.

Second, the Curriculum Revision as mandated by CHED Memorandum Order No. 11, included a laboratory component to Ed 105 (Ed Tech 1) and Ed 114 (Ed Tech 2). This gave an additional opportunity for students to be exposed to Intel® Teach activities and web-enhanced learning activities.

Third, as a response to the CED faculty's difficulty in evaluating student outputs, there was a reduction in the class size for those doing Intel Teach, e.g., from 35 or more to 20 to 25 students.

Fourth, small ICT training seminars were conducted to prepare CED faculty for the ten-day intensive Intel Teach Pre-service Program.

Fifth, other measures were employed to ensure the successful implementation of the program, such as:

• Survey of readiness for Intel Teach
• Free computer literacy sessions for students who were not computer literate or were not yet enrolled in Computer Science
• Pairing the computer literate with the computer illiterate
• Pairing students taking the same degree program
• Free use by the students of the ICT equipment in the classroom for Intel Teach activities
• Requesting approval for the use of ICT facilities overnight or beyond office hours to allow students to do laboratory activities and to complete their unit plans
• Faculty implementers' use of the computers at the ICT laboratory for free
• Improving ICT infrastructure with CED's funds and through linkages/partnerships with GOs and NGOs

Encouraging in-house trained faculty members to implement Intel Teach by giving all out support to them, i.e., giving them a crash program on Ed 105, sharing with them the instructional materials, and making these materials readily available at the ICT laboratory.

Appreciating Maranao culture through Mathematics

Using unit plans to heighten the students' appreciation of the Maranao culture and Mathematics.

ILIGAN City, Philippines: Amy Buan, a teacher at the Iligan City East High School, had a dilemma. She observed that her students were having difficulty understanding geometric concepts. She pondered over the best way to increase their appreciation for Geometry especially since her students were seniors who were about to take their college entrance examinations. Luckily, she had just attended the Enhancement Workshop for Intel® Teach Regional Trainers conducted by the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development based at the University of the Philippines. In the workshop, she learned about Curriculum-Framing Questions, Project-Based Learning, Inquiry Approach, and Authentic Assessment and how to integrate these into her teaching.

Prior to attending Intel® Teach, Amy Buan's idea of a multimedia project from her students was their transferring content from their textbooks and presenting this in digital format complete with audio, animation and action buttons. After attending the Intel® Teach workshop, however, she began to expect more from them. She encouraged her students to think critically and demanded that their projects manifest a conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts, Geometry being the subject she handled.

To guide them, Amy developed a unit plan entitled Maranao Craft and Mathematics. It aimed not only to use technology in teaching and learning Mathematics, but more importantly, it sought to develop in the students a sense of appreciation for Maranao culture and history through Mathematics. It also promoted higher order thinking.

Maranao is the local term used to describe the people of Lanao Province located in southern Philippines. The Maranao culture traces its roots to the era preceding Spain's colonization of the Philippines in the 15th century. They are famous for their artworks, intricate woven designs, wood and metal craft, and literature. Unfortunately, their cultural traditions are fast disappearing because of the influx of more modern practices.

A Maranao cultural tradition that has been preserved, however, is cloth weaving, the finished product of which is the malong. A malong is a multi-colored cloth bearing a variety of okir designs. Measuring about two yards long with the short edges sewn together, it can be used for several purposes: as apparel, a blanket, a hammock and a prayer mat.

Through this piece of cloth Amy illustrated how a design could be geometrically transformed or graphically depicted by mathematical functions, e.g. linear, quadratic, etc. using a graphing calculator. With the same calculator, the students came up with generalizations on the effects of using the graph(s) and applied translation concepts to graphs of linear, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions.

To further deepen their understanding of geometric concepts, Amy divided the class into groups of five. She then tasked each group to choose a Maranao craft and to discuss the mathematical concepts used in its design. The different groups therafter developed a variation of the design and presented their research through a multimedia presentation. They also wrote journals on their learning experiences in relating mathematics to the real world. In her journal, Karen Kirsty Villamor wrote:

“The world of mathematics is the foundation of every strong and creative craft made. You just have to give Math a chance to show you this inter¬relationship. At first glance, the crafts of our Muslim brothers and sisters, which display a variety of styles and patterns, probably all look the same. Once examined closely, however, one notes that every portion of the pattern is unique."

In her journal, Princess Pundogar, another of Amy's students wrote:

"Based on my readings, I learned that Muslim craft designs are greatly influenced by the religious prohibitions made by Prophet Mohammed. He stated that artists must not imitate God by making representational art of living things. For this reason, crafts are embellished with ornamental geometric and decorative floral designs done in artistic forms, rather than with people or animals.

Intuitively, Muslim craft designs contain mathematical concepts. Even as they portray aesthetically created designs, they also show great mathematical ideas.

Here in Mindanao, the native Muslims called Maranao have created a special kind of cloth which exhibits the mathematical concept of transformation... Generally, mathematics is not only a fundamental knowledge but also a definite form of art."

Through an ICT-enhanced lesson plan, Amy was able to heighten the students' appreciation of Maranao crafts and Mathematics.

*   Based on the 2005 "Intel Teach to the Future Terminal Report" submitted by the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development. **   A synopsis of the paper presented by Sonia A. Alensub, entitled "Soaring High: The ICT in education experience of MSU-IIT", during the recent Innovating with Technology Conference on September 6-7, 2006, in Cebu City, Philippines. Accessed in http://www.pilipinasschoolnet.net/congress2006/ concurrent_paper_presentations.htm 1   The Intel name and brands are the property of Intel Corporation. 2   This is the latest figures from the Philippine National Statistics Office. Accessed at http://www.census.gov.ph/ 3   National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). 2004. Medium-term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010. 4   Accessed at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/01/31/ bus/arroyo.seeks.higher. economic.growth.rate.in.2010.html 5   National Statistics Coordination Board, FAQs on Official Poverty Statistics of the Philippines, June 2007. 6   RA 7784 or "An Act Strengthening Teacher Education in the Philippines by Establishing a Center of Excellence and Creation of Teacher Education Council." 7   Ibid. 8   Victoria L. Tinio (2002). Survey of Information and Communication Technology Utilization in Philippine Public High Schools. Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development. 9   Prudencia R. Orani, (June 2001). "Philippines: Teachers Get IT Boost From Intel, Government - Company Business and Marketing." 10   Ibid. 11   The PCs for Public Schools Project (PCPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was launched in 2001 under the leadership of then Secretary Mar Roxas. PCPS is funded by the Counter Value Funds under the Government of Japan's Non-Project Grant Aid, and is implemented in coordination with other government agencies, LGUs, and private companies. It distributes PCs to public schools aiming to reduce computer backlogs in public schools. 12   The Adopt-a-School Program of the DepEd, which was launched in 2000, provides private corporations and individuals a chance to partake in the government's initiative to promote public education by providing assistance on developing competencies or building infrastructure. Over PhP2.4 billion worth of contributions have been generated, augmenting the mainstream budget allocation for education and benefiting some 22,000 public schools nationwide. 13   Content Localization refers to the process by which the Intel® Teach Teacher Development Curriculum (or Essentials Course Module) is modified to suit the needs and demands of its beneficiaries, without altering its primary objectives. 14   Rubrics are matrices of criteria that define what are expected in a learning situation. They show levels of performance, with a specific standard attached to each level. Rubrics differ according to the tasks to be assessed. 15   For further information on the student outputs under the Intel Teach Program, please access this link: http://educate.intel.com/ph/ProjectDesign/UnitPlans/ 16   Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. 17   In 2002, DepEd issued the Revised Basic Education Curriculum. One of its major features was the emphasis on learner-centered pedagogy and authentic assessment. 18   Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) refers to the student's capacity to evaluate, synthesize, analyze, apply, and comprehend information. 19   U.P. College of Education et al. (2006). Intel Teach to The Future SY 2005-2006 Evaluation Study. 20   Ibid. 21   Dr. Ma. Cynthia Rose Banzon-Bautista et. Al. (2006) Intel Teach to the Future Pre-Service Program Impact Evaluation 2006 Pilot Phase – Philippines. 22   Dr. Ma. Cynthia Rose Banzon-Bautista et. Al. (2006) Intel Teach to the Future Pre-Service Program Impact Evaluation 2006 Pilot Phase - Philippines.