MANILA – While most schools are returning to full onsite classes, some colleges are going ahead with online learning as they aim to expand the reach of their educational offerings.
Two of these colleges are the Mapua Malayan Digital College (MMDC) which was launched just last year, and the CIIT College of Arts and Technology, founded in 2007.
Billing itself as the country’s premier digital-first college, MMDC focuses on technology and business programs, offering a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Information Technology (IT) and a BS in Business Administration.
Under MMDC’s BS-IT, students can major in software development, network and cybersecurity, and data analytics. For BS Business Administration, students have the option to specialize in marketing management, human resource management, and operations management.
“We wanted to apply the Mapuan academic excellence into digital learning and allow our students to have some offline experiences as well,” MMDC spokesperson Joshua Villanueva told ABS-CBN News in an interview.
CIIT College of Arts and Technology in Quezon City, meanwhile, specializes in multimedia arts, technology, and business programs and short courses. It also offers boot camps, specialist courses, corporate training and bachelor’s degree courses.
For senior high school students, the college offers animation, programming, business and management. CIIT college enrollees meanwhile can specialize in web and mobile application development, game development, animation/film and video production, and graphic design.
Specialist courses on web design, digital illustration and page design, creative direction, data science, cybersecurity, Facebook blueprint, and 3D animation, among others, are also available for professionals.
CIIT President Sherwin O said the school was created primarily because of the “lack of talent” and technical skills available to graduates in the early years of application development, systems development and game development.
“The core of CIIT as a college, as an institution has really been to digital arts and technology. We’ve always been towards this path of offering courses that are geared towards tech and what we think will really shape the future,” O told ABS-CBN News in an interview.
CIIT and MMDC both believe the tech industry is the future.
A World Bank report last year showed the demand for digital skills is growing but the Philippine market “does not seem ready to meet the rising demand.”
The Philippines’ rank in 2021, showed a “weak talent and training, and education,” said the World Bank.
“Digital occupations have featured disproportionally on the list of most in-demand jobs in the country. However, workers’ digital skills and literacy have not caught up,” the recent report read.
TECH EDUCATION ONLINE
MMDC implements fully digital classes.
The digital college touts its flexibility and accessibility for “modern Filipino students,” with almost all of the classes delivered online.
MMDC only has a physical learning hub where students could socialize and teachers could choose to do their in-person mentoring with students at least once a week in Ayala Cloverleaf in Quezon City.
The curriculum supports “tradigital students” or traditional students who look for digital-first solutions, and have access to modern, convenient, and flexibilities of online learning, said Villanueva.
“In terms of their education, they wanted something modern, they wanted the flexibility of digital learning as well as convenience since they do not have to go to a physical campus to study and attend physical classes so they get to save a lot on their commute, a lot of time to work on their projects, problems, and cases,” Villanueva added, noting that there has been a spike in this type of students.
The school’s teaching model puts emphasis on real-world scenarios, veering away from traditional quizzes and multiple-choice questionnaires. Rather, students submit their projects where teachers can note what needs to be improved until they get it right.
“The mentor does not spoon-feed students in their projects, problems, or cases. It is more like helping them keep up with the lessons, teaching them the right questions to ask, the right approach to work on their problems and cases,” said Villanueva.
“Wala kaming traditional exams… we analyze cases. We want to simulate what happens in the real world, in our classrooms… It is not spoon-feeding, it is more like the mentor trying to teach the student the right… [and] cases,” he added.
TECH-SAVVY WITH ‘SOFT SKILLS’
But “hard” technical skills are not the only abilities that need to be developed, according to career platform Jobstreet.
Dannah Majarocon, Jobstreet managing director, noted the increase in employers’ appreciation for “soft skills.” These are abilities that have to do with empathy, creativity, resilience and communication, adaptability, and “inclination to technological advancements.”
“Hires from information technology are definitely preferred more [for their] technical skills but the growth within the companies are also going to be dictated by the softer skills that would really differentiate our candidates,” she said.
CIIT said this is the reason why it still requires students to show up onsite.
The school implements hybrid classes. CIIT President Sherwin O said they were requiring students to attend their in-person classes 60 percent of the time, stressing the need to balance both technical and soft skills.
“Data shows us that because students were isolated in their various homes, they are unable to interact with fellow students–their soft skills started suffering,” O told ABS-CBN News.
“Their technical skills were continually top notch but when we started noticing feedback from our company partners during our practicum.. Their evaluation scores started dipping slowly,” he added.
“If our industry partners are telling us that you are becoming less prepared because your soft skills are starting to dip, then I think we really need to bring [students] in good conscience [back to in-person classes]” he said.
Being heavily output-based is important, O noted, so students could build their portfolio and elevate their chances of being accepted to tech industries.
More than this, CIIT also stresses the need for a healthy learning environment and culture.
“Despite being known for digital arts and tech, there is a certain level of very human culture that the school is very very proud of. So many students, even in the pandemic, our retention rates were as high as 98 percent,” he said.
DIGITAL JOBS
Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Chairman Prospero De Vera noted the growth of workforce demand not only in the information technology industries but also in the animation and gaming development, where the Philippines stands to gain.
Partnerships with tech schools abroad and IT-business processing outsourcing industries were also underway to develop a digital-centered curriculum capable of equipping future Filipino workforce, he said.
“Mayroon ng agreement iyong iba, iyong iba ipinagdudugtong natin para iyong ating mga nag-aaral ng animation at saka game development ay magkaroon ng credential hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kung hindi sa ibang bansa. Iyong curriculum nila magma-match iyan,” De Vera said.
“Kasi nakikita natin na iyong animation industry, ang na-penetrate na mabuti ng Pilipinas ay iyong illustration side. Iyong pag-drawing, magaling tayo diyan. But that is not the only part of the animation industry,” he added.
“So, iyan iyong animation at saka game development, iyan ay tinututukan nating mabuti iyan, kung IT ang pinag-uusapan.
He also noted the shift of students to online classes at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but stressed why the readiness of educational institutions must complement their interests.
“Madaming naengganyo na mga bata, nakita nila iyong potensyal kung paano gamitin ang teknolohiya o paano pag-aralan ng teknolohiya o magkakaroon ng career sa IT sector,” De Vera said.
“There is a very noticeable shift in IT-related courses kaya iyan ay ating sinusubaybayan on the part of CHEd at tinitingnan natin kung ano pa iyong mga puwede nating gawin diyan sa sektor na iyan,” he added.
When asked about colleges and state universities’ status in terms of catering to the demand of the tech industry, De Vera said the problem of accessibility must be addressed first.
“How do you respond to the desire of so many young Filipinos to get educated?” De Vera said in a public briefing when ABS-CBN News sought for comment on the issue.
“Kapag nakapasok na sila, paano natin sila kukumbinsihin na pumunta doon sa mga degree programs na talagang pangangailangan ng bansa at pangangailangan ng buong mundo? So, diyan iyong tinatanong, how do we produce the manpower we need?” he added.
For the higher education chief, better counseling is needed at the secondary education level so they can be guided on what in-demand programs fit their interests.
Education Spokesperson Michael Poa said they have Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) subjects integrated into their curriculum from Grade 4 to Grade 10.
Poa told ABS-CBN News in an interview that they are strengthening 21st century skills under the K-10 curriculum, which goes beyond computer classes, to prepare for the digital demand.
They are also reviewing the K-12 curriculum to determine what industries are in demand.
“We are looking at the options for electives: coding, programming… when we are talking about these things in our curriculum, we must make sure that our school infrastructures and facilities are ready,” Poa said.
ACCESS STILL A CHALLENGE
The Department of Education (DepEd) is committed to providing connectivity to 47,678 public education schools, as only around 69 percent of them are connected to the internet.
Poa said it was also possible that only faculty members could access the internet, so they plan to give access to learners and non-teaching personnel as well by tapping the Department of Information and Communications Technology to have this covered under their national broadband project.
This will be provided “as soon as possible,” he said, with the DepEd hoping to provide internet connectivity to schools could be done within a year or two.
“Doon naman sa areas na wala talagang internet provider dahil liblib ‘yung lugar, we are looking in procuring satellite technology,” Poa told ABS-CBN News.
“The difficulty really is to identify areas na walang internet providers because those are the areas na kailangan natin mag-procure ng satellite services,” he said.
To ensure accessibility, Poa said DepEd plans to provide computers and launch a learning resource portal that is also available offline for learners and teachers so there will be no learning disruption during calamities.
“Itong education portal natin will be a one-stop-shop siya for teachers, learners, and parents… yung learners natin ma-access na niya yung modules niya for the day and yung learning resources,” he said.
Will the DepEd institutionalize blended learning? Poa said this will not yet be fully implemented.
“Kailangan talaga pag-aralan from best practices how we can implement this and make sure it is effective. Madali lang naman mag-implement… pero effective ba? Nakaka-recover ba? Natututo ba ang ating mga learners,” the DepEd official said.
“We are studying the matter fully to make sure when we implement these and institutionalize it, it will also be effective. Sa ngayon nakikita naman natin ang gains,” he said.
MMDC and CIIT meanwhile said they provide scholarships and state-of-the-art equipment, software, and pocket wifi for their students, ensuring that their studies would not be hindered.
CIIT has scholarships, payment plans, discounts, and financial aid for students. MMDC, for its part, provides targeted scholarships for different cities and municipalities, in partnership with local governments.
PH READY FOR THE WORLD
Poa said DepEd is prepared for the rise of the demands in the tech and digital industry and that this is their agency’s direction.
“It is really to have learners that will be ready for the digital world and not just here in the Philippines. We want learners that will be ready for the global state that we are in,” he said.
“We want them ready for the world.”
MMDC’s Villanueva said Filipinos are ready for digital learning but noted the challenges in terms of infrastructure since not all areas have the internet.
“While there may be a learning curve, eventually they get to adjust,” he said.
MMDC is seeking ways to solve the problems and concerns in digital learning on its end.
“We cater to a very niched group of students, the tradigital students… especially in the fast-based digitalization worldwide and these students looking for a more flexible, affordable, accessible learning,” he said.
