A school in Tabuk City Kalinga is shifting from printed modules to an e-book software application which can be accessed through students’ smartphones or laptops, according to officials of Tabuk City DepEd.
With the use of Kotobee, a freemium tool that teachers and curriculum designers use to create interactive e-books for their schools and classrooms, Balong National High School has adopted an inexpensive way to deliver modules and retrieve formative tests of learners, thereby improving the efficiency of its delivery, minimizing module production costs.
It is expected that with this innovation, there shall be more organized and easier access to lessons with self-assessment activities that provide immediate feedback after submitting answers.
The innovation proposed by Jonathan Garcia
Prior to this, the proponent, Mr. Jonathan Garcia, has won in the national contest conducted by the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration of the Department of Education on the First Open Educational Resources (OER) which led to the implementation of the said innovation.
Mr. Garcia then administered a quick survey about the availability of students’ gadgets in their homes, the compatibility of the gadgets to the mobile app, and found that ios phones and android phones are compatible with Kotobee, except Realme phones.
After that, a meeting between parents, teachers, and students was held to further clarify the said technological adaptation in the school to parents and orient the students.
“The good thing about this mobile app is that it is accessible offline, and we could cut down costs in the printing of modules. Students may retrieve the files either by downloading it from the messenger, through file-sharing via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi- direct, or Share It or they may come to school. Only the formative tests will be on print,” Mr. Garcia, stressed, adding that those students who do not have smartphones or laptops will be given the usual printout modules.
Additionally, the application can be attached with videos and audios apart from texts to enhance the learning needs of students that print modules could not provide. Furthermore, said innovation can still be used even when face-to-face classes resume as an intervention or a review material for students.
Validation of the innovation
On Wednesday, November 17,2021, Curriculum Implementation Division Chief Ramonchito Soriano, together with Education Program Supervisors Nicasio Sumarita and Felicisimo Felix, and District Superintendents Corazon Bravo and Robert Binhaon, visited Balong National High School and validated the said innovation. It was suggested that homeroom guidance should also be included in the Kotobee reader.
The school head, Luisita Parilla, explained that through this innovation, the school can save time and money being spent on module production.
“Since the use of bond paper, printers, and ink could now possibly be lessened, we plan to focus on the maintenance and repairs of the school in preparation for the possible face-to-face classes next year. Moreover, teachers could provide more time in facilitating students with their paperless modules,” Parilla said.
The launching on the use of the Kotobee Reader is set on December 03, 2021, since two weeks of self-learning modules have already been printed and ready for distribution.
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