TO DEVELOP teachers’ skills in teaching media and information literacy, the Centro Escolar University collaborated with Penang Institute in Malaysia.

TechCamp Malaysia-Philippines, a funded alumni project of TechCamp Malaysia 2020, will train secondary school teachers and teacher educators on understanding the importance of MIL.

“The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Penang Institute and Centro Escolar University is the first we had with a Philippine institution,” Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng, the executive director of Penang Institute, said.

Dr. Ma. Cristina Padolina, CEU president, affirmed that teachers should be more tech-savvy, knowledgeable, informed, and experienced than their students.

“We know that the use of the Internet in teaching and learning is irreversible. The youth must learn to navigate this network because it can be treacherous for them. We need to make their journey exciting but safe, enriching, not degrading, and useful not damaging,” Padolina said.

She said that the project will allow CEU to share its expertise “not just to our students but also with other teacher education institutions in the Philippines.”

Beng said that the project aims to educate educators “on matters of grave importance to the well-being of future citizens and our countries.”

“The future of democracy depends on the capacity of citizens to read between the lines and indeed, between the lies. A healthy society is made up of citizens who dare to speak their minds and who are articulate and exposed enough to differentiate falsehoods from facts,” he added.

Teachers should promote MIL among students, said Lai Cheng Wong, co-chairperson of the TechCamp Malaysia-Philippines organizing committee.

“By focusing on secondary school teachers and teacher educators, we hope to harness the potential of the multiplier effect,” Wong said.