THE DEPARTMENT of Education has partnered with Globe Telecom for the creation of a safe and healthy online learning environment for teachers, students and home educators for school year 2020-2021.

As part of its learning continuity planning, the DepEd has highlighted the urgent need to keep everyone in the educational community safe online. Globe heeded the call for support and collaborated with DepEd to conduct a live webinar on cyber security and wellness for the sector.

The webinar, entitled “Global Filipino Teacher Series: Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP)” will be held on August 4-5, from 2:00-4:00 PM via the Globe Bridging Communities Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/GlobeBridgeCom/). It will be led by Globe with panelists from UNICEF and the DepEd and is open to all teaching and non-teaching staff of DepEd covering the national, regional, and division offices and all public schools nationwide. Parallel to the webinar, Globe is launching shorter and shareable versions of the DTP cyber wellness training modules which are meant to reach a wider audience online.

“Globe continues to support DepEd’s thrust of delivering quality education and training to learners and educators and is one with the government in helping keep the online community safe for everyone, especially the children,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP for Corporate Communications.

DTP is a series of workshops on digital citizenship, online safety and the responsible use of the internet. The modules were designed to increase the participants knowledge of current and constantly changing landscape of life online in the Philippines; various online threats, abuses, and predatorial and abusive behavior and how to protect one’s self; essential principles and practices around cyber safety and security; online etiquette and how to help create a responsible online community; how to identify what information online is credible or questionable; and how parents and educators can keep children safe online.

In 2019, Globe turned over the DTP modules to DepEd for integration into the K-to-12 curriculum and a localized version was implemented per region.

Meanwhile, in partnership with DepEd regional offices, Globe has been rolling out a series of training under its Global Filipino Teachers Program that focuses on 21st century skills needed by teachers most especially in the new normal such as digital literacy and overall capacity-building to maximize the digital tools available to them.

The GFT program was first established in 2009 and has since delivered teacher training to all 17 regions in the country including Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The program has covered various topics including 21st century learning methods, tech integration in the classroom, and online safety and responsibility.