From the very beginning of Ingenium School, it was envisioned that the school would work towards some form of blended instruction, namely, towards the synergistic fusion of classroom teacher instruction with the resources of the internet and the computer.
Fr. Ed Martinez, the co-founder of the school is totally convinced of the vital role that computers and the internet will play in the future of Ingenium education. In the early 1980’s as VP for Development, he introduced computers into the Ateneo de Manila University (having hand-carried an Apple II computer with its 48K memory from Hongkong!). He helped set up and then headed the Ateneo Computer Technology Center (which offered short-term computer courses predating later computer schools) and he introduced the Masters Program in Computer Science. In the early 1990’s, as President of the Ateneo de Davao University, he pushed for the integration of computers into the operations and courses of the school; he linked up its two separate campuses with fibre optics; he recruited from Manila and relocated to Davao a team of programmers to support math teaching in the gradeshool to pioneer blended teaching.
Important lessons were learned from all this effort at incorporating computers into the educational process in two Universities with their considerable resources. And these lessons learned today guide the development of Ingenium, despite its more limited resources, towards incorporating computers and the internet in classroom instruction.
A most important lesson is this. To truly incorporate computers and the internet into the educational formation of the school, they cannot be limited to one or two classes, or a few teachers with computer savvy. IT must permeate the culture of the school. That means making computers and the internet ubiquitous and reliable. Computers and the internet should be so readily accessible to all and so reliable that their use becomes a vital and indispensable part of the regular rhythm of life and work in Ingenium School.
The fundamental reason is this: the formation of the student is an integrated whole that is accomplished not in one or two subjects or classes, but through the totality of the “life” and “culture” of the school. The habits of excellence and creativity, or perseverance and hard work, are not developed only in a academic subjects; they are also called for in sports, in dramatic presentations, in human relationships and interaction.
Thus, to successfully incorporate computers and the internet in the educational process of the student, they cannot be limited to one or two classes or to this or that activity, they have to become part of the “culture” of the school, otherwise unnecessary and wasteful friction arises and the educational value of IT dissipated.
And this has been the focus of Ingenium so far: making computers and the internet part of the daily life and culture of the school. To achieve this goal, Ingenium has taken the following steps:
Despite its limited resources, Ingenium has invested heavily on the infrastructure of IT:
In terms of hardware, it has equipped all its offices with computers. Grade School and High School students are serviced by two computer laboratories with Intel core i7 chips. The Pre-School has its own computer room, and the library has its own set of computers for research.
The two buildings of Ingenium are connected by fibre optic to the internet with speeds of 100 mbps. Strategically placed routers are meant to distribute this internet access as wifi throughout the buildings, and every classroom is equipped with a projector or a 55-inch TV for easy viewing of internet contents by the classes. Much fine-tuning continues to be done as in the wifi distribution, but backbone for generalized IT use is already in place.
In terms of software, Ingenium, very early on, linked up as a partner in the Google for Education initiative. The school has been fortunate to have a parent-consultant to develop the computerization of its operations, using the Google platform for the most part. Thus all communications among administration, faculty, and staff, the development of tests, the grading of students, the calendaring of meetings and events, and even the actual meeting themselves (as in the present lockdown) happen online.
This familiarization of the whole organization with the technology of computers and the internet is a vital foundation towards achieving the blended learning objective. It creates the solid technical and psychological foundation for transitioning into blended instruction.
The crucial step, however, and one that takes significant perseverance, time, and effort, is the training of the teachers. Beyond proficiency in the tools of information technology, the role of the teacher will take on more and more the character of a coach, a guide, an enabler, a model.
Even as the general familiarization and usage of IT in Ingenium operations are taking place, the beginnings of blended learning are already being pilot tested.
Fr. Ed Martinez himself, for the past 3 years, has been using Google Classroom: giving, receiving, correcting, re-submitting assignments. Links that students can click for further readings or videos or talks enhancing class materials are normal. Downloaded materials for viewing in the classroom TV, like techniques in public speaking, are used; and so on.
Besides Fr. Martinez, two other teachers (including Dr. Salve herself) are into the Google Classroom use.
Experience has shown that in normal circumstances, the incorporation of computers and the internet in teaching takes a long time. With the Covid19 pandemic, and the ban on face-to-face meetings, this process promises to be hastened.
With the infrastructure in place, Ingenium is now doing a crash program orienting, training, and guiding its faculty to teach on-line: first, this summer in the Summer Enrichment and Remediation Programs, then, if the lockdown continues, to start next school year so that no precious time is lost.