OIC-RD Rocafort challenges teachers to upgrade to “Education 4.0” Carlito D.

Rocafort, now OIC-Regional

Director of DepEd CALABARZON, stressed that the level of basic education of today’s generation should
be levelled up to 4.0, in which students and teachers should be equipped with the use of technology and
gadgets to make learning more accessible. Rocafort explained that if there is industry 4.0 where machines
and robots are to be used in our industry more likely in agriculture, therefore, there must be evolution in
our education. “If they are talking of industrial 4.0, there must be DepEd 4.0, Regional Director 4.0,
Superintendents 4.0, Principal 4.0, Teachers 4.0 and Students 4.0. At mas dapat nating pagtuunan ng
pansin ang Education 4.0,” Rocafort said. He also emphasized that education should keep up if the
industry or the use of machines undergoes revolution to lessen people’s burden, and make the job easier
for them, as in the case of Grab and Uber for transportation, and Cloud, an online data storage. He went
on to explain that as what started from the type of education 1.0 where everything is dictated and learning
is very limited, nowadays, the 4.0 level of learning is everywhere with the help of technology and with the
latest use of gadgets. “We have to synchronize our Education 4.0 to Industry 4.0,” the OIC-RD said. He
exemplified the schools in Lipa City which require students to buy tablets if they passed the exam and
consequently, the books and other sources of information they need in their studies can be made
accessible as these are uploaded into their gadgets. “The students need to be trained, not taught. Dapat
sila ay ma-train ng competencies, that’s why the 21st century learners, lalo na sa teaching-learning
process, mas malaki ang performance tasks, and consequently, they need to be guided to develop their
skills,” Rocafort reasoned. He added that students need to be prepared for the next industrial revolution
that will happen in the next fifteen years from now in which the changes are much faster than the
revolutions during the 17th and 18th century. In addition, quoting DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, OIC-
RD Rocafort said that aligning education to the latest trends of the industry and making learning more
empowered is learning how to balance the social sciences and ICT knowledge among 21st century learners
in strengthening the teaching of good manners and right conduct. Meanwhile, Rocafort praised DepEd
Quezon for having sustainability in research program and existing association for research. (Jezaline E.
Relao, Teacher, Gumaca National High School, DepEdDivision of Quezon)
Education 4.0: Rebooting Phl teacher education
(The Philippine Star) - July 28, 2019 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Education 4.0 is the new buzzword, and it is disrupting our
traditional concept of schooling, teaching and learning. A new generation of learners has
invaded our schools replacing the millennials — the Generation Z or the Internet
Generation (iGen) learners who are not only tech-savvy, but also technology-dependent,
practically born with a smartphone in their hands and regard technology as essential as
air and water. They have never seen the world without the internet, and thus cannot
imagine living without being connected. They are the true archetype of digital natives.
They live and breathe technology. Growing up connected to the cyberworld using different
devices enables them to process and absorb tons of information 24/7. They are social
media addicts. The hyper-connected environment they grew up in taught them not only
the skills, but also more interestingly, the habits to switch tasks effortlessly. Their minds
are constantly flowing and moving in different directions. They can thrive in 4D simulated
or augmented reality environments.

According to Dr. Darla Rothman, the brains of this internet generation are wired to
perceive information visually because the region of their brain for visual ability is more
developed due to constant exposure to fast-paced, sensory-laden multimedia
environment. Their brain is wired to expect information immediately in bites and chunks,
shortening their attention span. Rothman estimates that the average attention span of this
generation in online platforms is eight seconds and, in the classroom, is seven to 10
minutes. The iGen learners favor storytelling, explainer videos, interactive games,
collaborative projects, experiential learning and other forms of visualization. They are
good at video blogging and know that they have the opportunity to be financially
independent of their parents by being a social media influencer. They have access to
technologies that enable them to be entrepreneurial. They can work and study at the
same time. Climate change, ecology-related issues and healthy lifestyles are their
preferred causes.

In 2018, the Philippines was ranked 57th of 79 participating countries in the Global
Connectivity Index (GCI). We are the fastest-growing digital populations in the world with
63 percent of the population accessing the internet, spending an average of 10 hours a
day. Digital 2019 reported that the Filipinos are the top internet users in the world with 47
percent of our online activities spent on social media. Along with this dramatically
changed environment is the equally fascinating change in the preferences of today’s
learners.

How then do we respond to the challenges of teaching these new kids on the block, the
Filipino iGen learners in particular? There emerges now the need to have a national
conversation contextualizing Education 4.0 vis-à-vis Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 where
we see the digitalization of the way economy produces and exchanges goods and
services using smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning.
What we have in IR 4.0 is the expanding human-machine partnership giving birth to an
innovation society which may render irrelevant the existing design of Philippine Education
that was put in place to address the requirements of a mass economy or IR 2.0.

Our attention now shifts to Education 4.0, which puts premium on mobile learning,
individualized learning playlist, flexible and customized curriculum and hands-on and
practical application of knowledge.

Society will be de-schooled to give way to a diverse learning eco-system driven by

learners and their interests and no longer will schools dominate decisions about what and
how to learn. Credentials of mastery can be obtained from diverse providers and
platforms. Teachers’ role will be challenged by other learning agents. The entry of iGen
learners in our schools challenges us to imagine how education of the future would look
like.

Are Philippine schools designed to cater to this new type of learners? Do we have the
teachers that are fit for iGen learning requirements? Are Philippine teacher education
institutions (TEIs) producing the competent teachers the country needs?

We need teachers who will not just be facilitators of learning, but also innovation catalysts.
We cannot future proof our schools overnight. Nor can we immediately make innovators
out of our teachers. The culture nor the system is simply not there yet. We must therefore
undertake a major rebooting now to upgrade our education ecosystem.

The question now is how do we make teacher education future-proof?

We need to re-define even re-invent teacher education vis-à-vis the future.

As Rothman advised, teachers need to be provided with meaningful, tech-focused,

professional development as they transition from a traditional learning model to one that
is transformational.

The teacher education curriculum should be innovative enough to include, for example,
a) coding and application development to equip our pre-service teachers with the skills
needed to develop digital solutions to their teaching-learning problems; b) design thinking
for innovation; and c) teaching applications that would work best in handling the “content
of the future” using software, hardware, digital, technological and social media.

There is a need to build an education ecosystem that involves not only the schools to take
care of the education of our children, but also a strong support from the business sector,
the community and the parents. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to educate a child.”

We need to level up the technology infrastructure in the country to reach even the
remotest barangay in the country for inclusive education to serve its purpose. Learners
from these geographically challenged areas must also benefit from Education 4.0. No one
should be left behind.
We cannot continue doing more of the same things. The time is now to start the process
of re-booting our education. We should stop playing catch up.