DepEd Commons expands features for ALS learners

Photo courtesy of Sandiwaan Center for Learning
Photo courtesy of Sandiwaan Center for Learning
Photo courtesy of Sandiwaan Center for Learning
Photo courtesy of SDO Mandaluyong
Photo courtesy of SDO Mandaluyong

PASIG CITY, March 27, 2020 – Aside from formal students, the Alternative Learning System (ALS) learners of the Department of Education (DepEd) can also use DepEd Commons, the online educational platform for public school teachers and learners which supports alternative learning modalities amid enhanced community quarantine period.

With ALS catering to out-of-school youth and adult (OSYA) learners, Assistant Secretary for ALS G.H. Ambat explained that the online platform is reinforcing the program’s objective of offering education anytime and anywhere suitable for them.

“In this time of uncertainty, we are glad that through DepEd Commons, our learners will still be able to continue learning. It is critical for us to provide them with more options to learn,” Assistant Secretary for ALS G.H. Ambat said.

“Through digital platforms like DepEd commons, ALS lives up to expectation of being the second chance education program that equips OSYAs to become productive contributors to nation building,” Asec. Ambat added.

For Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio, DepEd Commons is a ‘big step’ as the Department looks for alternative ways to continue education for all types of learners despite the challenges.

“Allowing even our ALS learners to access our DepEd Commons is another big step in making learning happen even in the midst of the enhanced community quarantine,” he said.

Currently, DepEd is populating the content of DepEd Commons while starting to put relevant contents aligned with the needs of ALS learners. To date, DepEd Commons has a total of 2,345,183 users since its soft launch last March 14, according to Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua.

With face-to-face instruction impossible during this crisis, DepEd encourages the use of DepEd Commons as an option only for those who have access to internet and equipment such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.

“In all other areas where there are signals coming from the telecommunications company, all of these schools are being readied now to have access online so that we could provide them with the appropriate technology and platform that they would be needing,” Usec. Pascua said.

“We have longed for the time when suspension of classes will not in any way obstruct nor delay the education of our school children. Whenever we experience typhoons, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and armed siege, we worry about the lost days and opportunities for the next generation’s education,” he added.

Usec. Pascua has assured that DepEd will continuously improve the online educational platform to be accessible and useful to all learners.

The Open Educational Resources (OERs) in DepEd Commons are authored by public school teachers who are subject experts, properly cited and acknowledged. Teachers can retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the content to their students.

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