Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 3 - Corporate Citizenship
Pay It Forward
Intel’s Teach to the Future project enables teachers to teach each other, as well as students

Information technology (IT) has been the buzz word since the beginning of the millennium. Most everyone is into it, not wanting to be left behind by the fastest growing technology in the world. Consultants have emphasized the great rewards of using available technology to increase efficiency in business activities. Businessmen have funded IT projects and research to increase productivity and profitability of their goods and services. And more importantly, students are being made aware of the vast opportunities awaiting IT-enabled graduates.

Intel plans to train 1,000 master teachers on the latest on information technology. These 1,000 teachers will, in turn, train another 19,000

But this leaves out one very important component of the equation: the teachers. Are they prepared at all to use new technologies to enhance teaching and learning?

The Merril Lynch’s Book of Knowledge (April 1999) reveals that of the 3.17 million teachers worldwide, only 20% feel prepared to effectively incorporate technology subjects in their classroom activities. And since teachers are crucial participants in honing the skills of students, they must be given sufficient training to fully utilize available technology in transferring knowledge to the youth.

Intel Philippines recognized this need early on in 2000, and with its Teach to the Future program, they aim to equip high school teachers with the know-how in Internet and computer technology. This would give the teachers the knowledge and confidence to integrate technology in their classes, which in turn will enhance student learning.

Worldwide Project
Intel’s Teach to the Future is actually a global and multi-million dollar project, which aims to prepare teachers and students for the demands of industries in the future. With a budget allocation of US$100 million in cash, equipment, curriculum development and program management, the program will train more than 400,000 classroom teachers in 20 countries by the end of 2002.

Partnering with Intel is the Microsoft Corporation, with a US$344 million donation in software and program support for the project. This is said to be the single largest software donation in Microsoft’s history.

In the Philippines alone, the project’s goal is to train 1,000 Master Teachers (MTs) who will each, in turn, train 20 others by the year 2002. To reach far-flung areas, 16 Regional Training Agencies (RTAs) have committed to provide the training in their respective regions.

Aside from Microsoft’s support, a great deal of government effort goes into the Intel Teach to the Future project as well. The selection and organization of RTAs, as well as managing the pre-service teacher training is done by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), while the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports chooses the participating teachers and monitors the teacher training.

The curriculum development and review is done by the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Math Education (UP-NISMED). It is a curriculum that teachers created for teachers to ensure that trainees will be able to duplicate conducting the same training to their co-teachers.

With all these agencies contributing to the project, Intel is confident it will cover more than the set goal of training 20,000 teachers. In its pilot training alone, Intel was able to train some 777 teachers already. The next phase of the program aims to provide the teacher training component of the Personal Computers (PCs) for Public High Schools Program – a joint project of the government and the business sector.

Learning the Basics
There are teachers, especially in the public schools, who think computers are too “high tech” for them. This hinders them from wanting to learn further, and thus leaves them to live with this “fright” of anything that has to do with information technology.
The Intel Teach to the Future project aims to address just that. It offers a 10-module curriculum that is designed to develop a complete collection of themed lesson plans that engage students in the use of technology in conducting research, compiling information, and communicating with others.

The curriculum is based on the Microsoft Office 2000 Professional as a teaching and learning tool. The teachers are taught how to use the Internet as a resource in research, as well as designing a web page, and using multimedia software. It is hands-on, face-to-face learning, the focus of which is on process rather than content to accommodate a wide range of subjects and grade levels. The training is more than a computer class – it is highly interactive and teaches teachers to prepare their lesson plans using the vast range of information that can be found with the use of computer technology.

Doing Something About It
After formally launching the Intel Teach to the Future program on 27 June 2001 with 777 teachers initially trained, the company is more than warmed up and ready to accomplish the given task of training the 20,000 more public high school Master Teachers. The sooner this is done, the faster the transfer of knowledge will be. And since the project is network-based (with the trained teachers tasked to teach others), a continuous learning and education process cycle is assured.

Just In Time
It is high time that attention to teachers is given, more than – if not equal to – the attention given to students. After all, they play a key role in the education system. As Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas said at Intel’s project launch, “Teachers are the shapers of our collective future.” Education is a crucial tool, and the teacher its crucial component, if the country is to develop socially and economically as a nation. To make this possible, everybody has to be up-to-date with global trends. After all, the world has long entered the information age – and in the information age, those who can process information move ahead.