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The implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum of the Department of Education paved

the way to enhance the Teacher Education Curriculum of the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED). The salient features of the K to 12 Curriculum have been thoroughly considered to
ensure that all the courses in the teacher education program will meet the demands of the 21*
Century classrooms. One of the considerations is the need to implement the following salient
features of the curriculum by integrating technologies for teaching and learning. The use of
technologies is done in the different levels of learning and in teaching the various fields of
specialization.

1. Strengthening early childhood education (Universal Kindergarten)

With the Universal Kindergarten program of the Department, every Filipino
child is expected to have access to early childhood education. This access can be
facilitated by using technological tools that are readily available to the school and for
the teachers to use.

The use of technology in Kindergarten by various schools is very evident

in teaching them the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors through games, songs and
dances in their Mother Tongue.

2. Making the Curriculum Relevant to Learners (Contextualization and

Enhancement)

Research shows that learners will value a curriculum that is relevant to their
world. Students are often heard saying, "Do I need to know this to live a meaningful
life?”; “How will I use this lesson in the actual workplace?"; "What is the relevance of
this to me?"; and so on. The answer to the question of relevance is vital to help the
teachers think of some ways by which they will be able to let their students realize
that their daily lessons are of good use to their personal well-being and to their
professional preparation. Sara Bernard (2010) stressed that students need to have
personal connection to a lesson material which can be done through engaging them
emotionally or through connecting the information that they already know. This she calls as
“Give It Context, and Make it Count.”

Briggs (2014) shared some few tips for making learning engaging and
personally relevant as cited by Willis, Faeth, and Immordino-Yang:
• Use suspense and keep it fresh - Drop hints about a new learning unit
before you reveal what it might be, leave gaping pauses in your speech,
change seating arrangements and put up new and relevant posters or
displays; all these can activate emotional signals and keep student
interest piqued.
• Make it student-directed - Give students a choice of assignments on a
particular topic or ask them to design one of their own. “When students
are involved in designing the lesson, they understand better the goal of
the lesson and become more emotionally in and attached to the
learning outcomes.”
• Connect lesson to their lives and what they already know - Taking time
to brainstorm about what students already know and would like to learn
about a topic helps them to create goals. This also helps teachers see
the best points of departure for new ideas. Making cross-curricular
connections also helps solidify those neural loops.
 • Provide utility value - Utility value provides relevance first by telling
students that content is important to their future goals and by showing
or explaining how the content fits into their plans for the future or to
their future work. This helps students realize that the content is not just
interesting but also worth knowing.

• Build relatedness – Relatedness answers the question, "What has this

have to do with me?" It is an inherent need that students have to feel
close to the significant people in their lives, including teachers.
Relatedness is seen by many as having non-academic and academic
sides.

To be able to do the tips recommended by various experts and to allow students

to realize the value of their curriculum, technological tools can be engaged. 21st
Century learners are expected to demonstrate 21st Century competencies such as
collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving for them to be able
to thrive in this world (Rich, 2010). Contextualizing the curriculum of the students for
meaningful learning poses challenges on enhancing pedagogical skills but even
technological skills.

3. Building Proficiency (Mother-tongue Based Multilingual Education)

To be able to promote the child's dominant language and to use it as a language

of instruction, technological tools should be maximized. Currently, a lot of teachers and
schools are into developing learning materials to be able to implement the MTB-MLE
program properly especially that there is a dearth of printed and e-materials in the
mother tongue of the students. Mother Tongue is used in instruction and learning
materials of other learning areas. The learners retain their ethnic identity, culture,
heritage and values. Children learn better and are more active in class and learn a second
language even faster when they are first taught in a language they understand.

4. Ensuring Integrated and Seamless Learning (Spiral Progression)

Learning basic concepts that lead to more complex and sophisticated version of
the general concepts entail TPACK: technological knowledge, content knowledge, and
pedagogical knowledge. Rediscovering concepts as students progress in their grade
level will be fully supported if all the areas of specialization will be aided by
technologies for teaching and learning. This will further strengthen retention and will
enhance mastery of topics and skills as they are revisited and consolidated time and
again. This also allows learners to learn topics and skills appropriate to their
developmental and cognitive skills.

5. Gearing Up for the Future

The K to 12 Curriculum ensures college readiness by aligning the core and

applied courses to the College Readiness Standards (CRS) and new General Education
(GE) Curriculum. Hence, the K to 12 Curriculum focused on developing appropriate
Specialization Subjects for the Academic, Sports, Arts and Design, and Technical
Vocational Livelihood Tracks. All of these specializations have to be supported by
education for better learning.
 6. Nurturing the Holistically Developed Filipino (College and Livelihood
Readiness, 21st Century Skills)

To nurture holistically developed Filipino, every K to 12 graduate is expected to

be ready to go into different paths - be it further education, employment, or
entrepreneurship. Every graduate is expected to be equipped with information, media
and technology skills, learning and innovation skills, effective communication skills,
and life and career skills. This may happen with the proper implementation of the
curriculum and with the facilitation of excellent teachers. For teachers to maintain
excellent performance, they need full support one of which is technological support.

Explain

Step 1: Introducing the Technology for Teaching and Learning 2 / MTECH Course

This course, Technology for Teaching and Learning 2, helps you use the power of
computer technologies in the different fields of specialization to ignite student's imagination to
move, motivate, and support them toward meaningful learning.

To be able to assess your prior knowledge on how students can best use computer
technologies to enhance learning, answer this question. Write your answer in the box provided:

How can technology be used most effectively in the various fields of specialization to
support and assess student learning?
Step 2: Setting My Goals for this Course

It must be noted that course objectives can be achieved with proper setting of goals.
Therefore, there is a need to ground this course on curricular and research-based goals and
objectives. Throughout this course, you will be tasked to use various technological resources
and tools that can help you create your plans and materials, improve your instruction and
enhance your future students' learning.

Collaborate with your teacher and colleagues and think about what you must do to be
able to make the most out of this course. Answer the following questions:

1. How will I apply all the knowledge and skills that I learned in EDTECH1 in
teaching Mathematics?

2. How will I develop learning plans for my classes to make sure that
available technologies for teaching and learning will be put to use for meaningful
learning?

3. How will I ensure that my goals in this course will be achieved?

Elaborate

Teachers play a very important role not only inside the classroom as classroom
teachers but also as facilitators of student learning, designing, implementing and evaluating the
curriculum.

In the Philippines, the teachers are expected to actively engage themselves in

curriculum design to ensure that the K to 12 Curriculum will be delivered at its best for
students to realize fully the intended learning outcomes.

Teachers make decisions about how they will implement the curriculum in their specific
field of specialization. They decide on how they must structure the activities of their lessons
and manage students' responses and ideas. Teachers' decisions have an impact on students'
learning experiences in class. The following are points to consider in identifying and
understanding teachers' roles as curriculum designers:
• Without doubt, the most important person in the curriculum implementation
process is the teacher. With their knowledge, experiences and competencies,
teachers are central to any curriculum development effort. Better teachers
support better learning because they are most knowledgeable about the practice
of teaching and are responsible for introducing the curriculum in the classroom
(Alsubaie, 2016).
• Curriculum is the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content,
materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational
objectives – Jadhav and Patankar (2013).
• Curriculum is content, but when contextualized, it comes alive for students. The
role of teachers in the curriculum process is to help students develop an engaged
relationship with the content. Active learning will increase the focus and
retention of the curriculum, resulting in an exciting learning environment.
Teachers build lessons that include simulations, experiments, case studies and
activities to deliver curriculum. This interactive approach intertwines
curriculum and practical experiences that immerse students in learning. The
curriculum process provides opportunity for teachers to be creative and put their
unique stamp on the classroom experience (Meier, 2018).
• Teachers, on their part, have practical knowledge based on their daily work with
students. This practical knowledge is useful to curriculum committees because
teachers can assess whether the ideas being developed will work in the
classroom (Young, 1988).

Step 1: Considering my Role as Curriculum Designer

With the points of reference provided about curriculum, participate in a face-to-face

discussion with the whole group about how your field of specialization (Ex. Physical
Education, English, Filipino, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and so on) was designed. In
the discussion, you are asked to thoughtfully consider your role as a curriculum designer. Go
over the Curriculum Guide and discuss together the essential features, focus and the general
content and performance standards of field of specialization or major per grade or level.

Step 2: Integrating Technologies for Teaching and Learning

After having an in-depth understanding of the general nature, focus, and non-negotiable
standards set for your field of specialization, share within the group some technological
resources and tools that can help you deliver it to facilitate learning.
 Brainstorm on how these technologies can be integrated properly and how they will
meet the important learning objectives and the 21st Century Skills. Share the results of your
group discussion in the class.

Evaluate

Answer the following items:

1. How will technological tools for teaching and learning promote the salient features of
the K to 12 Curriculum?

2. What 21st Century Skills need to be developed by your field of specialization? Rank
them in terms of the identified standards and competencies of your curriculum guide.