APIIS(Asia-Pacific Institute of International Studies)-Goducate Academy has transitioned online and officially opened in August 2021 as one of the Philippines’ Department of Education’s accredited schools. All the Academy’s educational and training platforms have now been adapted virtually. This Academy evolved from Goducate’s Sabah program, which was started 12 years ago to provide education to stateless Filipino children in Sabah. Mothers in Sabah who had received some school education were taught how to home-school their children (see blog https://www.goducate.org/reaching-poor-unschooled-children-in-sabah/ dated July 30, 2010) and had moved on to using technology to teach (see blog https://www.goducate.org/goducate-sabah-uses-technology-to-train-mothers-to-teach/ dated July 31, 2020 and https://www.goducate.org/more-online-training-for-goducate-teachers-and-students-in-sabah/ dated March 5, 2021).
The Sabah program was introduced in the Philippines because the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted schooling. The two programs—namely, the Kindergarten program and the Rev Up tutorials—will continue until the end of the academic year in July 2022. Moving forward this year, we will collaborate with the parents to transition from a structured curriculum to a creative self-paced and learner-centered curriculum. Moreover, we will retain and innovate our Rev Up tutorials to supplement the needs of the Filipino learners in Mathematics and English.
As we look beyond the global pandemic and its disruptive effects on the educational system, we believe that studio video and audio productions, digital educational models and parent-assisted online distance-learning are the best way to go. With these in mind, we will be recruiting and forming a solid team of video editors, graphic designers and animators in order to produce the projected 240 videos for songs, main lessons and supplemental lessons. There is a need for upgrading and upskilling as we face the staggering demands of online education. Our target is to produce attractive, educational and engaging videos that will make a positive impact on every Filipino child’s learning journey.
For now, our Rev Up classes (Tutorial classes) aged 6-9 years old are getting more exciting as we hold weekly online classes for parents and provide them with videos and a checklist to guide them in the facilitation of their child’s learning. Parents can also access all the lesson materials, including our creative videos, on our Google Site. We also have Rev Up preparatory class for learners aged 3-4 years. The parents are grateful for this class since they are not able to find this kind of class in other schools. The lesson videos are very creative and exciting. Among the many fun-filled learning videos are letters of the alphabet being fished, numbers shown through bananas being picked, and colors of cars demonstrated in a riding adventure.
We firmly believe in partnering with parents to bring out the best in their children through the finest 21st century education, which is why we hold events such as STAR (Sharing, Thanksgiving, Appreciation and Rewarding) Sundays (see blog https://www.goducate.org/goducate-academy-starts-star-sundays/ dated Nov 26, 2021) as well as Virtual Home Visits. The backbone of this educational system is the relationship that APIIS-Goducate Academy has with the parents. A case that indicates the popularity of our program is that of a Filipino family in Thailand that has taken part in our Home Visitation program. The parents had planned to enroll their child in a Thai School, but the child insisted on studying in APIIS-Goducate Academy because she really loves our videos. The mother told us that the girl repeatedly sings her favorite line in the theme song—-that is, “we strive for excellence in Goducate Academy…”
Such enthusiasm encourages APIIS-Goducate Academy to strive to fulfill its dream of reaching millions of Filipino homes!
*Our guest writers are Iris Gwyn Abibiason and Pamela Kaye Dingal, APIIS-Goducate Academy teachers.
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