Years of experience climbing numerous mountains, crossing rivers, and navigating through rugged terrain have prepared Remedios Torrevillas and Arvin Arcilla for the physical demands of the three-hour hike in the mountainous area of Ifugao Province.
As professional mountaineers, Torrevilas and Arcilla have conquered greater challenges and reached higher summits prior to this trip.
However, there was more to this particular climb that made it extraordinary. They, together with other employees of wireless services provider Smart Communications, were on a mission to bring technology-aided educational tools to a school in the mountains.
Due to its location, Ayangan Elementary School in Mayoyao does not have access to resources that would help improve the quality of education for its students.
To help them keep up with other schools, the Smart Mountaineering Club and employee volunteers brought to them the School-in-a-Bag portable digital classroom.
Designed for schools in far-flung areas, School-in-a-Bag utilizes mobile technology coupled with an innovative, 21st-century teaching pedagogy and educational content to facilitate learning.
Each weather-proof backpack contains a solar panel set, LED television, 2-in-1 teacher’s laptop and tablet for multimedia and interactive educational content provided by Smart’s partners, student tablets preloaded with E-learning materials and apps, pocket Wi-Fi, a smartphone, and a memory drive for storage of learning modules and other school files.
Teachers are also trained on the Central Visayan Institute Foundation – Dynamic Learning Program, a teaching pedagogy that promotes independent learning among students to encourage them to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines.
In addition, gadgets carried in every School-in-a-Bag are pre-installed with LearnSmart Mother Tongue-Based Literacy Apps mobile applications. Recognized by local and international award-giving bodies, the suite of apps was developed by Smart in partnership with local stakeholders.
“Ms. Edith, the school head teacher, said that our hike was a blessing and an answered prayer,” shared Torrevillas.
In order to turn over the School-in-a-Bag unit to the beneficiary school, the group from Smart’s head office in Ayala traveled for 10 hours to Benquet, before going on the three-hour trek.
Arcilla said he was glad for the opportunity to put his skills as a mountaineer to good use. He shared, “Since their main problem is accessibility, I will help in bringing educational technologies to them. We are all excited about what School-in-a-Bag can contribute to the education of the pupils.”
One School-in-a-Bag package is valued at P150,000. Over 190 bags have been distributed as of September 2019 through individual and corporate donors.
For the bag donated to Ayangan ES, Smart employees raised funds through its Smart Saturdays activity.
“I hadn’t fully realized the effect of my P250 Smart Saturdays donation until I saw firsthand what School-in-a-Bag can do,” enthused Torrevillas.
She continued, “Seeing the children all excited and happy to try the apps and games installed in the donated tablets made me realize that education is a gateway to many great things. In today’s fast-paced world, it is very easy to access information and acquire knowledge. With a reliable mobile or Wi-Fi network, all things we need to know can be done in just one click.”
“School-in-a-Bag helps uplift the quality of education in underserved communities around the country by giving kids equal opportunity to use learning tools that are normally only available in more developed, urban schools,” said Arcilla.
“My wish is for children in these mountain communities to enjoy their childhood, part of which is for them to fully utilize the educational tools and materials in the School-in-a-Bag we delivered to them,” he added.