The Little Prince   School: Agusan National High School Location: Butuan City, Butuan, Philippines Name: Cecilia M. Estoque

"Our students went global!!"

"I would like to attest and to encourage my fellow educators that quality global education is attainable through the aid and appropriate use of technology and with the right attitudes in our sworn profession."

Cecilia, an English Language and Literature teacher to 13 and 14 year olds in the Philippines, was passionate about the power of technology for learning, but faced a number of obstacles. Cecilia’s school has approximately 10,000 high school students, the majority from low-income families. The school has less than 20 desktop computers in the laboratory, giving less than 5% of the total student population computer access at a time. There is an average ratio of 1 teacher per 50-70 students per class. A teacher handles an average of 300 students per day!

Despite these circumstances, Cecilia maintained her vision of authentic global learning and together with Adrian Asis of Xavier High School San Juan Manila, a private school, designed “My Personal Encounter with the Little Prince Telecollaborative Project.” To make the project viable, Cecilia collaborated with private internet café owners, asking them to transform their businesses into Computer Learning Centers and give her students special discounts for access fees.

After the first successful local collaboration, Cecilia and Adrian began collaborating with European partners. Cecilia’s successful endeavors opened doors for her to reach out to school administrators, teachers, community stakeholders, parents, organizations and advocate to them the benefits of technology as an educational tool in teaching. This project provided evidence of the value of collaboration in promoting cross-cultural understanding and learning. Cecilia initiated trainings in technology integration and digital literacy that helped other educators become more open to her vision for her students. The community became more involved in helping the school procure computers, engaging more internet café owners, and soliciting donations from private companies to provide computers and free internet access.

The Challenge of Resources

Cecilia’s article in Panorama, “Quality IT in Education” speaks to the challenges faced by educators worldwide who have access to very limited resources. Cecilia has diverse resources in her community and built local and international partnerships to make technology integration a reality.

Best Practice:
- Seeking the support from parents and the community can add a valuable local connection to global projects.
- Giving parents ongoing access to a collaboration space like TIGed helps build support for innovative projects.