EdTech firm says teachers, as well as students, need help in the digital shift

EDUCATION technology firm Blackboard, Inc. said institutions need to focus on teachers, more than on students, as learning systems shift towards a more digital platform.

Blackboard Asia Regional Vice President Philip Murray, in a virtual event last week, said the main focus has been accommodating students’ learning needs in what is now the new normal, but younger people tend to adapt faster to digitalized learning than educators.

“They (teachers) have been asked to make very rapid change from being traditional or conventional decorum of teaching… but (now) they have to learn a lot of new skills,” he said.

“Many teachers have taught the same way for some years and they are a bit concerned with how this new world might look like, will their teaching methods have value and of course they will. But then again, it’s looking at other resources available that will help them,” he added.

He said their company provides the Blackboard Learning Management System, wherein the programs are designed to be easy for educators.

“That is where a lot of our programs especially the digital teaching and learning series have helped remove a lot of fear that faculty have had in making that change,” he said.

Over 150 million users from 80 countries have utilized tools operated by Blackboard that are offered by institutions as part of their remote learning platforms. — Gillian M. Cortez