A medical school in Cebu has forged a partnership with a telecommunications company to power its connectivity and e-learning solutions that will redefine the teaching delivery of the faculty members and the new study platform for students amid the pandemic.
The PLDT Enterprise’s engagement with the University of the Visayas – Gullas College of Medicine (UV-GCM) is seen to boost the future of learning through its continuous engagements with universities, colleges, schools and learning institutions across the country.
Dr. Rosemarie Español, UV-GCM vice president for finance and administration, said the school is now taking steps to usher in a cutting-edge method of teaching delivery in collaboration with the PLDT Enterprise, which, she viewed, is the best in the business.
The school availed of Microsoft Education A3 licenses for its faculty and students that cover the use of the Learning Management System (LMS) via the easy-to-understand Microsoft 365 platform, she said.
“This allowed the teachers to use SharePoint in delivering educational materials to their students, to hold classes in online classrooms and to use Microsoft Teams in meeting online with their students. Both faculty and students have complete access to the Office 365 collaboration and productivity apps,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
Jimmy Chua, PLDT Enterprises assistant vice president and head of corporate relationship management, said the Smart Communities, Smart Network’s corporate social responsibility and community service program, has a Smart Study program that gives student-friendly options for pocket WiFi devices, which UV-GCM signed up for.
Chua said the school is incorporating Infocast into its efforts as well which is seen to enhance the LMS functionality of Microsoft Teams extending an “omnichannel” approach to communication.
The medical school also signed up for the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) SIM (subscriber identification module) subscription to be used by its faculty. According to the statement, this SIM-only plan is a cost-saving and flexible measure that allows their faculty to use their existing phones with Smart SIM cards on the Smart network.
“We at PLDT Enterprise continues to bring innovative solutions to the table, especially at this time when our academic sector is breaking new ground during this pandemic,” he said. (PNA)
