Article by: Shaina Camille F. Macaranas and Marco R. Sunga.
Graphics by: Albert Dylan D. David
Last August 31, Mapúa University announced the launch of Mapúa Snippets, a new educational platform containing a series of free micro-video lectures that covers the Department of Education’s (DepEd) curriculum in English and Mathematics, suitable for grade school level studies directed to improve the Philippines’ learning poverty through accessible learning materials for all.
In an interview with the Project Manager of Mapúa Snippets and the Associate Dean of the Institute for Digital Learning, Dr. Edward Jay Quinto describes the creation of the Mapúa Snippets as “the urgent call to action to do something about learning poverty in the Philippines.” Dr. Quinto mentioned former Mapúa University (MU) President Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, who was among the people who urged the University to take a more active role in addressing this issue as many institutions acknowledged the severity of learning poverty, but only a few are taking real action to solve it.
“So here comes the Mapúa Snippets project, which is a project that actually does something to learning poverty beyond just talking about it.” Dr. Quinto explained.
Mapúa Snippets consists of two phases. The first is the production phase, wherein the team brainstormed content and created 100 micro-videos—50 each for Mathematics and English — aligned with the most essential learning competencies (MELCs) that students are expected to know. In August 2023, the second phase began – the community rollout phase - where they began distributing these micro-videos to public schools across the country, including Manila, Isabela, and La Union. When asked about possible collaboration with outside organizations, Dr. Quinto said, “Nothing has been finalized, but that’s something we can expect in the coming months.”
As some areas of the country do not have the technology or the means to access the videos, Dr. Quinto proposed different ways they thought of reaching the areas where these problems are prominent. “But for communities, for example, that are in, say, La Union or Apayao, we have partner schools in the province of Apayao. They don't have gadgets. They don't have internet connection. We're going as far as giving them USB sticks where the videos are saved there so that some of the schools, the partner schools we have in Northern Luzon, they would tend to have only one, for example, one television for the entire school.” Dr. Quinto also stated that even if distributing Mapúa Snippets is deemed hard, it motivates them to see the project make changes in corresponding to today’s time and needs.
Dr. Quinto credits the success of the Mapúa Snippets to current MU President Dr. Dodjie Maestrecampo, former MU President Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, Mrs. Helen Yuchengco-Dee of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, and the dedicated Mapúa Snippets Team, comprising of faculty and students from all Mapúa and Malayan campuses. Technically, Mapúa Snippets is part of the centennial celebration rollout, Dr. Quinto shared that the platform is accessible now, “But truth is, for as long as they're there and for as long as anybody needs them, they're just there in our YouTube channel and they could access the videos [which] are now available…”
Dr. Quinto describes Mapúa Snippets as an advocacy and as “the single most empowering project that I've ever been part of in Mapúa University.” He hopes that through this small initiative, it helps students across the country receive quality education. “Hopefully, we help in solving poverty in communities that have been very poor simply because for the longest time, there hasn't been any good access to quality education.”
Mapúa Snippets helps the MU in achieving United Nation Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), 4 (Quality Education), and 17 (Partnership for the Goals), and is available for public use and watch on their website https://www.mapuasnippets.com/
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