DepEd Project SAVE

An IoT-inspired provides a value-laden offline K-12 basic education applying a synergistic approach transforming underserved communities into educational spaces. 

The Department of Education (DepEd) mandated all schools to close last March 2020. Last October 2020, DepEd started to open schools with various Learning Delivery Modalities(L.D.M.) categorized into Printed Modular Distance Learning(P.M.D.L.), Digital Modular Distance Learning(D.M.D.L.), Online Distance Learning(O.D.L.), and T.V./Radio Based Instructions(TV/RBI). 

The P.M.D.L. there is a risk for spreading the virus during the physical distribution of materials, expensive printing expenditures, and violates Meyer's Cognitive Theory. 

The D.M.D.L. requires additional storage on the learners' laptop/desktop/mobile phones, which are expensive and disorganized data storage.

The O.D.L. is not suitable in remote areas due to connectivity issues. 

The TV/RBI directly violates Meyer's Cognitive Theory and Generation Z learners. 

Thus, we designed Project S.A.V.E. (Strategic Assisted Virtual Education) an offline web-based learning portal to solve all the gaps of L.D.M. in remote schools, particularly our school. 

We digitized the quality assured DepEd learning materials. We used HTML, JavaScript, and PHP to code the digitized materials to make dynamic and interactive learning. 

We utilized available technology in our school. We installed X.A.M.P.P. in a configured computer-designated local server and stored our digitized materials. 

To make it accessible to stakeholders, we used a wireless router creating Project SAVE hotspots. We distributed the servers to villages for easy access. 

This innovation is a cost-effective solution, scalable, feasible, and easy to replicate in economically challenged communities.

The Project SAVE aims to increase equitable access to quality learning opportunities in transforming underserved societies into educational spaces for poverty reduction.

The school is in remote and isolated areas where Internet connectivity is the issue. The Project aims to increase equitable access to quality learning opportunities to cater to the needs of underserved learners. 

According to the ASEAN's POST titled "ASEAN's poor mobile internet connectivity," most ASIAN countries are far behind in mobile connectivity except Singapore. The study conducted by Opensignal - a London-based company, specializing in wireless mapping coverage – involved 69 countries, including ASEAN member countries except for Brunei and Lao PDR. 

Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia have poor mobile internet connectivity quality compared to other parts of the world. In the Philippines, according to World Bank, "Filipinos pay more for slow Internet services." Based on that report, 57 percent of Filipino households, or 12.2 million families, are still not connected to the Internet, while those who have access experience slow download speeds. The Philippines' average mobile broadband download speed is only 16.76 megabytes per second (Mbps), well below the global average of 32.01 Mbps. For prepaid, handset-based mobile broadband, a 500 megabyte Internet service costs $6.3 a month in the Philippines, the fourth-highest in ASEAN after Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia. 

Thus, the school innovated to overcome the educational issues in underserved villages that mimic the Internet of Things(IoT) through offline digital technology, empowering and promoting sustainable communities.

The Project SAVE can function in a low Internet connectivity environment and or no Internet infrastructures. Hence, it is an optimal solution for underserved learners.

The project SAVE was crafted and developed for the iGen (Internet Generation) learners situated in remote villages where Internet connectivity is the issue. According to Meyer's Multimedia Cognitive learning theory, iGen learners learn best when technology is embedded into the teaching-learning process.

When COVID - 19 pandemic forced the schools to close, billions of learners were greatly affected. The most affected are the underserved learners who have no access to Internet Infrastructure. Most of these learners studied themselves through Printed Modular Distance Learning and other learning modalities. A reason why we conducted an Action Research titled Project SAVE: A Non-ISP Tool for iGen Learners, Improving LDM Implementation. 

The study aimed to test the usability, productivity, performance, efficiency, and ease of using the offline learning portal. The learners can access the platform at strategic places using Project SAVE hotspots. The learners were provided with an Internet Protocol(IP) address and key security login to access the learning portal. 

This research is supported and financed by the Department of Education - Basic Education Research Fund (BERF). Due to health restrictions and protocols, we use the Purposive Critical Case Sampling in selecting our research participants. 

Based on the findings and recommendations, all participants enjoyed the platform due to its functionality, dynamic lessons, localized, and inclusivity features. 

The project empowers underserved learners to attain education, accessing the digitized learning materials at their paces, comfort zones, safety, and at zero cost. 

The Project SAVE(Strategic Assisted Virtual Education) is an offline EdTech platform developed to address underserved learners' needs in the low internet environment. 

Access to quality learning remains a far-off aspiration of educational leaders and stakeholders due to limited access to reliable learning technologies in remote and economically challenged areas. The scenario gets exacerbated when the COVID – 19 pandemic forced all schools to close. 

The Project SAVE is an offline, open-sourced, IoT-inspired platform with coded digitized DepEd learning materials tailored to the DepEd K-12 Curriculum.

The learning materials are dynamic and interactive coded with HTML, JavaScript, and PHP. Using XAMPP installed in configured local PC servers, and wireless networking technologies made the coded learning materials accessible to the learners. The number of designated Servers was distributed based on the number of learners in a place without Internet Infrastructure and low internet environments.

The limit of the number of users is arbitrary in this setup. But in practice, we applied one server to 250 users for smooth streaming of multimedia learning resources. The whole process mimics the IoT(Internet of Things) in an offline mode.

In the Platform, we added Government-issued OFFLINE versions of learning materials -LRMDS and DOST's Starbook. These two offline platforms are e-library and will provide additional references for learners in making their assignments and outputs.

The learners, teachers, parents, and internal stakeholders can track and monitor the learners' academic performance using security key login measures to promote data privacy.

1) Ronald F. Cuevas - SHS-TIC

2) Ocleo T. Orpio - Master Teacher 1

3) Maria Lury Lagumbay - Principal

4) Department of Education, Philippines

The Project SAVE(Strategic Assisted Virtual Education) is an innovation financed by the Department of Education(DepEd) through its Basic Education Research Fund(BERF). 

DepEd supported the Project due to its uniqueness of the solution and potential to solve the problem of providing equitable quality learning opportunities for underserved learners in the absence of Internet infrastructure and low internet environments. 

The Eastern Visayas Region 8, Philippines Innovation Summit 2021 featured Project SAVE. A kind of innovation intended for the remote and underserved learners with low Internet connectivity and no access to IoT(Internet of Things). This innovative solution will change the landscape in the academe and the business sector under new normal in teaching leveraging educational technologies strategically. 

The Project has the potential as an EdTech solution and as an offline learning service provider in the absence of Internet Infrastructure and or a low internet environment. It will cause a domino effect and a more significant impact if it maximizes its utilization ranging from a tool for learning and a geographic e-commerce platform to a recipient community. 

It shows the principle of how the Internet works on a small scale as a tool for learning and the business opportunities bundled in it.

The Project SAVE is visionary-driven to transform the lives of underserved learners in a low Internet environment and no Internet. It applies the bottoms-up solution and synergistic approach. It has its self-structured source code independent from other commercial Learning Management Systems(LMS) platforms for the scalability and sustainability of the project. 

The solution was piloted and tested under an Action Research titled " Project S.A.V.E. (Strategic Assisted Virtual Education): A Non-ISP Tool for iGen Learners, Improving L.D.M. Implementation." The study was to test the overall functionality. The learners can access the platform at strategic places using Project SAVE's hotspots. 

The DepEd - Basic Education Research Fund (B.E.R.F.) financed the project. The Project SAVE underwent series of testing through Alpha and Beta Testing. We already have a technology model for a learning platform. The offline version of the school automated voting system featured in CNN Philippines was the technology model for the Project SAVE platform. The source code of the model innovated into an educational learning service provider - Project SAVE. Under the alpha testing stage, the school's faculty reviewed the content of the platform. 

We selected Mercedes National High School, Southern Leyte, Philippines.  A perfect location for beta testing.

The Project SAVE used available DepEd - issued technology in the school. Our school received a computer package from DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) for our .Net Technology Programming and 2D Animation class. That is why we are able to leverage the existing technology. 

We installed XAMPP, an open-source and offline platform in our designated Local PC Servers, to make our digitized DepEd issued Self-Learning Modules accessible even without Internet Infrastructures. 

We coded the Deped Self learning modules based on K12 MELC based curriculum. We coded the learning materials with HTML, JavaScript, and PHP to make them dynamic and interactive. These learning materials we placed, in configured Core i5, 1TB HDD, 8G RAM, and with configured XAMPP Multi-Processing Module. Since we also have Wireless Computer Networking devices courtesy of DCP, we created an offline hotspot to be able our learners can access the digitized learning materials. 

Although XAMPP is a test server, we successfully configured it into an offline learning server platform. To let the learner access the platform, we provide the server's hotspot name, password, and IP address. 

The limit of users is arbitrary per server, but in practice, we have a ratio per 1 PC Server to 250 users. That is why we deployed PC Servers according to the number of learners per village. The reason is to have smooth multimedia learning resources streaming. We limit the JavaScript and PHP codes so as not to affect the processing request.

The implementation of Project SAVE for underserved learners in remote and depressed areas is one of the major activities of this Project. Then to make it work, establish linkages and ask the assistance from the villages' chiefs and officials and explain to them the benefits of the said Project to their constituents. Then, conduct information - drive in the community and, if all is well, enter into a contract either a memorandum of understanding or agreement(MOU/MOA) stating the roles and responsibilities of the parties. Lastly, install and power up the Project SAVE to let the learners access the platform, and the school will track and monitor the learners' progress.

One of the significant outputs of this Project is to improve Service Delivery to equitable quality learning opportunities. Quality education is brought right at the doorstep of the learners. 

As a result, these short-term outcomes are expected to Improve Key Performance Indicators: Increase the Enrolment rate, Participation rate, Completion rate, Cohort - survival rate, and Decrease the Dropout rate.

The Medium-term outcome is a decrease in the number of Out-of-School Youth(OSY), which is prevalent based on a survey conducted. If Education is accessible and brought to the home of the learners, it is highly expected that no learners will be left behind. Education is for all.

The long-term goal of this Project is poverty reduction in the community in which, according to the survey, the region is ranked 3rd of the poorest in the country. Through Education, it will be solved. According to UNESCO that Education transforms lives. Furthermore, according to UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report and the Education Commission's Learning Generation Report provide substantial evidence on the impact of Education on an individual's income, economic growth, community development, and Education to reduce economic inequalities.

The implementation of Project SAVE(Strategic Assisted Virtual Education) will transform the lives of underserved learners.

The project will be measured through its Key Performance Indicator (KPI). A performance measurement that helps the school understand how Project SAVE is performing and allows the proponent to understand if the project's activities are headed in the right direction within the given strategies and inputs. 

The KPIs are the following: Enrolment Rate, Participation Rate, Completion Rate, Cohort-survival Rate, and Drop-out Rate.

Enrolment Rate is expressed as net enrolment rates, calculated by dividing the number of students of a particular age group enrolled in all levels of education by the size of the population of that age group.
Participation Rate is the ratio between the enrolment in the school-age range to the total population of that age range.

Completion Rate is the percentage of first-year entrants in a level of education who complete/finish the level following the required years of study.

Cohort-survival Rate is the proportion of enrollees at the beginning grade or year who reach the final grade or year at the end of the required number of years of study.

The drop-out rate is the proportion of pupils/students who leave school during the year as well as those who complete the grade/year level but fail to enroll in the next grade/year level the following school year to the total number of pupils/students enrolled during the previous school year.

The KPIs are vital indicators that can be computed and utilized for evaluating the success of the project in terms of access to quality learning opportunities in the low internet environment.

For the next year's impact goals, the school/team is expecting that we improve our service delivery to quality learning opportunities to the underserved learners in the low internet environment and or no internet. Thus, the team/school will expect 100% school-age learners enrolled in the school, zero Out-of-School-Youth(OSY). It is also highly expected to have a positive increase of Key Performance Indicators(KPI).

Replication of the project will start next year to other schools who have a problem similar to our cause.

 Also, next year we planned to tap the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority(TESDA). Through TESDA's involvement, we let our learners apply for licensed skills and certification for those who opted not to pursue higher studies so that they can have a decent job.

For the next three years, as we planned also to tap on Commission on Higher Education for partnership so that those learners can continue their higher studies right at their homes at zero cost. We will expect several learners to pursue their chosen careers. 

For the next five years to come, we are expecting the first batch will graduate Bachelor's Degree. Then, those who completed the K-12 program and did not pursue their higher studies have a decent job because of their TESDA's licensed skills. 

The Project SAVE full implementation will eradicate poverty in the underserved community through equitable access to quality learning opportunities. 

Our product is offline equitable access to quality learning opportunities housed in Project SAVE platform servers. As of the moment, it is intended for K-12 learners. We need to complete the product to attain our long-term goal to reduce poverty in the region. We planned to tie up with Technical Education Skills and Development Authority(TESDA) because they offer skills training services. 

We will ask TESDA, a government agency, to provide us with an offline copy of their skills training services to be integrated into our product because their mission matches our mission to provide education to all youths.

To fully complete the product, we need to tie up with the nearest State University to provide us with an offline curricular offering with their curriculum through their community extension program services.

Access to talent, we refer to human resources who will extensively review and refine our platform in terms of coding and hardware to better stream various multimedia learning resources. 

Technology refers to the hardware of the platform. We need to upgrade the offline servers, the teachers' devices for MMLRs' development, and improve its networking capacity to accept the number of users and transmit from our 300-meter radius to 15 kilometers wide radius so that learning is accessible in an expansive direction.

As we envisioned upgrading our platform's hardware and content, we need financing. We need enough budget to procure the required materials.

The School is in the remote and the farthest School in the Division of Southern Leyte. The School was established in 1966 through a partnership of Local Government Units and the Central Office. Moving on, the School continues to aspire for equitable learning opportunities. Last 2015, the School's values were tested when the School participated in the National Schools Maintenance Week. The School met the criteria and was declared as Champion. The contest was very relevant because it prepares before the opening of the school year to make it conducive and enticing for the learners to enroll. 

Last 2017, the School ventured to improve its teaching-learning process by upgrading its strategies by investing in the digitization of learning materials from static to dynamic. We call it "Oplan DAMGU", meaning a dream to aspire and explore leveraging government-issued technologies. The activities were successful and gained regional recognition as a champion of its innovative Solution. 

Learning is dynamic, and the rapid advancement of the technologies with robust demands of learners forced the School to adopt these trends. This led to conceptualizing the idea of building a learning platform through the concepts of Intranet without using the Internet due to its low internet environment, and the majority of learners don't have access. 

Last 2020, the project was funded by DepEd because of its urgency and one of the best solutions to address the Internet Connectivity issues. Surprisingly, the Project SAVE is best applied in this time of the pandemic. 

1) Ronald Cuevas - the Lead Innovator
2) Ocleo Orpio - Master Teacher 1, co-innovator, QA specialist
3) Maria Lury Lagumbay - Principal, the Liaison officer
4) 25 Hingatungan NHS Faculty and Staff for preparation of the contents and track and monitor the learners' progress
5) Department of Education, co-owner of the study

The lead researcher/innovator Mr. Ronald Cuevas, designated as Senior High School Teacher-in-Charge, studied Master of Information of Technology and handled Information and Communication Technology for 18 years. He designed and developed the Project SAVE Platform. He is the Research Coordinator of the School and the Silago District Chairperson for the Research Screening Committee. Awarded as Outstanding Teacher in Technology Livelihood Education in Southern Leyte Division and Region VIII. Featured three times in Sunstar Newspaper and CNN Philippines for his outstanding performance and innovative solutions of the Department of Education. Recently, he was awarded as Regional Innovator of the Year 2021 for leading the Project SAVE innovation to solve the needs of Basic Education in Region VIII, Philippines.

Mr. Ocleo Orpio is a Master Teacher 1 and Master of Education major in Mathematics. He was designated as the Statistician of the team and the Quality Assured Specialist of the Platform's content and designated as Silago's District Research Coordinator. He is currently teaching Mathematics and Physics. 

Mrs. Evelyn Saliente, former Principal of Hingatungan National High School, was transferred to other schools, the original member of the team was replaced by Mrs. Maria Lury Lagumbay to take the responsibility to oversee the project implementation is the new Principal of the School. 

The 25 faculty and staff of the Hingatungan National High School helped prepare the quality assured DepEd learning materials. They are responsible for tracking and monitoring learners' progress. 

The Department of Education, the co-owner of the study, funded the innovative solution.

The team is visionary and built a strong synergy among stakeholders, and has a strong passion for providing basic quality education among its learners. It was proven over the years of its endeavors and experiences as a school in general. Because of its necessities and limited resources, it propelled the team to explore new things leveraging the available resources and technologies in the school by conducting an Action Research-based innovation. 

Aside from the synergistic approach established by the team among its stakeholders, the primary factor of the team that can conceptualize and implement new ideas is the ability to adapt to the needs of the learners, community, and the rapid advancement of technologies. 

Our mission is to improve the lives of the learners to that "Education is the key" to break the cycle of poverty. Our primary mandate is to provide basic education to attain that goal.

Since we are in the academe, we partnered with the Department of Education(DepEd), who financed the research-based innovation through the Basic Education Research Fund (BERF). Here is the layer of roles and responsibilities based on the partnership BERF guidelines. 

The DepEd National Research Committee will continue to assume oversight responsibilities over research management at the Central Office. 

The Regional Research Committee, Region VIII, will continue to manage research initiatives at the regional level. 

The Division of Southern Leyte Research Committee will assume the responsibilities at the Schools Division Level.

For more specific details and information on how we work with the above-mentioned Research Committees, please visit the link to the DepEd Order Number 16, series of 2017.

At the grassroots level, we partnered with the local government units, the village's chiefs, and officials to deploy the Project SAVE servers at their offices for safeguarding purposes and let them shoulder the electricity expenses incurred. 

We are successful in that partnership because we explain to them the project's impact on their constituents and accept and consider their demands. 

We believe that the Octava and MIT Solve can help us achieve our long-term goal to reduce poverty in the region through offline accessible quality education.

One of our identified barriers is Access to Talent. The Octava Foundation and MIT Solve have the human resources to help us refine and configure our offline platform to better serve the depressed areas learners with no access to the internet and low internet environments. More so, as we planned to integrate the e-commerce platform to sustain the Project, we believe that they have comprehensive knowledge on how to do it in the most effective ways. We need more technical assistance using the advance of technology to improve our service delivery.

Technology is one of the identified barriers of our Project. We believe that the Octava Foundation and MIT Solve can recommend the better hardware to use as we planned to upgrade our platform and tools of the teachers for Multimedia Learning Resources development.

If our Project were among the chosen few to be awarded the prize funding, it would help us finance our activities like the procurement of the high-end servers, networking technologies. The teachers involved will be equipped with the right tool for crafting other multimedia resources.

And lastly, we want the Octava Foundation and MIT to help us prepare the offline TESDA Skills and State University offline curricular offering.

As we integrate an e-commerce platform in our Project for sustainability, we need more help on product-market fit or an appropriate business model.

As we planned to venture and tap into other government agencies to complete our product package, we need the connections, the Networking, and linkages to governmental organizations as what we planned to tap Technical Education Skills and Development Authority and State Universities.

Measuring the success of the Project, we need appropriate assistance on measuring the impact of our Project. Although we have the key performance indicators as our gauge for measuring progress, it is not enough.

We plan to upgrade our platform in both hardware and software, to improve and refine our offline web-based platform. We believe there is more room for improvement. We do not stick and limit what we know. More brains are better to improve service delivery. 

Product distribution is also essential for replication purposes of the Project.

A good business model has good financial practices. We will need this. We need to learn the best financial practices to sustain the Project through various seminars and workshops.