CNMI distance learning goes online

Teachers may now prepare the outline of their lesson plans and post them online for students in remote locations who wish to know the content of their upcoming classes—a technology that is actually nothing new, according to visiting consultants from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Reid Saito and Hotavia Gingerlei Porter visited the island for the distance-learning workshop held at the Kagman High School, which ended last week. Saito and Porter are both specialists from the Telecommunications and Information Policy Group of the university.

Porter is also a project specialist focusing on American Samoa. She said a similar training was held for high school teachers early this year but the training last week was for elementary to junior high school. Saito, an ICT program specialist, said that teachers could now post their classroom content on the web while students in return can also check their grades online.

Saito said the CNMI has its own web address—http://ecourse.pss.cnmi.mp—where teachers can log in. He said the website has been installed and running for six months now.

The website is riding on a free website called Moodle, said Porter.

Moodle is part of the open source innovation online where users can download software applications for free. Moodle is a course management system that aims to help educators create effective online learning communities in the world.

Porter said that, through the website, teachers could upload course materials through the course management system.

“Extending the classroom setup is one of the technology’s goals,” said Porter.

The technology, she said, is very useful for distance education but the downside is always the reliability of the Internet. If the Internet connection is down or slow, the process could be challenging.

The website now currently offers links to courses uploaded from Kagman High School, Tinian Junior Senior High School, Marianas High School, Rota High School, Saipan Southern High School, Tinian High School, Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, Tinian Elementary School, Rota Junior High School, Sinapalo Elementary School, Koblerville Elementary School, Oleai Elementary School, Kagman Elementary School, Hopwood Junior High School, Chacha Ocean View Junior High School, CNMI PSS Central Office, and the CNMI PSS Professional Development Training office.