Mayor Binay plans to have 400 ‘smart classrooms’ in 2024

Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay speaks with Inquirer editors and staff on January 25, 2024. During the candid conversation, she talked about some ongoing projects in Makati, the city’s relationship with Taguig, and her future in politics. INQUIRER.net / Zeus Legaspi

MANILA, Philippines — Makati Mayor Abby Binay on Friday announced plans to convert 400 classrooms into “smart classrooms” within 2024 in an effort to provide quality education to students.

Binay said that the smart classrooms will have interactive whiteboards, notebook tablets, and unlimited internet access.

“We aim to incorporate IoT (Internet of Things) devices into 400 smart classrooms and expand this initiative in the near future,” said Binay in a statement.

“Our goal is to continuously provide quality education and modern instructional resources that meet the demands of the 21st century,” she added.

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The smart classrooms will also include individual notebook tablets on their desks, allowing them to directly submit answers for exercises, worksheets, or exams provided by their teachers.

According to Binay, the tablets are also directly connected to the school’s Learning Management System (LMS) and learning analytics tools to help reduce the administrative workload for teachers in assessing and evaluating student performance.

“The assessment scores of students can be accurately reported through a smart classroom’s Hybrid Interactive Boards (HIBs),” Mayor Binay explained.

“This approach will save time, decrease paperwork, reduce teachers’ administrative burdens, and allow more time for student-centered activities and the development of teaching strategies and innovations in their smart classrooms,” she added.

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With this, Binay said that the city government has already distributed 200 HIBs, accounting for 50 percent of its total target, including 119 HIBs installed in elementary and 81 in secondary schools. – Melanie Tamayo, INQUIRER.net Trainee