The Level of Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Tools in Multigrade Classroom Instructions

Multigrade teaching, where learners of different grades are taught in a single classroom is a reality in the landscape of basic education in the Philippines. Most schools adopting this scheme belong to the last-mile learning institutions, which poses great challenges to learners, parents, and teachers. The thrust of the Department of Education along with the education delivery computerization program paves the way to making the presence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in the country's schools, which is found to be a possible mechanism for enhancing the teaching practices of teachers and the learning experiences of learners in multigrade setting. Guided by the cited supposition, this study was conducted in Sorsogon City, particularly in the seven (7) elementary schools offering multigrade classes. This study assessed the multigrade teachers ‘access, competence, training, and support provided along with the ICT. Likewise, the level of ICT utilization in multigrade instructions was looked into and the difficulties encountered in the process of adopting the tools were identified. Results showed that the multigrade teachers had satisfactory access to ICT tools and possessed satisfactory ICT skills. They were exposed to limited ICT training and provided with minimal support. They considered themselves practitioners in utilizing ICT tools in lesson preparation while viewing themselves as an apprentice in using the technology in lesson delivery and assessment. These multigrade teachers applied interactive presentations and digital simulations to provide differentiated instructions to the learners and oftentimes integrated the ICT tools to teach multiple grade levels simultaneously. These multigrade teachers encountered varied challenges along with ICT utilization in the multigrade setting primarily the lack of training, limited computer sets, software malfunction, unreliable internet, and financial constraint. Forming a professional learning community with multigrade teachers as members is suggested as a possible measure of addressing the issues. This professional learning community has to be provided with the proposed learning episodes, mainly designed for the effective adoption of ICT tools in multigrade teaching. These learning episodes are to be utilized in their learning action cells or group study.