Knowledge Channel's Ready, Set, Read for Early Literacy

Production and dissemination of semi-animated video lessons on literacy with equivalant capacity building for Grades 1-3 teachers.

Ready, Set, Read project aims to help Grades 1 – 3 teachers teach early literacy to address the consistently dismal performance of Filipino students in international examinations in reading with comprehension.  This will be done by producing teaching tools for Grades 1-3 based on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) curriculum and teachers guides, in the form or semi animated video lessons formatted to make learning fun and effective.  These video lessons will be disseminated nationwide through Knowledge Channel’s broadcast, online and offline platforms at no cost to schools for the first two platforms.

The use of video technology as instructional tools is a proven intervention of the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI).  Third party studies have been commissioned to establish the link between students watching Knowledge Channel’s (KCh) programs and learning outcomes. The results point toward a significant increase in learning outcomes compared to students not exposed to KCh programs. 

The Role of Knowledge Channel TV Shows on Students' Learning

Corollary to this, teachers will be trained on new teaching approaches in early literacy through 3-day virtual interactive Webinars and mentored online at least six times in the school year to ensure application of learnings.

When Grade 3 students shall have become independent readers who can read with understanding, they will be properly equipped with foundational learning skills to move on to the higher grades.  Further to this, they will have gained the confidence to tackle more difficult subject matter, standing a better chance of furthering their studies beyond K-12.

The Philippines has been consistently performing dismally in the reading component of major local and international examinations.  The Department of Education (DepEd)’s latest Language Assessment Proficiency for Primary Grades (LAPG) yielded unsatisfactory results, with Grade 3 students scoring 56.49% for English and 62.79% for Filipino reading comprehension. Meanwhile, UNICEF’s 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Assessment (SEA-PLM) showed that Filipino Grade 5 students were in the lower 50% of six participating countries, and their writing, reading, and mathematics skills fell below age-appropriate levels. Results of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) also revealed how far behind the country is in comparison to other participating countries, ranking 78th out of 79 countries in Math and Science and 79th in Reading. Sadly, only 20% of Filipino students achieved at least the minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics literacy. 

The problem is naturally compounded when students advance to higher grades without this most important skill set, leading to below par performance, school drop-outs, and an inferior workforce. With more than 26 million enrollees and the shifts brought about by the pandemic, the country’s education system is even more fragile. Local and international studies reveal that poor teacher quality, poor foundational skills in reading, literacy, and numeracy, and the lack of access to learning resources are among the major factors that affect students’ academic performance. Such are the very areas where KCFI aims to be of help for this project.

This proposed solution serves the constituency of the public educational system managed by the DepEd.  Because primary and secondary education is free in public schools, it is members of the disadvantaged and marginalized  sectors  who are enrolled in the system. Most of them have limited decoding skills in reading, limited interest in books, and do not have established study habits at home.  Private schools where the quality of education is better, are patronized by the middle and high income sectors where learners are adept at reading. DepEd serves around 26.3M learners; of which the project seeks to serve 6M students of Grades 1, 2 and 3.  Though DepEd has  the national budget’s largest share, learning resources are never enough especially for those in geographically isolated and depressed areas.  During the pandemic, DepEd mandated that self learning (printed) modules would be the mode of learning for all students because as mapped by DepEd districts around the country, Internet connectivity is extremely limited and electronic gadgets unaffordable by their clientele, the clientele KCFI seeks to serve.

KCFI is in constant touch with public schools which have acquired its portable media libraries (PMLs), 1 TB hard drives containing  2,000+ video lessons, e-games, e-quizzes and session guides.  Regular feedback from teachers on the usage of the digital learning materials is sought through quarterly monitoring forms, phone calls and most recently, through Facebook and Messenger group chats.  KCFI’s proposed solution addresses the lack of learning materials for beginning reading, a necessary foundational learning skill.

KCFI’s solution is directly aligned to the Social Innovation Challenge primarily because it “uses technology at scale to address the bottom of the pyramid, it enhances aspects of the education process and complements educators’ work”.  

The Knowledge Channel’s 24-hour broadcast of K-12 curriculum-based video lessons is beamed nationwide via satellite, its signal received and cablecast by more than 350 cable operators, carried by the biggest direct-to-home satellite TV service operators and a few regional free to air channel carriers. Added to this, Knowledge Channel is picked up and offered by several digital terrestrial television providers.  Its’ broadcast schedule is based on DepEd’s budget of work - its quarterly chronologically ordered learning competencies. Online, most video lessons may be downloaded for free from www.knowledgechannel.org or www.youtube.com/knowledgechannelorg.  Arrangements with digital content streaming services are being pursued.  Offline, KCFI’s portable media libraries (PMLs) are being offered at cost to local government units, DepEd Division and District offices, corporate and individual philanthropists and to school heads. In order to maximize the use of these PMLs, a half day technical training for teachers on how to navigate its menu to maximize the videos’ benefits is conducted. 

KCFI has purposively sought out partners to make its programs as widely available and accessible for free by its target beneficiaries who are presently learning from their homes during the pandemic; but eventually from their schools and classrooms when face to face teaching will be allowed, hopefully by the next school year.

Edric Calma, Director for Operations is the team lead. He contributed in ideating and planning the solution and in supervising its implementation in pilot cohorts.  

To date, neither government nor civil society has ventured into this kind of technological innovation on as massive a scale as this.  But because of its relationship with the once largest broadcast Philippine company, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, KCFI has managed to harness some of their resources for the public good. Specifically, Knowledge Channel has been given satellite transponder space to use for free by ABS-CBN; enabling it to beam its programs nationwide on simultaneous telecast mode to all 7,601 islands. It has also harnessed the production expertise of ABS-CBN in the development of video lessons to ensure its mass appeal; and more importantly, the videos’ comprehension and efficacy directed at various target audiences.

In effect, this innovation levels the learning field because programs watched in ultra urban centers are the same ones watched in remote island and mountain village schools.

KCFI’s programs are contextualized within and localized to the Philippine setting, making them more effectively appreciated and understood by its end users - affective learning at its best.  Though teachers can download visuals from Quipper, Khan Academy and other open source courseware, these foreign materials are not as effective as KCFI’s videos; which KCh teacher users have attested to.

Other Southeast Asian countries may benefit from the English video lessons for Grades 1 – 3 because in all likelihood, the early reading curriculum is similar if not the same in these countries. 

Yes.  Before Knowledge Channel rolls out any of its video lessons, each draft video lesson is subjected to focus group discussions (FGD) with target student groups and separately, with their teachers.  After viewing videos during which reactions are noted, FGDs are conducted to determine the video’s appeal and comprehension levels; with the end in view of generating feedback with which to produce programs that deliver the educational messages effectively and efficiently. The videos are then edited based on results of FGDs; and rolled out on KCFI’s broadcast, online and offline platforms.  No video lesson is disseminated without proof of its efficacy. 

The same approach of conducting FGDs with the various target audiences will be implemented to ensure Ready, Set, Read's intended outcome and impact. The series will be piloted in chosen areas around the country.

The solution is powered basically by video technology in all of its forms and delivery systems. The semi-animated video lessons are produced in digital format and distributed through both traditional and the latest online platforms.  The traditional component is television; whereby Knowledge Channel’s broadcast is carried by multiple providers of cable service, direct-to-home satellite TV service, regional free to air channels and by digital terrestrial television; hitting 9M homes. Online platforms consist of its Web-based learning site and youtube channel where students and teachers can watch and/or download most programs for free.  Its offline or on-demand platforms consist of KCh portable media libraries  (PMLs) – 1 TB hard drives containing all KCh video lessons and other e-learning materials and the Knowledge TV – a television set where KCh programs are installed and accessed offline through an app which enables Netflix-like content delivery. The cumulative reach of these platforms is nine million homes for the broadcast component and 8,000 public schools for the offline component. Thus the solution is a blend of both traditional and brand new technologies.

The technical teacher training which accompany PML purchases uses popular social media platforms as a feedback mechanism used to reach out to trained teachers to ensure application of lessons learned in teaching reading.   

This project’s goal is to develop  the reading skills of Grades 1 - 3 learners. Specifically, at the end of the school year, it aims to move at least 60% of the students from one PHIL IRI (reading and comprehension test) reading level to another and as importantly aims to increase the reading motivation of at least 75% of them.

KCFI uses the following tools: (a) monthly class observation and post-observation conferences with teachers and principals, (b) survey for teachers and parents, and (c) periodical tests for students.

The Philippine  Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL IRI) is the DepEd’s standard individually-administered diagnostic tool that rates a student's reading and comprehension levels. The once-per-year assessment provides a series of reading and comprehension tests aimed at classifying student’s ability/non-ability to read.  The outcome places a student to be either at level 1: frustration level (a student can decode/read but not comprehend), level 2: instructional level (a student can read and comprehend with the support of the teacher) and independent level (level 3: a student can read and comprehend by him/herself)  at the level expected.

For the next three years, the  solution targets to move 65-67% of the pilot students from one PHIL IRI reading level to the next, and at least 80% of them should be motivated to read.

By Year 5, at least 78-85% of pilot students should be moving at the end of school year from one PHIL IRI reading level to the next, and at least 80% of them are motivated to read.

KCFI will continuously engage pilot teachers into a mentoring program,  produce video lessons and provide access to them. At the end of each school year, these pilot teachers will present action researches aimed at sharing learning best practices. The solution will be taken to scale by collaborating with the DepEd Central Office which will recommend or mandate Grades 1-3 teachers to use Ready, Set, Read as a primary teaching tool for beginning reading. 

There is only one major barrier to the project/solution’s success: lack of resources with which to produce the required number of video lessons and conduct the teacher training workshops.

This solution and corresponding outcomes of the pilot studies to be done on Ready, Set, Read should enable KCFI to raise more funds. The usual fundraising techniques will be modified and targets will be doubled. A more aggressive marketing and promotions campaign directed at the prospective donor market segments will be drafted and implemented.  Members of KCFI’s Board of Trustees will be tapped for prospects and leads they can provide and initially contact to our resource mobilization team.

DepEd districts with unutilized funds will be pursued; as will local government units which have unallocated funds from their Special Education Fund. KCFI will venture into untested territory by using online methods of fundraising – crowdsourcing and perhaps incentivizing its employees.

Further to this, KCFI will “sell” the components of the solution to target teachers and learners/parents.

In 1999, KCFI President and Executive Director Rina Lopez Bautista and several colleagues recognized the power of education in nation-building and in ending the cycle of poverty. They mobilized the potential of television as an educational tool and established the Knowledge Channel, later cited by former US President Bill Clinton during the 1st Clinton Global Initiative in Asia in 2008.

 Since then, KCFI, a non-stock, non-profit organization, has been helping improve the quality of basic education in the country through media and technology. It has produced more than a thousand educational videos based on the Department of Education (DepEd) K-12 curriculum and most essential learning competencies, distributed the same materials on-air, online, and offline to more than 8 thousand schools and 9 million homes, and trained teachers and education leaders on effective teaching and learning pedagogies. 

In 2016-2018, KCFI launched MathDali, a program for Grade 4 Math that brought educational videos, interactive games, and teacher trainings to public schools. The videos and games were developed following the principles of growth and mathematical mindset, 21st century skills, conceptual understanding, and content mastery. While MathDali significantly improved the learning of students with the videos and teacher training, their performance was less than projected. A series of student assessments and focus group discussions showed that their poor performance stemmed from unlearned requisite skills in reading comprehension. Because of this, KCFI developed Basa Bilang (Read, Count) which includes Ready, Set, Read to address Grades 1-3 learners’ beginning  literacy and early numeracy skills.

At least twenty persons work on producing the video lessons; most of whom are contracted for the purpose.  The full time person is the project head who leads the management group. Part-timers are director, content specialists and script writers.  Cameramen, studio personnel, animators, graphics artists, editors are part time workers. 

KCFI is composed of a multilingual, passionate, and hard-working team from diverse backgrounds and generations. Guided by the values of social justice, service, holistic learning, integrity, and nationalism, it believes that people should be central to any worthy endeavor. Its in-house video production unit is composed of writers, graphic and motion graphic artists, animators, content specialists, and education consultants. 

The key team members for this project are:

Edric Calma, who has a 10 year teaching background, manages KCFI’s production processes and operations for the past 11 years. He oversees the organization’s systems, upholds the highest standards from project conception to completion, and personally trains teachers and education leaders. 

Christian Gaite, who has been with KCFI for 11 years, supervises the transmedia planning and production unit which produces the video lessons.  He manages the development of instructional designs for scripts and materials based on the curriculum, sound theory, and identified needs. 

Roel Alvarez has had 28 years of experience in database management, human resources, and finance processes, inclusive of 21 years with KCFI. He governs KCFI’s financial policies, accounting, and records. 

Michael Ramos is a marketing and communications professional, with a 3 year teaching background. For 5 years, he has been in charge of KCFI’s overall marketing and communications direction and strategies, expanding the advocacy for multimedia learning and quality education in the country.

In the past, KCFI video lessons were not seen by public school teachers as important  tools for lesson delivery but rather as supplementary learning materials. Majority of the public school teachers adhere to the DepEd-prescribed curriculum and teacher’s guides and learner materials as their magna carta for content, delivery and schedule.    

To ensure utilization of KCFI videos in daily lessons, the Team Lead ideated, implemented the production and caused the functional use of video lessons based on the DepEd teacher’s guides and learner materials. The team lead was the executive in charge of producing the resulting Grade 1 video lesson series for reading in Filipino, ‘Wikaharian’; now a staple in daily classes. The Ready, Set, Read! series for Grade 1 reading in English has been  conceptualized and produced to follow this route. 

Grade 1 video lesson: Wikaharian for Reading in Filipino 

KCFI’s seven-day training and mentoring program for science teachers was also designed by the Team Lead. Among complementary modules for science distance learning, it weaved the concepts of design and systems thinking into the scientific method, highlighted activity-based discovery approaches activated by multimedia and inquiry, and looked at science communication.   

Rotary International has funded the production of the initial 65 episodes of Ready, Set, Read for Grade 1.

KCFI consults with Ateneo de Manila University's College of Education to help validate the content for video lessons.

The Department of Education is consulted throughout all projects and provides the pilot schools and classes when needed for KCFI's research surveys or studies. 

Though the Knowledge Channel Foundation has been operating since 1999 and claims to be an expert at what it does, the Foundation can definitely benefit from collaborative endeavors; especially from institutions which are backed up by science.  

KCFI is open to learn from international best practices which MIT SOLVE and Octava Foundation have access to. Any enlightening solutions are welcome.  

The reading problem is serious and at the risk of being melodramatic, could cause the downward spiral of this country if not addressed soonest.  One just has to go to a government frontline office like this writer has done and witness the sheer difficulty with which Filipinos try to decipher and answer questions on forms that have to be filled.

Funding sources during this pandemic have made COVID-related interventions a priority; and unfortunately, education has been put in the back burner. It is getting more difficult to mobilize the necessary resources even if this proposed solution is of high impact and for the long term benefit of the country and its people. A grant would go a long way in solving this problem.

KCFI needs assistance in improving its services to the Philippine public educational system and may be able to learn from the experiences of fellow Southeast Asian countries or of the more advanced countries. 

KCFI would also appreciate recommendations on ensuring the Foundation's financial sustainability even if it has prevailed for the past 22 years. It also needs help in devising a monitoring mechanism with which to measure the results and outcomes of its various projects on its beneficiaries.

To date, the Knowledge Channel is the only TV channel in the world that broadcasts 24/7 K-12 curriculum-based programs.  KCFI can also share its 22 years of experience with other countries in pioneering educational television in the Philippines and keeping up with technology, eventually reinventing itself through its different offerings.  Since Ready, Set, Read is a literacy program in English, it may be possible to share these video lessons with other countries which need it.  MIT SOLVE and the Octava Foundation may have the necessary contacts.