Filipino educators are turning to digital tools to adapt to changing curricula, streamline lesson preparation and create more interactive classroom experiences, showing how technology can support teachers without replacing the human connection at the heart of education.
Among them are educators Daniel Timbal, Richard Empimo, Reyna Orlanes and Vanda Rema, who have used Canva Code to develop lesson plans, classroom activities and interactive learning materials without requiring advanced technical skills.
For Timbal, who has been teaching for nearly 15 years, frequent curriculum changes have meant continually revising lesson plans, updating materials and acquiring new skills while managing other responsibilities.
“I've been a teacher for almost 15 years. So I experienced firsthand how much time Filipino educators spend on paperwork, making lesson plans, and in several years, since 2015, our curriculum is constantly changing. So every year we have to learn, we have to acquire skills,” Timbal said.
The experience prompted him to develop GuroHub, a free AI-powered lesson planning platform designed around the Philippine curriculum. Within its first month, the platform attracted more than 2,000 users, according to the release.
Reclaiming time for teaching
The challenge of lesson preparation is also familiar to Empimo, a teacher at Cristina Calnantoc Rosario National High School in Davao Occidental.
“We know that making lesson plans is very time consuming. There are times when I'd spend hours just to complete a lesson plan,” Empimo said.
Using tools such as Canva Code, Empimo has been able to turn ideas into interactive learning materials more efficiently, giving him more time to refine his lessons and focus on teaching.
Orlanes, an English and Media Arts teacher, similarly found that consolidating tools for presentations, visuals and activities helped simplify her preparation process.
“This really makes the work of teachers very easy in the sense that we don’t need any additional subscriptions if we want to work on our lesson plans or if we want to prepare presentations,” Orlanes said.
Making lessons more interactive
For Rema, a science teacher with nearly eight years of experience, technology offers more than a way to save time. She uses it to encourage participation and make complex concepts easier for students to understand.
“I incorporate technology into my lessons to enhance learning and encourage student participation,” Rema said. “AI has helped a lot because we treat it as a tool to improve teaching. It’s not there to replace teachers because human interaction is still needed.”
Using Canva Code, Rema has created gamified reviews and interactive activities for her students. She said she has observed stronger participation and improved academic performance as students become more actively involved in the learning process.
The educators' projects include GuroHub, which helps teachers create lesson plans aligned with the Philippine curriculum; Empimo's DepEd ILAW Lesson Planner, designed to streamline lesson planning; Orlanes' “Diction, Context & Connotation,” an interactive lesson that combines learning, activities and quizzes; and Rema's “Collision Theory Group Activity,” which uses an interactive website for group assignments.
Their experiences underscore a broader point: The role of technology in education is not simply about introducing new tools, but about giving teachers more time and flexibility to focus on their students.
As education continues to evolve, the release said, supporting educators can give them more opportunities to innovate and create meaningful learning experiences while preparing students for an increasingly digital world.