Daniel Um is an 18-year-old ex-patriot living in Makati, Philippines. In 2012, he received one of few coveted scholarships to the Sprout e-course through a TakingITGlobal partnership with Global Issues Network. Not one to waste the opportunity, Daniel combined his passion for education and love of technology to create Video for Life.

The Philippines is an economically polarized country. Young children aged 5-12 who have little means will go to Smokey Mountain, a garbage dump, to scavenge for food or anything to sell. These children do not have access to education or skill-building opportunities. Inspired by Jane Walker and the Philippine Christian Foundation’s model of bringing innovative education directly to vulnerable children, Daniel has created “Video for Life” – using the medium of video to teach the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic to all grade level students.

Daniel created a partnership with Gitnang Bayan Elementary School to support their learning needs and ensure that under-resourced schools could still deliver complete education to their students. The chosen public school for the Video for Life pilot is located in San Mateo, Rizal and boasts a population of 2400 students – 368 of which comprise the Grade 6 level.

Through Daniel’s participation in the Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation, he designed, developed and produced two videos on math for Grade 6 students at Gitnang Bayan. The focus of these videos on fractions and basic geometric shapes was determined through a formal needs assessment carried out with teachers on the actual needs of their students.

Since the Pearson Fellowship, Daniel’s initiative has grown and so has its impact. Daniel notes: “Based on the pre-tests and post-tests, [the students’] performance was more than what we expected. Sixty-right students were quizzed. Their scores went from 61.2%(pre-test) to 94.0% (post-test). The kids showed the most improvement in adding/subtracting fractions with different denominators.”

The initial Video for Life project has now evolved toward the development of more educational videos. As well, a kiosk, modeled after Dr. Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall Education” project, will be built and stationed in Gitnang Bayan school where students can access the videos at all times.