Once again, the alumni stepped forward with an unprecedented initiative to make the online program of Miriam College, the KNOLLER, a more enriching learning and teaching experience.
Members of five alumni classes recognized that students and faculty must have quality devices and tools to productively manage the shift to online learning delivery that had been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was conceived in discussions of the Alumni Engagement Office with College Class 1970. In exploring the challenges of the KNOLLER system, particularly how a good number of students would not be prepared to have their own devices, College Class 1970 readily agreed to establish the KNOLLER Computer Library, which would provide 50 laptop units for the use of students in the Higher Education Unit. Each semester, the Computer Library would have these laptop units available to HEU students so that they focus on their academic work, without anxieties about having the right devices for their classes.
The KNOLLER Computer Library caught the imagination and support of four other classes that also believed having the right learning tool would be a prerequisite in a technology-driven learning system. Thus, High School Class 1974 supported the purchase of 15 laptop units for faculty in the Basic Education Unit, High School Class 1994 gave 8 units for BEU faculty, High School Class 1970 gave 20 laptop units specifically for High School faculty, and the Maryknoll/Miriam Alumni Association added another 6 laptops for HEU scholars. In addition, High School Class 1987 gifted 10 Samsung tablets for MC Nuvali students.
The KNOLLER Computer Library, in its inception year, is now equipped with a total of 99 laptops and 9 tablets that will benefit both students and faculty. These generous donations from the alumni are expressions of their constant commitment to enhance the capability of Miriam College to offer quality education. As the online learning delivery system becomes the new normal, the alumni continue to be enthusiastic partners in the school’s growth and development.