MANILA, Philippines—The oldest school in the Pasay City district of Manila sits on a narrow street noisy with passing cars, three-wheeled motorcycles, and the colorful "Jeepneys" that offer a distinctive way of getting around. And when it's time for classes to start at Pasay City West High School, the noise level cranks even higher. More than 5,400 students, ages 12-16, make their way through the school's narrow entryway each day. The enrollment is so large that the school must stay open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. to accommodate two sessions daily.

On a recent morning, chemistry teacher Hector Basinang greeted his third-year class for a special presentation in the school's computer lab. The room was overflowing, not only with his 60 students but also with visiting administrators and the school's longtime principal, Nancy Flores.

Standing to offer their young teacher a formal greeting, the neatly uniformed students couldn't help but notice a television set in the front of the room. When Basinang turned on the monitor to display the opening slide of a multimedia presentation about the Periodic Table of Elements, students craned their necks to get a better view. Never before had their teacher used a computer or video monitor in the classroom.

Basinang, in his fourth year of teaching, recently completed an Intel® Teach to the Future training session offered by a master teacher at his school. The hands-on workshop allowed him to get comfortable using techniques he had never tried before, such as animation. It also gave him time to consider how he could best use technology to motivate and enhance student learning.

"Before this, I didn't know how to make animations, or how to use technology to present a story that would help students understand the concepts," he explains. "My hope in developing the presentation was that interest levels would increase."

That goal seemed to be easily met during the unveiling of the presentation, which included screeching sound effects to accompany the arrangement of elements in the Periodic Table. An animated guide named "Mr. Bean" brought smiles to students' faces. His informative monologue, delivered in cartoon bubbles, also helped them understand why the elements are arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns.

While the special effects boosted student interest, Basinang made sure the presentation was not a passive learning activity. He interacted with students throughout the presentation, asking questions that encouraged them to think about what they were watching and hearing. His follow-up questions ensured that students took in the key points of the presentation and connected new ideas to concepts they had studied previously.

Even before he had access to computers, Basinang says, he incorporated visual aids. "Visual learning is always a part of my teaching," he explains. He might have students make drawings on paper or use a prop such as a large cloth printed with the Periodic Table, for example. "The visual element must always be there," he says.

Across the Philippine Islands, an education initiative called PCs for Public Schools is bringing computers to campuses that have never had them before. Pasay City West High has received 20 computers through the initiative. But 20 terminals for thousands of students means that teachers can't yet plan lessons that integrate individual use of technology. The multimedia presentation offers a way for teachers to begin using computers to aid whole-class instruction.

Developing the multimedia lesson required Basinang to think carefully about the flow of his lesson. He started with plans for only a few slides, but then expanded that into a longer presentation with the help of Dalisay Esguerra, the master teacher who led the training session. "She inspected my presentation and helped me make adjustments for content and flow," Basinang says. Similarly, the planning time allowed him to create a lesson that unfolded in story fashion, offering another hook for student understanding.

It took a lot of work for the young teacher to come up with just the right sound effects and timing, he admits. But from the looks on his students' faces, he succeeded in making an effective mix of elements to capture their interest. At the end of the lesson, they stood in unison and extended a hearty message of their own: "Thank you for teaching us today."