Philippine president wants all public schools connected to the Internet

MANILA (PNA)—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz to make sure that all public schools from primary to tertiary are connected to the Internet so that students will have a deeper grasp of the world around them and upgrade their knowledge and appreciation of global developments.

She pointed out that the Internet is a vital to enhancing the education of students since it gives them updated knowledge that are not readily available from books and other reading materials alone

The Chief Executive suggested that schools operate the computer lab like an Internet café during off-hours or vacation to raise funds for the improvement of other facilities. She said the funds could then replace the fees that were ordered scrapped so that parents will not be burdened with so many donations and contributions.

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Education secretary urges school heads to be lifelong learners

PASIG CITY—Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has called on school heads and superintendents to keep on investing in their professional and personal development so they can make themselves better equipped in improving the quality of the country's public school system.

”As the educational issues become more complex, we cannot just use our ‘old’ competencies in addressing new and varied challenges,” he said. “We cannot rely anymore on traditional ways of confronting these issues to significantly affect participation, completion, achievement and the total education landscape.”

The education chief made the call when he addressed the Philippine Elementary School Principals Association (PESPA)-Region III Chapter during its 1st Regional Principal Development Program in Malolos, Bulacan.

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National finalists named in 2009 Metrobank search for outstanding teachers

The Metrobank Foundation has announced the 20 national finalists in its 2009 Search for Outstanding Teachers or SOT. Out of the 173 nominations generated nationwide, 20 have been selected as national finalists consisting of four teachers from the tertiary level, eight from the secondary level, and eight from the elementary level.

For the higher education category, they are: Dr. Alvin Culaba of De La Salle University-Manila; Dr. Ramon Del Fierro of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City; Dr. Dina Joana Ocampo of the University of the Philippines-Diliman; and Dr. Emma Porio of Ateneo de Manila University.

The national finalists for the secondary level are: Shena Faith Ganela of Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas in Iloilo City; Manuel Magno of Bernardo D. Carpio National High School in Davao City; Estrella Pacis of Mariano Marcos State University-Laboratory High School in Laoag City; Rochelle Papasin of Philippine Science High School-Southern Mindanao Campus in Davao City; Zoilo Pinongcos, Jr, of Leganes National High School in Leganes, Iloilo; Ma. Petra Romualdo of Minapan High School in Tulunan, Cotabato; Susan Unde of Iligan City East High School in Iligan City; and Esmeralda Ugaddan of Cagayan National High School in Tuguegarao City.

The national finalists for the elementary level are: Nancy Aquino of Mlang Pilot Elementary School in Mlang, Cotabato; Gemma Cortez of Dasmariñas Elementary School in Dasmariñas, Cavite; Jonathan Glorial of West Visayas State University Integrated Laboratory School in Iloilo City; Jocelyn Hedriana of Pres. Manuel A. Roxas Memorial School South in Roxas City; Eva Imingan of Nellie E. Brown Elementary School in Olongapo City; Benjamin Martinez of San Sebastian Elementary School in Tarlac City; Lourdes Matan of Mag-Ubay Elementary School in Calbayog City; and Salve Romero of Calabanga West Central in Calabanga, Camarines Sur.

From the 20 national finalists, 10 will be selected as this year’s awardees.

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Philippine search for outstanding reading teacher is now underway

To honor the country's top reading teachers and give recognition to their contribution to the field of literacy, the Department of Education has launched the 2009 Search for Outstanding Reading Teacher (SORT).

The SORT is one of the ongoing programs being implemented by the education department to improve the reading comprehension of children in public schools. Another is ECARP or Every Child a Reader Program, which aims to make children from Grade 1 to 6 able to read as expected at their level.

DepEd has likewise directed schools to beef up school libraries and implement different reading strategies to instill among school children the love for reading at an early age.

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Higher education development center inaugurated

MANILA (PNA)—The Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Higher Education Development Center (HDEC) was inaugurated last August 7 at the University of the Philippines Complex in Diliman, Quezon City.

The event was graced by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was joined in formally opening center by CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles and commissioners Hadja Luningning Misuarez-Umar, William Medrano, Nenalyn Defensor and Nona Ricafort.

The HEDC is one of the sub-components of the seven investment strategies under the Higher Education Development Project (HEDP), which is eyed to exert broad impact in improving higher education. The HEDP is a package of reform-oriented investment measures aimed at implementing the key recommendations of the 1998 Philippine Education Sector Study (PESS) and the 2000 Presidential Commission on Education Reform Agenda.

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In a digital future, textbooks are history

By Heidi Schumann, The New York Times
 
At Empire High School in Vail, Ariz., students use computers provided by the school to get their lessons, do their homework and hear podcasts of their teachers’ science lectures.

Down the road, at Cienega High School, students who own laptops can register for “digital sections” of several English, history and science classes. And throughout the district, a Beyond Textbooks initiative encourages teachers to create—and share—lessons that incorporate their own PowerPoint presentations, along with videos and research materials they find by sifting through reliable Internet sites.

Textbooks have not gone the way of the scroll yet, but many educators say that it will not be long before they are replaced by digital versions—or supplanted altogether by lessons assembled from the wealth of free courseware, educational games, videos and projects on the Web.

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Are Shakespeare and texting compatible?

By Brenda Bernet, Associated Press

Most teenage girls today wouldn’t go to the trouble of saying “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” It would be more like “Y R U Romeo?”

But nearly 400 years after his death, references to William Shakespeare abound in American culture. Filmmakers still make blockbuster movies out of his stories. The film 10 Things I Hate About You is based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody produced a “Romeo and Juliet” episode. And so high school English teachers take on the daunting task each year of teaching “Romeo and Juliet” and other deeply layered Shakespearean works to a generation more accustomed to texting in abbreviation.

It’s not easy.

“The language is terrible,” said RayLene Dysert, who teaches freshmen composition at West Texas A&M University and led a recent workshop on teaching Shakespeare for high school teachers.

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Language not barrier to knowledge-based economy, UN rep says

KUALA LUMPUR—Language is not the main barrier for Malaysia to be in a knowledge-based economy by 2020 and the country is on track to achieve developed nation status in about 10 years' time.

"Language may become a problem but there is way to deal with that," United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative Kamal Malhotra told reporters at Putrajaya Thursday.

"Korea is a very good example of a country that uses its own language but for hi-tech, a lot of scientific journals and others have been translated from English," he said.

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Web-based flash cards will dazzle language learners

By Koichi Ko, Japan Times

Remember the days when it took markers, index cards and three hours to assemble a set of 100 flash cards? Remember all that time wasted that could have been better spent studying? It’s amazing how much has changed in a few short years thanks to computers and the Internet.

If you’re still handwriting your flash cards, here are three good reasons to set down your pen and turn on your PC:

Smart.fm
http://smart.fm
Cost: Free

Previously known as iKnow.co.jp, Smart.fm has spent a lot of time scientifically researching the way people remember things, and it has applied that information brilliantly within its Web application. You can choose from one of thousands of flash-card sets already created, but it is also really easy to create your own…

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Organization goes to China to teach English in schools

A few weeks ago, Richard Stephens was teaching English in a school on the edge of the Gobi Dessert.

Stephens is the organizer of an non-for-profit international cultural exchange organization Links International that teaches conversational English in Chinese schools. He had made trips to Asia since 1995 and organized Links International in 2002.

“The idea is linking one-to-one with our volunteers and Chinese schools,” he said.

The group works with local school boards and the Chinese government to volunteer to teach English. They have taught in more than 14 cities teaching thousands of students. English is required for all students by the Chinese government since the Chinese believe English is the language of the world and because many technical materials are written in English.

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English language seeing a comeback in Bihar

After almost four decades, Bihar has woken up to English education in the state, making English a compulsory subject in Board Examinations from the commencement of the academic session 2010. Bihar can no longer afford to lag behind as far as English education is concerned, says Raghubansh Kumar, Bihar School Examination Board academic director.

Underlining the importance of English speaking in today’s world, the Government of Bihar has taken the initiative to hone the spoken English skills of the government high school teachers and thereby their students in the state to keep pace with the time. For this purpose, the government has entrusted the job to British Lingua, a Delhi-based institution specializing in Spoken English training under private public partnership.

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NMC offers short-term classes to improve English language skills

The Northern Marianas College, through the Division of Community Programs and Services' Community Development Institute, is offering short-term classes to interested individuals who wish to improve their English language skills.

The course will teach participants the fundamentals of the English language such as enunciation, pronunciation, and dialogue. The course also aims to help participants understand and master grammatical concepts necessary for interactive skills development. Throughout the course, students will practice these concepts in oral dialogue and conversation exercises.

The classes, designed to improve individual knowledge and specific skills, are geared around actual workforce needs and experiences based on course surveys, community needs assessments, and interviews with employers.

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