By Candice Montenegro
INQUIRER.net

WE’RE always told that the world is our classroom. Now, blogging gives a whole new meaning to that cliché and proves there really is a virtual classroom in the world (wide web).

Edublogs are blogs primarily used for educational purposes. These include blogs written by teachers (for a class or co-teachers) and those maintained by students for a particular school subject or class.

The blog is becoming a popular outlet for education-related discussions because it provides a fast and convenient way to share insights, resources and even homework. It is easy to update regularly, and feedback can come in the form of comments.

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A PHILIPPINE Science High School social studies teacher, known to his students as “Sir Martin,” believes teachers can use blogs or other web-based tools to connect to students.

“Blogging has allowed me to connect with my students this deeply,” Martin Perez said in a speech he made during a blogging forum organized to gather teachers who blog.

A blogger before he became a high school teacher, Perez admitted that blogging is not easy. In fact, it meant extra teaching load.

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A GROUP of teachers will be talking about blogs as alternative tools for education.

The Bloggers Kapihan has invited two well-known teachers who use “old” and new tools of web publishing to extend learning beyond the classroom. Sharing their experiences are Martin Perez of the Philippine Science High School and Danny Arao of the Department of Journalism of the UP College of Mass Communications.

More details:

The BK Crew presents Bloggers’ Kapihan 2.0: Blog Ed 101. This time around, let us tackle the importance of blogging in learning, learning in blogging and blogging as a tool for alternative education. The event will be held on October 13, 2007, 1:30 p.m. at the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Quezon City.

Blog Ed 101 is in cooperation with the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a nationwide network of educators from different schools, colleges and universities.

Tonchi Tinio, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, will also dive into the controversial CyberEducation Project of the Department of Education during the event.

A SCHOOL professor from the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) has cited the potential of blogging in distance education in the Philippines during an international conference titled “Living in the Information Society: the Impact of ICTs on People, Work, and Communities in Asia.”

Former UPOU Dean of the Faculty of Development Studies Dr. Paz Diaz said in her presentation, “Blogging as a Strategy for Teaching and Learning” noted that the use of blogs has several advantages to both students and teachers.

In particular, Diaz said that through blogging, students and teachers are able to share ideas and discuss topics beyond the classroom.

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AT LEAST, that’s what Singapore is thinking. Then again, the Lion City is one of the world’s most technologically-advanced nations.

Here’s an excerpt from the Agence France-Presse story:

SINGAPORE–Blogs are replacing blackboards as Singapore moves high-technology into its classrooms as teaching tools, newspapers reported Wednesday.

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SHOULD English be the medium of instruction in our schools?

We now have a lively debate in our Vox Populi blog, which gives readers not just the chance to give feedback, but also post their own blog entries, subject to editorial discretion of course.

Check out “Medium not the issue, says reader,” “English ‘a must for development,’” and “English not anti-poor” for more on this issue.  And tell us what you think.

“FIND your carnival, and get your blog.” This one-liner comes from a service called, er, Blog Carnival. Simply put, a blog carnival is a collection of top blog postings on different topics. A blog called “All My Eye” also provides this definition:

Blog Carnivals attempt to provide a weekly or monthly summary of key postings in a particular blogging community or topic. The source media is different (blogs versus mailing lists) but the editorial process and end results are essentially the same: a regular digest of important scholarly or technical discussions. Carole Anne Meyer has described Blog Carnivals as secondary publishing reinvented.

Topics can vary. All My Eye found scholarly blog carnivals, which focused on the science community, for instance.

A blog carnival is a blog community or network with a twist. This new “approach” hopes to help you find more relevant information from the virtual haystack we call the blogosphere. But from time to time, you will still find some blogs regurgitating second-hand information. So be careful.

Blog on!

I FOUND this blog called Inevitable Karma by Martin Perez, a social studies teacher at the Philippine Science High School.

A quick look at his blog will tell you he’s one cool teacher. Sir Martin (as he prefers to be called) loves rock and alternative music. He reads books like “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” and “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. He was born in 1983! And did I say he loves comics? That’s a long introduction to the topic on teaching through blogs.

Remember I already featured a blog by an American teacher? So I thought of finding a local one to show how Filipinos are using the same technology to reach out to students.

In a project called Pisay meets World, Sir Martin encourages students to use Internet technology to express “What can the world expect from the Pisay scholar in the future?” Pisay is a short for Philippine Science High School.

He explains:

In March 2007, Sir Martin and his students unveiled an ambitious project for the very first time — the Pisay Meets World. It was a cascade of online student projects that answers the theme, “What can the world expect from the Pisay scholar in the future?”

Their answers ranged from satires of high school life (that showed off their artistic side) to short films on real issues, and to blogs that responded to real social concerns.

Here’s one good example of a short film done by his students, which they posted on YouTube.

One thing I found interesting from his blog is a podcast that explains the genesis of the Pisay Meets World project.

Now, who says learning social studies in high school is boring? Heh

I WISH to explore another application for blogs, which is teaching. I believe that schools are only beginning to see the benefits of blogs as a tool for education. In most cases, blogs by teachers or students are personal in nature. So I went searching for interesting blogs by teachers and found one. It’s called Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Here’s why I love this blog:

As I read about the evolution of the Web, I just feel that many of the experts are missing it! (Perhaps the 3D web is part of the “intelligent agent” idea, but I’m not so sure.)

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