Recently in Education Category

This case about Quez on City Science High school students supposedly criticizing their school's policies through their blogs brings to mind issues of freedom of expression and responsibility. Based on earlier reports, these four students blogged about certain policies th ey deemed "unfair." For that, they were suspended. As one student recalled:

âIt's not true that there was due process. We were asked to submit letters of apology and we thought that was it. Next thing we knew, we were susp ended for ten days,â he added.

The school reportedly submitted a recommendation that the four students be susp ended for 10 days, which was later approved by the Department of Education's di vision. Later --or after news about the suspension of these students was picked up by media, the DepEd revoked the suspension and ordered an investigation. When I was still in high school, it was unthinkable to criticize school policie s. We do discuss about such things. But they were all done privately among us, students. Back then, there was no Internet to speak of. No blogs. No social net works. Today, it's quite different, as some teachers and college professors I have tal ked to attest. Yes, some teachers know that students blog and that they are now more vocal about their feelings about school policies, subjects, and even the teachers themselves. Some teachers may find this "inappropriate." But others ch ose to tolerate it. Question is: what can teachers/principals/school official tolerate? Based on this report , the students claim they were not given due process when they were suspend ed. Also, they claim that the blogs were "private," meaning only "friends" have access to it. The report indicates that the students' blogs were allegedly critical of the sc hool principal, Dr. Zenaida Sadsad. At this point, it's hard to say whether or not the school was right in suspendi ng these students. Students do have the right to express what they feel, but si nce they were done "privately" albeit through the Internet (think of discussion s in a private mailing list that are posted in a public list), are they answera ble to the school? On the flipside, it is also apt to ask whether or not these students have gone beyond merely venting their feelings to the point of already maligning persons involved. What do you think?

By Izah Morales Sheâs 57 years old and is blogging for two years now. âIâm not embarrassed to say my age because it proves that Iâm still kicking and blogging,â says Marianita Girlie Villariba, educator, feminist and psychologis t at the Education for Life Foundation. Yes, Villariba is not your ordinary golden-aged woman who is afraid of technolo gy and would rather stick with what is conventional. âParang may kulang sa araw ko âpag hindi ako nakapag-blog or nakapagbasa ng mga blogs [When I have not blogged for a day or have read othersâ blogs, I feel th at somethingâs lacking],â says Villariba. Blogging has indeed become part of her daily routine aside from reading newspap ers and magazines. Her conversation with a friend who is into the study of babaylan or priestess l ed her to blogging. âShe asked me about my blogsite. Sabi ko, ano âyun? [She asked me ab out my blogsite. I asked, whatâs that?],â Villariba recalls. Villaraba became interested when she learned that blogs can be a venue of her a rticles about babaylan. âI want to blog about babaylan because I want to find out about other women and culture,â she says. She began writing blogs at blogger.com but then she realized that she doesnât want to be confin ed by just writing about babaylan. Hence, she put up two more blogs at Multiply and Wordpress and writes various topics, such as spirituality, sexuality, culture, women and Filipino psychology . Writing blogs also allowed her to reconnect with friends whom she has not met f or a long time. But not only friends communicate with her but also other blogge rs who can relate with what she writes. âI learned to phrase my ideas that it resonates to other bloggers. It makes you part of a community,â shares Villariba. Though Villariba blogs to express her ideas, she values feedback from her reade rs because she learns whether she got her message across when someone reacts to her blogs. Even if she welcomes comments, whether positive or negative, she could not forg et when someone posted a pornographic video as comment to her blog. As an educator, Villariba was used to writing formal articles. But when she bec ame a blogger, she found a way to humanize her stories and go beyond the confin es of theories. âBy blogging, Iâm still able to organize what I think and feel and make myself clear,â said Villariba. Who says a golden woman canât blog?

As a parent to growing kids, I found this helpful tips from Trend Micro on how to ensure the online safety of kids. Let's admit it, kids are quite fond of social networks (more than the ir parents). My generation grew up watching television. Today, kids have the In ternet and online social networks -- not to mention online games. So itâs best that we parents should also understand how social networks work, for instance, so we could guide them. Hereâs one good example from Trend Micro's website, which I think is very impor tant:

Set reasonable expectations. Pulling the plug on your childâs favor ite social site is like pulling the plug on their social life. This can shut do wn communication and send kids âundergroundâ where theyâre more at risk. Here's another one:

Try to get your kids to share their profiles and blogs with you. Al so, use search engines and the search tools on social networking sites to searc h for your kids' full names, phone numbers, and other identifying information. You're not invading their privacy if they're putting personal info in public pl aces online.

Do you have any other practical tips you wish to share?

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 t he 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 stude nts 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 ho mework. It is easy to update regularly, and feedback can come in the form of co mments. Edublogs are a great way for teachers to find information related to their disc ipline or interests. Edublogs.org , for instance, categorizes other edublogs, offering an organized list of l inks related to the subject you need. It can also be used to communicate with t eachers from other schools and even other parts of the world. Teachers also use edublogs to provide additional input for a class. Examples an d homework can be posted on a blog. Teachers can post tips or even website link s and activities to help students understand a particular lesson. The edublogs then become a convenient extension of the class discussion. Other teachers also use edublogs to communicate with the class. Announcements a nd schedules can be posted on a blog that both student and parent can access. I t removes the need to print and distribute letters with reply slips that are of ten not returned on time anyway. Edublogs are also very beneficial for students. Just as teachers post tips and extra input, the students can post questions and clarifications through comment s. And the good thing is other students can join in the discussion and learn fr om others' questions as well. It becomes an online class recitation, where ever ybody replies almost instantaneously to the comments. It can also be used as a collaborative tool for the class, especially when stud ents post their insights on a particular topic or subject. Some edublogs even c ater to students from different schools that are taking up the same class. Work ing in a group becomes much easier, and the easy archiving enables students to just click on a link and go back to a discussion that he or she missed. The advantage of an edublog is its accessibility. Often, there is not enough ti me to discuss everything inside the classroom. Not all students are given the c hance to speak up, while some consciously choose not to recite at all. Edublogs give both teachers and students an almost unlimited ability to communicate, so that everyone has an equal chance to participate in the discussion. On the other hand, edublogs will only serve their purpose if all students have access to the Internet. In the Philippines, only 15 percent of our population h ad Internet access in 2007, and some students do not even have their own books, let alone their own computers. While it may work for private schools and unive rsities, it will take time before they can become truly beneficial for all our students and teachers. Nevertheless, the edublog is just one of the many innovations that will push ed ucation forward, so that it can continuously adapt to the changing times. It pr ovides a different approach to teacher-student communication and even faculty r elations, and proves that learning can indeed go beyond the four walls of the c lassroom.

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 co nnect 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 organiz ed 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. But apart from being a convenient way to distribute content online, the Filipin o high school teacher sees blogs as a way to hook students and fostering better relationships with them. "My current blog was born just this year -- January 6, 2007 to be precise. I cr eated it with the vision of it becoming my work blog, a place where I can focus on presenting material that would add value to what I teach. I wanted to go be yond information dissemination and to really engage my students online. I would use the blog to tease upcoming activities and give them a look into the origin s of the different things we do in class. I would write about issues which inte rest me, which I feel will interest them, and thus will be interesting to add t o our course. I would write about my students, my work and my love for teaching . But as I did all these, little did I know that I would realize something even far more powerful. A while ago I mentioned that the Internet has the potential to displace the teacher. I realized that through blogging, we teachers can win back our place in the classroom," he said. He stressed, however, that blogging is a decision teachers have to make. "It takes a lot of commitment especially when it begins to work. Sure, there ar e some blogs which don't take much effort -- a PowerPoint here, a link there, a course description here, a table of deadlines there. But a blog is not a bulle tin. It is an unending conversation and this is why it takes some commitment. T hrough my blog, I get to talk with my students, parents, fellow teachers, and e ven random people from Minneapolis to Mongolia," he added. During one instance, Perez said one of his students wondered why he didn't incl ude entries about his personal life. That got him thinking, and eventually he s tarted writing about his life too. "After all, one of the pillars of blogging is honesty. It does take a lot of co urage, and I realize that sharing such information on the Internet is a huge ri sk on my part. However, I also realize that the students I handle -- these teen agers who are at the same moment hungry for life and sick of life -- appreciate knowing that other people have been hurt, rejected and tested and yet have tur ned out fine. For them to realize that their teacher had been one of them and t hat this teacher now chooses to work among all of them is what it means to be c redible in their eyes. And once you are seen as credible, they will trust you. They will listen to you. They will respect you. They will take risks with you a nd they will learn with you. Everything else follows from there -- what we teac h, how we teach, and even why we teach," he said.

A GROUP of teachers will be talking about blogs as alternative tools for education. The Bloggers Kapihan< /a> has invited two well-known teachers who use "old" and new tools of web publ ishing to extend learning beyond the classroom. Sharing their experiences are < a href="http://sirmartin.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Martin Perez of th e 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 Bloggersâ 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 even t will be held on October 13, 2007, 1:30 p.m. at the R amon 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 universiti es.

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