Technology: Man’s Best Friend

When I’m on my first year of teaching, the first subject that I taught was Science and Health. I still remember how hard it is for me to explain how the different systems of the body performed. Because of that encounter, I realized the important of having a laptop. That is why I asked my parents to bought one for me. When I got my laptop I was very happy because I am more confident that I can give the best learning that my pupils  need and also for me to strengthen my teaching abilities. By downloading videos on Youtube related to our topic, the pupils enjoyed watching and learning. That is one of the help of technology in my job.

 As a teacher I want to give my pupils the best learning that they need and to my employer the contentment of my service. Let me share with you some situation in my job that the technology helps me the most.

Before it is hard for me to compute the grades of my pupils, my fingers were aching in pressing the calculator. I also spend lots of time in computing it manually but when I learn how to use excel, how to compute the grades using it, it is easier. You just need to drag down the first computation for it to compute all the scores of your pupils. Now, I’ll just enter all the grades on the excel sheet and then their grades will automatically appears.

On my first teaching in public school my principal told me to used semi-detailed lesson plan for the whole day. I was thinking that time that if I will write it daily, it will consume most of my time and also energy. Of course I’m not lazy; I’ll just want to lessen my work. If there is a way to make it easier then let us choose that way. J So I asked her permission to print semi-detailed lesson plan. So every weekend I print my expected lesson plan for the whole week. So I can have more time in other activities.

Technology opens a lot of opportunity in my teaching career. It really makes me more productive as a teacher and as a person. It helps me to type test papers and other paper works in the school. It also helps me to download the requirements online. Technology is also a ladder for me to be blessings to the schools were I employed. In one of small schools in Cuyapo, the technology helps me to make their first school newsletter through the use of Microsoft Publisher. Technology also helps me to explore my talents, using moviemaker I directed a short movie that the pupils played when one private school celebrated their Anniversary. I know it is not perfect but I really felt happy when I saw the reaction of the pupils and also their parents that they saw their children acted on a short movie.

Technology also teaches me to search for more and to learn more. Technology opens a big gate for more opportunity, more development and productivity on our job also in our lives.It is really a big assistance for us and makes our work easier. Technology is man’s best friend.

Computer Technology: The New Face of Philippine Education

Filipino culture places a high value on education. For the majority of the Filipinos, the only best thing for a child to acquire and secure a better future is through education. So, they want more effective education system.  (Arimbuyutan, 2007)

Because of the use of computer, we find ourselves in the  midst of a powerful information revolution. Combined with the significant restructuring in education occurring in this country, the way we handle computer in the classroom is changing as well.  (Forcier, 1999)

 An article in the newspaper said that computer can be a teaching aid for the educator, a partner in schools’ activities especially in paper work. Also through it, the educator can easily visualize and explain topics to the learners. (Education and Culture Journal–ICT , 2011)

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus recently called on education officials not to resist change and instead optimize the power of technology to make quality education accessible to as many learners anytime, anywhere. Lapus said that more than the limited resources, the resistance to change is the
main obstacle in taking full advantage of technology in Philippine education.
          
“Our fear for change prevents us from moving forward. It limits us to the same solutions—solutions that have not given us the desired output we so desperately need at this critical hour,” Lapus noted.  (DepEd teachers Blog\News\Opinion\LEt Results\Event, 2008)

                       

            According to a survey, Filipino schoolchildren are computer literate as almost three-fourths (74%) have access to the Internet. But schoolchildren in the Visayas and Metro Manila have greater access than their counterparts in the Cordilleras and Mindanao as approximately 9 out of 10 schoolchildren in these areas are Internet users. (Sarmiento K, 2007)  

The latest Synovate Media Atlas study conducted nationwide from July 2008 to June 2009 reported that Internet access in the Philippines stands at 40 percent with the younger segment turned out to be the highest at 60 percent.In the Greater Manila area, 46 percent of respondents have access. Data was gathered from 8,028 respondents aged between 15 and 64 across all socioeconomic groups.  (Sarmiento K, 2007) Because of these information, truly the computer invaded the education and trying to make the learning more easier and more accessible anytime and anywhere. The is why the computer is now a new face of education. It is possible that more of the learner will undergo into an online education specially those students that is far from the school proper.

Online education seems to be a relatively positive development for learning and teaching, although it certainly raises some questions about how it might affect individuals, organizations, and society overall. It should open up new opportunities for students and teachers as well as educational institutions.  (Kearsley, 2000)

The first part of the twenty-first century has produced the first visions of a fifth generation—based on autonomous agents and intelligent, database-assisted learning—that we refer to as the educational Semantic Web. Note that each of these generations has followed more quickly upon its predecessor than the previous ones. Moreover, none of these generations has completely displaced previous ones, so that we are left with diverse yet viable systems of distance education that use all five generations in combination. Thus, the field can accurately be described as complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving.

However, acknowledging complexity does not excuse inaction. Distance educators, students, administrators, and parents are daily forced to make choices regarding the pedagogical, economic, systemic, and political characteristics of the distance education systems within which they participate. To provide information, knowledge, and, we hope, a measure of wisdom, the authors of this text have shared their expertise, their vision, their concerns, and their solutions to distance education practice in these disruptive times.

Often, potential learners will seek out online learning opportunities to create or enhance career goals. As educators, we may want to view the educational experience outside the context of career development, but as stated previously, the learning experience is not about us. The fact is that learners bring that context to their educational decisions, and we need to understand that they do so. Online resources designed to assist learners to determine their own interests and skills, and then provide a career map aligned with educational programs, is a reasonable expectation. After all, most of these learners will experience several career changes—some of them quite significant—throughout their working lives  ( Terry Anderson, Fathi Elloumi , 2004)

Parts of a Plant