Technology in Education

April 8, 2006

            We are in the information age where almost everything we do concerns a microchip. Gone are the days when students would often go to the library to open books to feed their brains (at least there are still a few who go to the library).

 

With the fast evolution of the different kinds of technology, most of it has become more affordable even to the “common tao”. Eight years ago when I was in college, I often went to the main library to research and look for answers to assignments our professors gave. I had to walk about 1km, under the sun, to get to the library. At times I got lazy because of the distance and the warm weather, but still I had to get myself inside the library to be able to complete my research, assignment or term paper. The library was fully air conditioned and one could find many reading materials from the thousands of collection it kept.

 

            There was internet at that time but only two computer shops offered internet services at P60 to P120, depending on the time that one has logged in, to more or less than 8,000 college students. It was a luxury (then) when I am able to research over the net. An hour flies so fast and I am overwhelmed by the millions of information the search engine retrieves. With that, I sit for another hour trying to scan if the information retrieved is relevant. Students at that time considered internet surfing expensive and not everybody could afford to use the World Wide Web on a regular basis. Unlike before, a lot of companies offer affordable internet services today. You can even have free internet access during off peak hours (when almost everybody is fast asleep on this side of the world)

 

            (At present) As I sit here in one of the computer terminals of the library in the university where I teach, my memory brings me back two years ago when I used to monopolize one of the computers to do my research over the internet. Back then, there were limited users. I seldom saw students who would search through the internet. But just this week, I observed that more and more students are already using the internet for research, unlike the students then.

 

            During my first year of teaching, I often asked– “who are the students with email addresses?” There were about two to three students who raised their hands (out of 40).  But now, there are more students who usually access the internet than those who do not or seldom log to the internet.

 

            Students nowadays are more exposed to technologies that are essential for learning. Although some just watch their companion do all the searching, I can really say that there are still those who are techno phobic. In my photography or video production classes, students are afraid to handle the manual camera and video camera during the first exercises but when they get used to using the equipment, they get excited to performing the next exercises. 

 

            From the research and readings I had had in the past few days, I learned that there are a lot of updates regarding the use of technology in education.

 

LESSON 1: I learned that there are a lot of softwares that teachers can make use to make learning more fun. We do not need to buy pirated or expensive software because there is what they call“open source software”. There are several web sites offering the use of the software they develop for FREE. One can even change the settings of the software to suit the needs of the user.

 

LESSON 2: There are different kinds of free software from open sources. There is software for making an online class or course, lesson plan organizer, puzzle maker, quizzes, visual aids developer, etc.    

 

LESSON 3: For me, the traditional classroom mode of teaching and learning is not out moded but rather, some or most of our teaching styles are. Teaching styles we learned way back may not be applicable to all of our students now. Especially that they are exposed to a lot of gadgets and simulated games in the computer. There will come a time when children will no longer carry heavy and big bags (that break their backs).Laptops and PDAs will replace their notebooks and the books they used to carry will be in CDs. As teachers, we have to learn how to turn on the computer and use it—meaning, computers will be part of one’s learning experience and we have to adapt to that kind of learning environment.

 

LESSON 4: We (teachers) do not need to learn the computer language (html) because there are softwares or programs designed for people like us who did not take up IT courses. It’s never too late to learn how to use the programs in our computers.

 

LESSON 5: I read a lot of success stories about teachers who made use of programs on the internet to improve the manner of how they deliver their lessons. In the Benguet State University, some teachers already developed their online classes, while some are still in the developing and planning stages of putting together their lessons for an online class. So far, the feedback from both teachers and the learners were positive. The MIS office of the university conducted trainings for teachers on how one can develop his/her online classes. The university makes use of Claroline (from an open source) as the platform for making online courses.

 

LESSON 6: Mixing the traditional classroom set-up of learning together with online access to the course is called blended learning. With his kind of set-up, the students can access their courses anytime when they are free. They can submit requirements and even take quizzes online. With this, we are slowly moving towards what they call a “paperless society” (more trees will be saved). This can be very helpful especially when the learners are not able to attend the class because they are sick; they got stranded, and the like. Students will not miss their lesson/s because they could access it through the internet.

 

LESSON 7: We could still improve our learning situation if we become open to changes and improvements that technologies in education can do. I learned of Partners in Learning through the internet. This is a community of teachers under the DepEd. In this community, teachers can share their teaching strategies, lessons, insights and the like. There are a few teachers in the region who registered and I encourage other teachers to register to get acquainted with other teachers, to learn and to share insights about teaching. Log on to http://www.pil.ph for further information about the organization.

 

LESSON 8: All of those I mentioned above are for real. The only constraint is the lack of funds for additional equipment in our schools. On the part of the students, some do not make use of the internet (but they will eventually learn how to use it to their advantage).

 

LESSON 9: Never stop learning.

 

Times are changing fast; we may be the first ones to have the latest Nokia mobile phones… BUT when it comes to technology in education, we do not come out first. Looking at the top 100 universities in Asia, one of the criteria is the ratio of school equipment to the number of students who use it. For example, in an IT subject, how many students are assigned in one computer terminal? Or how many students are in one class? The University of the Philippines was in the top 46. That is already a premiere university in our country so what rank do you think your university will land on?

 

            Our government has to sacrifice and provide the best basic education for our children because they are our future. It is very surprising that there are elementary graduates who do not know how to read (and write). I believe that these children are not “bobo” but rather, their learning style was not focused on by their teachers. I remember the Kapihan@EduCARE I attended in the Asian Institute of Management lodge at Club John Hay, the speaker, Dr. Henry Tenedero, talked about multiple intelligence–That children have their own learning styles and if it is not met or when it is hindered, the learner will not be able to grasp lesson well. Sad but true, teachers stick to the traditional ways of teaching where students’ option to practice their learning style is limited or worst– not acted upon. Because of this, the teaching style of the teacher does not meet the needs of the learner.

 

            In my four years of teaching, I always kept in mind the images of my teachers whom my classmates and I enjoyed learning with and as much as possible avoid the mistakes of some teachers I underwent in the past wherein they embedded fear in my heart whenever they were in the classroom teaching.

 

            One teacher I cannot forget back when I was in grade six was Ms. Magro. She was my science teacher. Among all the teachers I had, she had the most unique way of helping us (me) learn. She made us recycle an old notebook and we used it as our scrapbook where we used to take down notes while she lectured. She often made the class laugh and made science an interesting subject for all of us. At home, I made and organized my own notes based on the notes I took during our lesson. With her style, I did not only have a clean notebook but I understood my lessons as well.

 

All in all, students’ understanding of a lesson being taught lies on the teacher. It is the teacher who plans his/her lessons. At times we do not need expensive technologies for imparting our lesson for the day. We just have to be creative in the delivery of our lessons. But still, it helps if we make use of technologies to enhance our mode of teaching like incorporating multimedia.

 

If you watched Imbestigador’s “Juan Tanga”, where the participants were asked: “Ano ang capital ng Philippines?” One participant answered, “Letter P!” Another question was: “Ano ang pambansang ibon?” another participant answered “Ibong Adarna!”

 

Funny answers… but would you accept that kind of answer to basic questions we should know about? Do you think we need to do something about our learning system? YOUR ANSWER IS AS GOOD AS MINE.