DepEd pushes digital literacy in campus journalism

EARL VICTOR ROSERO, GMA News

10/25/2011 | 07:50 PM

The Department of Education will test the digital literacy of thousands of budding reporters and writers in grade schools and high schools across the country in the run-up to and during the actual conduct of the nation’s largest gathering of campus journalists in April next year.

A new group competition category on “collaborative publishing" will highlight the adoption of the “Promoting Digital Literacy Through Campus Journalism" theme of the 2012 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), which was set for April 9 – 13.

Regional contingents are allowed to have up to 107 elementary school delegates and 107 high school contestants. That will bring to 3,672 the total number of student delegates from all the country’s 17 regions. The regional competitions will be held from October to December this year.

Digital media

In the collaborative publishing contest, teams of seven will be tasked to produce a four-page tabloid using Microsoft Publisher software. The seven group members must be delegates fielded in any of the various national individual contests. The published output of the teams will be uploaded to the official NSPC website.

The 2012 NSPC (the full details of which can be found here) will have individual contests in Editorial Writing, Feature Writing, News Writing, Sports Writing, Editorial Cartooning, Photojournalism, and Copyreading & Headline Writing. The contests will have English and Filipino categories.

Contest rules ban the use of digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and other high-end cameras in the photojournalism contest.

The group contest on Scriptwriting and Radio Broadcasting will also have teams of seven who will write and produce five-minutes of radio newscast.

The pre-NSPC group contests for best pages will be in February next year. — TJD, GMA News

  http://bit.ly/w12Buy

CHED orders closure of 2 PMI maritime courses

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 10/21/2011 8:29 PM | Updated as of 10/21/2011 11:02 PM

 

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) ordered the phase out of 2 maritime courses offered by the PMI Colleges.

Effective second semester of school year 2011-2012, the BS Marine Transportation (BSMT) and BS Marine Engineering (BSMarE) programs of PMI Colleges in its Manila and Quezon City campuses were ordered closed.

This is due to the failure of the school to comply with the standards of the programs, in accordance with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW), and CHED requirements.

“Thus, no new students shall be admitted to the said programs, and the students of the other year levels shall be transferred to other CHED compliant and recognized programs that shall accept said students,” according to the public notice signed by CHED Executive Director IV Atty. Julito Vitriolo.

The commission approved the closure through Resolution No. 092-2011, as amended by Resolution No. 139-2011, during its 372nd Regular Commission en Banc (CEB) meeting last May.

Likewise, the commission denied the school’s Motion for Reconsideration on the CEB’s action in its 379th Regular Commission Meeting held last September, citing the “series of deficiencies committed, which the institution failed to fully rectify since 2006 to 2011”.

“This Notice shall not affect graduating students of PMI in the above courses for AY 2011-2012,” it added.

http://bit.ly/ouwJ5W

 

DepEd's K+12 plan: Learning from the Netherlands

By Dheza Marie Aguilar, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

Posted at 11/17/2010 3:05 PM | Updated as of 11/17/2010 8:13 PM

NETHERLANDS - Time and money. These are the two main issues why a lot of Filipinos, lawmakers, parents and students alike, are questioning the feasibility of the K+12 proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Many believe that adding 2 more years to basic education will be more expensive, both for government and the parents, and will take additional years away from students, which they can otherwise use in looking for a job.

While Oscar Sañez, member of the Presidential Task Force on Education and President of Business Outsourcing Association of the Philippines, admits that it is a Herculean task to pass and implement the K+12 proposal, it actually targets to solve, in the long run, these problems. Parents will have to spend less money in sending their children to school, and graduates will easily get a job in a shorter period of time.

The K+12 proposal will involve a complete overhaul of the educational system in the country, from adding two years to the basic education, re-training of the teachers, increasing the number of classrooms, acquiring new software and knowledge from other countries and involving companies into providing the right kind of jobs for new graduates.

“The prospective is that we need an education reform. If we don’t do this, in the long term, many of our graduates will continue to fail relative to the other students in other countries competing with the Philippines for the same talent. This is a good step in improving the competitiveness of the Philippines in the area of skills and workforce development,” said Sañez in an exclusive interview with Balitang Europe in the Netherlands.

Targeting skills’ gaps

According to Sañez, there are three main things that are missing from our graduates. These are communication skills, not only in English but in effectively communicating ideas across in a professional and persuasive way, critical thinking in solving complex issues and the level of maturity of students towards the appreciation and love for their country.

To achieve these, Sañez said the government should be committed not only in terms of budget allocation but in carrying out the implementation of the reform. This means bringing in new technology and knowledge from other countries, and changing the methodology of teaching in the country which has been very structural or lecture-type from the beginning.

The K+12 educational reform proposal has a budget requirement of approximately P200 billion, which will be implemented throughout a 4-year period.

“You don’t have to spend the additional P200 billion in one year. If you can get a grant plus regular government budget, mga 50 or less billion pesos a year you will be able to implement,” said Sañez.

The reform, he added, will also be gradually implemented in 4 years to avoid colleges and universities from closing down due to lack of enrollments.

More years in high school

Cora Dee, former professor and lecturer at the Ateneo de Davao University and Erasmus University in the Netherlands, supports the proposal of increasing years in the basic education in the Philippines. According to her, adhering to the international standard of education is the only way that the Filipinos can compete even more in the global work field. She also agrees that a lengthened educational system will be more economical for parents.

“Whether we like it or not, the world has become so small that wherever you are, there are Filipinos all over the world. Kung mag-improve and educational system natin, all the more na magiging competitive tayo hindi lamang sa ibang bansa ngunit pwede din natin itong gamitin sa ating bansa,” said Dee.

But as opposed to the one year additional in elementary and one year in high school, Dee thinks that it is better to increase the years in high school all together. She said that the Philippines can be inspired by the Dutch, 9th in the rank of best educational system in the world by the Program for International Student Assessment.

In the Netherlands high school education is divided into 4, 5 or 6 years based on the skills and abilities of the students, from vocational study, applied or technical courses and research or scientific field, respectively.

The type of high school that a student will go to is determined by their performances in the elementary level.

According to Dee, focusing and developing the specific skills of students in high school will make them perform better in the tertiary level. This will also help students and parents on deciding whether to pursue a degree which will take a longer period of time or finishing a study that will give them jobs at the soonest possible time like vocational and technical education.

Mixed reactions

Filipino students in the Netherlands have mixed reactions to the proposed educational reform.

Mylene Abarquez, a student from Mindoro who migrated to Canada, experienced first-hand the disadvantage of the 10-year basic education system that the Philippines currently has.

When she was applying for a course in the university, she had to take two additional years of high school in order to qualify for university. This is why she supports the K+12 proposal.

“I think it is a very good proposal. But in my experience, dapat two years na lang iyong high school. Sa atin kasi, all the subjects are given na ng teacher. When I was in Vancouver, dahil gusto kong maging nurse, I have to choose more sciences na classes so its up to me kung alin ang kukuhanin kong pre-requisites sa college,” said Abarquez.

But more than the reform, Abarquez thinks that the government should focus more on giving the teachers a bigger salary and more incentives. She said that if the teachers are more motivated to educate, a better quality of education will follow.

Another student from The Hague University, Queenly Tolentino, believes that educational reforms will put the Philippines at par with global standards.

“Ang labanan kasi ngayon intense na eh. Since ang Pilipinas 10-year pa rin ang education, left behind na tayo. Kailangan dagdagan nila para internationally competitive tayo,” she said.

Tolentino also opposes the current lecture-type of teaching in the country. She said that this does not really enhance the talents and skills of the students.

Meanwhile for Mick dela Rosa, another Pinoy student in the Netherlands taking up International Business and Management Studies, the money that will be spent on educational reform should instead be put to improving teaching conditions like more classrooms and books.

“Sa tingin ko hindi na. Yong curriculum na meron tayo, ok na eh. Sa implementation ang nagiging problema. Kahit napa-ideal ng curriculum once ilagay mo na sa sistema, wala kang enough na facility hindi din magagamit,” said dela Rosa.

Despite differences in opinions, these students believe that the Aquino government should focus on improving the educational system in the country, whether through educational reform or improved facilities and benefits for teachers.

http://bit.ly/nSr7bO

Little-known college tops engineering exams

By Juan Escandor Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon
1:55 am | Monday, October 17th, 2011

SORSOGON CITY—Wanting in laboratory facilities but blessed with dedicated teachers, a little-known state college here has proven it can equal the finest engineering schools in the country. Its recent graduates have topped successive engineering board exams.

Sorsogon State College (SSC), some 500 kilometers south of Manila, has produced the likes of Joseph Cyril R. Gredoña and Daniel E. Forteza, who ranked first and second, respectively, in the mechanical engineering board exams last month.

Gredoña—a son of a tricycle driver—garnered a grade of 92.70 percent, while Forteza—a son of a farmer/fisherman—got 92.65 percent in the exams.

In April, another SSC graduate and a son of a shellfish vendor, Jhonrey Aguirre, topped the electrical engineering board exams with a grade of 89.65 percent. A college mate, Leandro Salamatin placed 10th with a grade of 87.05 percent.

SSC first made its mark among engineering schools in 2006 when its graduate, Emmanuel Liwag, placed eighth in the electrical engineering board exams.

One of the oldest trade schools in the country, SSC became a state college in December 1993 with three national vocational high schools in the province integrated to it.

“We don’t have Ph.D.s in our faculty, which we still dream of until now. But we could say our instructors are good teachers while we see a high number of students with talents,” says Felino S. Jasmin, SSC director of branding and communications.

He says most of the college instructors have at least 20 years of teaching experience.

Jasmin points out that the school’s performance is measured by its passing rate in board exams, which must not go below the national passing rate.

Against the national passing rate of 62 percent, SSC’s feat in the mechanical engineering board exams has become more meaningful because of the school’s 79 percent passing rate. Nineteen out of its 24 mechanical engineering graduates last school year passed the board exam.

P150 per unit 

He says SSC only charges P150 per unit and a student here needs at least P5,000 for one semester.

The state college received a budget of P93.64 million from the national government in 2010 while the fees collected from 8,570 students totaled P44 million.

Jasmin says 260 personnel are paid from the budget given by the national government, while 147 personnel are subsidized by the income SSC derives from the fees it collects.

Noel Benavides, program chair of the engineering and architecture department, says SSC is still wanting in laboratory facilities, which are shared by 40 to 45 students in every class session.

He says the ideal class size in a laboratory is 25 to 30 students but the students have to make do with what they have.

This limitation, however, did not prevent the students from delivering very satisfactory performance in the board exams.

Jasmin says SSC caters to students from low-income groups whose parents cannot send their children to universities outside of Sorsogon, like Legazpi City, Naga City or Metro Manila.

Although SSC charges the lowest rate compared with those collected by other engineering schools, many students still have difficulty paying tuition and other fees.

Jasmin cites Gredoña and Aguirre who both struggled hard financially before topping the mechanical and electrical engineering board exams, respectively.

From Aroroy, Juban

The eldest among six siblings, Gredoña hails from the far-flung village of Aroroy in Juban, Sorsogon.

His parents were able to ask a landowner in Sorsogon City to allow them to build a small house in the city while Gredoña was in college.

Gredoña recalls that when he was in elementary school, he walked 2 kilometers to reach the school from their house.

Forteza, who placed second to Gredoña, also comes from a low-income family. His father, the only breadwinner, makes a living from farming and fishing in the village of Macabari in Barcelona town.

He was a consistent honor student from elementary to high school and found the questions in the board exams familiar. Still, he was surprised he made it to the top two.

Forteza says he hopes that his achievement will be a life-changing experience for his family, especially since a big company has offered him a job.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/77375/little-known-college-tops-engineering-exams

Apl.de.ap to kids: We can be anything

Penelope P. Endozo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 15, 2011 | 9:08 pm

Apl.de.Ap, the Filipino-American member of the
American hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas, poses
during a press conference on the launching of an
education advocacy campaign which he leads
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011 in suburban Pasay City, south
of Manila, Philippines. The "We can be anything!"
education advocacy campaign seeks to build more
classrooms to fill the 66,800 backlog. AP

MANILA, Philippines – “Get an education, change your situation. Get your graduation, earn your occupation.”

The lines come from apl.de.ap of the well-known American band Black Eyed Peas in a new song titled “We Can Be Anything,”complete with a music video, that kicks off a campaign to build 10,000 new classrooms in the next two years.

Apl.de.ap, or Allan Pineda Lindo Jr. launched his new advocacy for education on Saturday, urging Filipinos, including Filipino-Americans like him and others from all over the world, to help Filipino schoolchildren “to go to school and stay in school.”

“I am proud to be Pinoy and I never forget where I came from…. It’s important to me to give back for the improvement of my country,” said the rock star, who grew up in a poor neighborhood in Sapang Bato, Pampanga, then was adopted at age 14 by an American family.

Rafael  Lopa, president and executive director of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF), in a joint press conference with the 57-75 Movement, the Department of Education and the Apl Foundation  announced the pre-launch of the campaign at Sofitel with Apl.

Apl.d.ap and NCAF plan to build 10,000 classrooms in two years or less through the advocacy. Corporate sponsors are encouraged to pledge for classrooms while citizens, too, can donate P10 per day for 10 months to build the classrooms.

Lopa said that one classroom costs P600,000 to P650,000, as estimated by the Department of Education. He said NCAF was lucky to have reached out to apl who had “a soft spot for education” in order to build a classroom one day at a time.

Apl.de.ap expressed his intent to focus his efforts on closing the huge gap in public school classrooms because “he knows what education can do to someone’s dreams.”

Apl, with his signature shades and mohawk hair, shared that his grades were “pretty good” when he was a student despite his eye condition which meant he had to sit in the front row of the class in order to read what was on the blackboard.

“I would get 85 or higher. When I have difficulty, I get 80, but I had my share of 75, too,” he said. “I had a scholarship so I had to submit my grades and my father was actually impressed.”

Apl said that when looked back at his difficult childhood, he saw no room for pity, adding he would rather focus on “doing what you can.”

When asked what his favorite subject was, apl said it had to be “English” because he knew he was getting ready for adoption in the United States.

“I remember I told my mom that I was scared. I asked her, how will I talk to everyone in English? And my mom gave me a dictionary, where I learned one day at a time,” he said.

His colleagues in BEP – will.i.am, Fergie and Taboo  — fully support the “You Can Be Anything” campaign and even set the campaign grand launch at the Black Eyed Peas concert on October 25 at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds.

“They have been very supportive of my requests. They got my back,” said apl.

From his own experience, apl.de.ap said he knows how important it is to get a good education. On Nov. 18, 2008, he launched the Apl Foundation to help various communities and children in the Philippines and throughout Asia.

“Perhaps, it is providential that his birthday falls on November 28, a day after that of Ninoy Aquino,” Lopa said. “This tells me that he is destined to help us take the Filipino brand of heroism to the next level.”

Apl said that the first step to help is in one’s intent. Everything else one needs to know to support the campaign is at www.wecanbeanything.com.

http://entertainment.inquirer.net/17709/apl-de-ap-to-kids-we-can-be-anything

PH bags first Sci-Olympiad gold in Italy

Zita Baron, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

Posted at 10/15/2011 10:29 AM | Updated as of 10/15/2011 4:56 PM

MODENA, Italy - Four young aspiring Filipino scientists won medals, including the first ever gold for the Philippines, at the 5th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) held here last September.

Four young aspiring Filipino scientists won medals, including the first ever gold for the Philippines, at the 5th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) held here last September/Zita Baron, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

The victory brought joy for the young achievers as they fulfilled their personal dreams and gave glory to the Philippines.

“I feel really happy and proud because it is the first time that the Philippines got a gold medal and this just proves that the Filipinos can be at par with other countries or even be better than them,” said gold medalist Williard Joshua Jose from the Philippine Science High School main campus.

Jose was also a silver medalist in the 7th International Junior Science Olympiad in Nigeria last year.

“We went here to Italy bringing the hope of giving honor to our country and I’m happy we did not fail and we’re able to bring her honor and happier because this is the first time that the Philippines got four medals out of four,” added silver medalist Christopher Jan Landicho of the Philippine Science High School–Bicol Region Campus.

The other silver medalist, Charles Kevin Tiu of Saint Jude Catholic School Manila, in addition takes pride in being an inspiration to others to appreciate earth science.

“I feel happy because I was able to represent my country and I hope that I serve as inspiration to all young people to appreciate and love science especially earth science” said Tiu.

Bronze medalist John Allan Olesco from Aquinas University science-oriented high school in Legazpi City, the youngest in the team, quipped: “with perseverance, you can achieve and you can reach for your dreams.”

Though their personal motivation varies, they share a common desire and wish that their victory may inspire other young people to treasure whatever interest they may have for earth science and further cultivate their knowledge.

The four were joined by two mentors – Prof. Miguel Cano of Bicol University and Dr. Marietta De Leon of UP Diliman.

Cano, who led the Philippine delegation to the 5th IESO, was the chair of the 2nd IESO held in the Philippines in 2008, while De Leon holds two doctorate degrees (Geology and Education).

The Philippinw team was joined by Dr. Helen Caintic, current director of Philippine Science High School main campus as an observer.

The 5th IESO

The IESO, which aims to promote awareness and appreciation for geosciences, is one of the major activities of the International Geoscience Education Organization or IGEO and is spearheaded by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

It is an annual world competition for young people 18 years of age or below. The participants are trained and their knowledge tested in different fields of geosciences which include geology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography, terrestrial astronomy and environmental sciences.

“Earth Science Renaissance: Science, Environment and Art” is this year’s theme, which drew 26 competing countries and 104 students contestants and 9 observer countries. Every competing country delegation is composed of four members.

The actual competition is divided into two parts. The first part is the theoretical examination which measures or tests the extent of knowledge or information a contestant has on the particular field of geoscience. The second part is the practical examination where the participant conducts a scientific investigation in order to provide solution to the problem fielded.

The Philippines has actively participated since the IESO’s inception in 2007. It has hosted the 2nd IESO in 2008 which was held in Legazpi City, Bicol Region.

The Philippines hopes to continue to be an active IESO participant, but there is the issue of lack of funding. Luckily, there are private organizations which are keen on supporting this kind of undertaking.

“When we go to South America next year, we need a lot of funding. We’re very thankful to the mining companies who supported us financially like Philex Mining, Rapu-Rapu Mining, Hope Christian High school, Geological Society of the Philippines, and here in Italy we have been supported by the Apo Central,” Cano said.

The country is now preparing for the next competition, as four students who will represent the Philippines in 2012 IESO in Buenos Aires, Argentina have already been chosen.

http://bit.ly/q6tzal

PH skills gaps ‘serious’ – WB

Published : Friday, October 14, 2011 00:00

Written by : DARWIN G. AMOJELAR

 

THE World Bank of Thursday cited skills gaps as serious bottlenecks for innovation and productivity among Filipino companies.

In a report titled, “Putting Higher Education to Work: Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia,” the Washington-based lender said skills gaps in the Philippines are particularly large in the service industry, export sector, and technologically intensive sector. The report said employers and employees find these gaps to be particularly severe in creativity, leadership, and problem solving skills.

“Many firms face the challenge of hiring higher education graduates who simply do not have the right skills, and these skills mismatches have been widening between firms and employees at all employment levels,” the report said. Given this, the report highlighted the importance of shifting investments towards building the country’s research capacity, particularly in higher education institutions.

“Quality research enables universities to produce ideas for the business community and contribute to technology upgrading in firms, generating knowledge and technological innovation,” Emanuela di Gropello, World Bank lead economist and lead author of the report said. “Low spending in research and development, low number of licenses, and low number of patents all indicate a low capacity for research and innovation,” di Gropello said.

For the Philippines to grow faster and achieve continued technological deepening, the government should address skill gaps by maintaining coverage and improving the quality of higher education graduates, and increasing research relevant to economic needs in a few universities or departments.

The government should also increase education spending in relation to gross domestic product, improve the use and allocation of public resources and complete the process of granting autonomy to universities while strengthening the role and functions of university boards.

The report added that the Philippines—along with other low- and middle-income countries in the East Asia and the Pacific Region—has started climbing the technology ladder and assimilated important technologies by becoming more open, developing infrastructure and improving its manufacturing industry.

 

http://bit.ly/pCLMp2 

Innovation in college education needed

By INA HERNANDO-MALIPOT

October 14, 2011, 3:19pm

 

MANILA, Philippines — To boost the country’s drive for growth and global competitiveness, the higher educational system in the Philippines needs to be more responsive to labor market demands and the economy and address skill gaps, improve the quality of higher education graduates, and increasing research relevant to economic needs in a few universities or departments, a World Bank report suggested.

The World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Report, titled “Putting Higher Education to Work: Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia,” was presented at a briefing held in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Thursday.

World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Vice President James Adams, along with authors of the report, lead economist Emanuela di Gropello and economist Prateek Tandon, discussed the findings via video conference from Tokyo, Japan.

The report, which looked at higher education in East Asia, said that the Philippines “has started climbing the technology ladder and assimilated important technologies by becoming more open, developing infrastructure and improving its manufacturing industry.”

“Nevertheless, the country needs to further improve its capacity for innovation in order to rise up the income ladder,” the report said.

The findings of the report were based on how higher education in East Asia changed over the years, how it will continue to evolve, and how it can be improved to be more responsive and relevant to the needs of the labor market and the economy.

It also highlighted the functional skills that workers must possess to be employable and how can higher education systems produce research that will help apply, adapt, and develop new technologies that will drive growth.

 

http://bit.ly/mQtoTx

Tesda gets P1.1B for BPO training

By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:07 am | Friday, October 14th, 2011 

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has received a P1.1 billion stimulus to develop more qualified skilled workers for the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and other promising sectors, the agency chief said Thursday.

Tesda director general Joel Villanueva said President Benigno Aquino III announced the additional allocation this week to build the country’s manpower for BPOs, tourism, agribusiness, construction and semi-conductor firms.

Villanueva said the amount is on top of Tesda’s proposed P2.68 billion budget for next year.

The official said P500 million would be used “to beef up training of scholars and trainors for the BPO sector.”

“Our initial target for this is 70,000 [trainees], and out of these, 49,000 are expected to be committed to be employed in various BPO firms,” Villanueva told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The remainder will be used for other emerging sectors in need of qualified employees, Villanueva said.

“The remaining P600 million will be spent for the other sectors such as tourism, agribusiness, construction, semi-conductors industry. The money will also be used to train more trainors to ensure quality education of the scholars, thereby helping these industries,” said the official.

Tesda is aiming to increase its training capacity by at least 100,000 trainees annually, hoping to graduate almost 8.5 million qualified skilled workers by 2016.  The agency targets a 60.8 percent employment rate out of its trainees.

Originally posted at 03:34 pm | Thursday, October 13, 2011

http://bit.ly/ne5ztH

Motivating children through their learning preferences

Breakthrough Education

By HENRY S. TENEDERO

October 6, 2011, 4:20am

MANILA, Philippines — Learning is critically influenced by learner motivation. All teachers want to have motivated learners in their classroom.

Psychologists have identified two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation results from using positive rewards to achieve a target behavior.

Teachers can influence the students' determination to succeed through their behavior and statements.

Intrinsic motivation is when parents and teachers use encouraging statements that reflect an honest evaluation of learner performance. This is done by:

• Recognizing children’s accomplishment.
• Attributing their achievement to internal rather than external factors.
• Providing feedback to them about strategies they use and instructions on how to improve them.
• Helping them set realistic goals.
• Refraining from grouping them according to their ability.

LEARNING CAN’T BE RUSHED

Learning is a complex mind activity that cannot be rushed. People must practice a great deal for them to become experts in a particular area.

The reading and writing skills of adolescents relate to the number of hours they have spent reading and writing. Children from disadvantaged environments who have fewer opportunities to learn and who miss school because of work or illness cannot be expected to do as well at school as children who have more time to practice and acquire information.

Children need to be exposed to learning situations, preferably at an early age. Here are some recommendations.

• Increase the amount of time children spend on learning in the classroom.
• Give them learning tasks consistent with what they already know.
• Give them time to understand new information.
• Help them engage in deliberate practice that includes active thinking and monitoring of their own learning.
• Give them access to books so that they can practice reading at home.
• Be in touch with their parents so that they, too, will learn how to provide richer educational experiences for their children.

The following are recommendations for creating the best learning environment for children, while recognizing differences and preferences:

• Learn to assess each child's knowledge, strategies and modes of learning.
• Introduce them to a wide range of materials, activities, and learning tasks.
• Guide and challenge their thinking and learning.
• Urge them to test hypothesis in a variety of ways.
• With them, create connections to the real world by introducing problems drawn from every day situations.
• Show them how they can use their unique intelligence profiles to solve real world problems.
• Create situations for them to interact with the community, particularly the adults, who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about things which interest students.

* * *

http://bit.ly/ns8DkS

10 Mapua programs get US accreditation

Sunday, 09 October 2011 15:40
Rizal Raoul Reyes

THE Mapua Institute of Technology, a pillar of engineering education in the country and a member of the Yuchengco group of companies, raised the bar in their standard of education when it was given last August an accreditation by the United States-based Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (Abet).

 

In a recent media briefing held at Mapua’s Makati campus, Mapua president Dr. Reynaldo Vea said the accreditation given by Abet is a milestone because it is a first time for an institution in the East Asian region to be given such recognition.

The 10 Abet-accredited programs in Mapua are: BS Chemical Engineering, BS Civil Engineering, BS Computer Engineering, BS Computer Science, BS Electrical Engineering, BS Electronics Engineering, BS Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, BS Industrial Engineering, BS Information Technology and BS Mechanical Engineering.

With an Abet accreditation, Mapua said their graduates will have an easier time to get employment, get admitted to graduate schools and take licensure examinations in the US and other parts of the world. Furthermore, Mapua said the Abet certification is a proof their graduates have passed the educational eligibility requirements once they apply for membership in international registers of engineers a few years after graduation.

Abet is a federation of 25 professional and technical societies in the US in the fields of engineering, computing, applied science and technology. Abet accreditation guarantees that a degree program meets US quality standards established by professionals themselves.

Prior to applying for Abet’s accreditation, Vea said Mapua conducted a self-assessment of the 10 programs to determine if they were at par with the standards of the accreditation body.

After determining that they are ready to face Abet, Vea said they invited people from Abet to assess Mapua’s programs.

“Abet found out that the assessed programs are comparable to the US and the rest of the world,” he said.

The Abet seal of quality education means a lot for a school that seeks global status, as it entails establishment of a rigorous education system that will enable the school to produce graduates that are sure to meet international standards—the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) system.

Meanwhile, Bonifacio T. Doma Jr., executive vice president for academic affairs, said the OBE “basically zeroes in on outcomes.”

Doma further emphasized that outcomes differ from outputs. For one, he said outputs are the total number of graduates in a program while outcomes refer to the abilities the students have acquired at the time of graduation and the abilities that they will learn many years after graduation.

“In the previous system, schools thought that if they have the proper inputs, such as the right number of books in the library, teachers with PhDs, good equipment, among others, they could turn out good graduates. With OBE, inputs are not enough. The degree of achievement of student outcomes must be evaluated to further improve the program,” said Doma in his statement posted on the school’s web site. 

(Rizal Raoul Reyes)

http://bit.ly/qKnnoL

Philippine universities absent from Top 400 Times rankings

10/07/2011 | 05:25 AM

There are no Philippine universities in the Top 400 Times World University Rankings for 2011 – 2012. The rankings were disclosed Thursday.

Japan has 16 universities in the Top 400. China has 10, Taiwan has 8 and South Korea has 7. Israel and Turkey both have 4 universities in the list.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay is the only university from India in the Top 400.

The University of Tokyo, University of Hong Kong, and National University of Singapore lead the group of 60 Asian universities that made it to the Top 400 in the Times World University Rankings for 2011 – 2012 .

Caltech dethrones Harvard

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) reigns supreme in the world ranking, unseating Harvard University, which slipped to second. Stanford University made it to third.

Times deputy news editor John Morgan said Caltech dethroned Harvard “thanks mainly to a 16 percent rise in research funding."

American universities dominated the rankings as 75 of them made it to the Top 400. The United Kingdom has 32 institutions, Germany and the Netherlands both have 12, and Canada has 9.

“But when that table is adjusted for national spending on higher education, Switzerland has the most universities in the top 200 per billion dollars spent, followed by the UK in second place and the Netherlands in third. The US finishes 16th by this measure," Morgan said.

Methodology

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR) were developed in tandem with data provider, Thomson Reuters, and “with expert input from more than 50 leading figures in the sector from 15 countries across every continent."

“We believe we have created the gold standard in international university performance comparisons," THEWUR said.

It explained that the rankings “employ 13 separate performance indicators designed to capture the full range of university activities, from teaching to research to knowledge transfer."

The 13 elements were then clustered under five main categories:

- Teaching — the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall ranking score);
- Research — volume, income and reputation (worth 30 per cent);
- Citations — research influence (worth 30 per cent);
- Industry income — innovation (worth 2.5 per cent); and
- International outlook — staff, students and research (worth 7.5 per cent).

— ELR, GMA News

http://bit.ly/ntPfwR 

DepEd readies K+12 curricula for next year

By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:28 am | Friday, October 7th, 2011 

The Department of Education (DepEd) plan to extend the basic education course by two years is set to take off next school year with new curricula developed for Grade 1 and 1st Year High School in implementation of the K+12 (Kindergarten plus 12 years) program.

K+12 aims to raise the country’s basic education course to world standards and produce high school graduates ready to be employed even without a college degree.

The DepEd started the program with a kindergarten curriculum this year, reaching out to 5-year-olds to prepare them for entering the grades and curbing the early dropout rate.

“Voluntary kindergarten was introduced this school year to lay the groundwork for universal kindergarten in subsequent years. The department, along with its partners (education stakeholders), has also made considerable progress in the development of the K to 12 curriculum,” Tina Ganzon, director of the DepEd communications unit, said in response to e-mailed questions from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Restructuring

The Inquirer was not able to interview top DepEd officials because they were all out of the country.

“The DepEd is gearing up for the introduction of the new Grades 1 and 7 (1st year high school) curricula in school year 2012-2013,” Ganzon said.

According to the DepEd plan unveiled on Oct. 5 last year, K+12, alternately called K-12 (K to 12) to represent a continuum, would restructure the basic education system with a required kindergarten, six years in elementary (Grades 1-6), four years of junior high school (Grades 7-10) and two years of senior high (Grades 11-12).

Students can choose an area of specialization in the final two years, whether it be in the performing arts, vocational training, sports, agriculture, among others.

The new curricula for Grades 2 and 8 will be introduced next in 2013. The first batch of senior high school students will enter Grade 11 in school year 2016-2017. The DepEd aims to graduate the first batch of 12th graders in March 2018.

Education officials continue to hold consultations with parents, students, businessmen and other education stakeholders across the country, the DepEd said.

“Subsequent consultation sessions will be conducted in the succeeding months to provide feedback to stakeholders on how the K to 12 leadership has addressed their concerns, and share the updated details about the K to 12 curriculum and its implementation,” Ganzon said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/71693/deped-readies-k12-curricula-for-next-year