Telco to offer training program for CV public school teachers

TELECOMMUNICATIONS firm Globe Telecom Inc. will pilot an information and communication technology (ICT) training program for public high school teachers in Central Visayas to support its Internet in Schools Program (ISP).

The parallel capacity building module for teachers called the Global Filipino Teachers program is also aimed at improving the teachers’ global competitiveness by integrating the use of the Internet as part of classroom methodologies.

Read all about the program here in the original newspaper posting

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/telco-offer-training-program-cv-public-school-teachers

P1.1B set to hook up Philippine public schools to Net

MANILA, Philippines—A total of P1.1 billion has been allotted to provide Internet connectivity to a total of 9,048 public elementary and high schools countrywide, Catanduanes Representative Joseph Santiago, chairman of the House committee on information and communications technology, said Sunday.

Santiago said the fresh funding, contained in the proposed P1.541-trillion national budget for next year, would also cover the acquisition of additional computer sets for 577 public high schools.

"Technology and the Internet are definitely taking on bigger roles in basic education—in providing essential instructional support. Our public schools cannot afford to be left farther behind," Santiago said.

"It has become absolutely imperative for us to provide students and teachers alike greater access to the wealth of knowledge and information on the Internet," he added.

As of April this year, with the support of private and non-government partners, Santiago said the Department of Education had managed to install computer laboratories in 4,019 public high schools.
More than half of these schools are now hooked up to the Internet, according to Santiago, former chief of the National Telecommunications Commission.

"We are now living in a world where Internet access is increasingly becoming a necessity, not a luxury. We have to ensure that every public high school graduate has ample computer literacy," Santiago said.

Without counting the new P1.1-billion allocation for 2010, Santiago said the government intends to provide a total of 6,650 public high schools nationwide with computers and Internet connectivity by the end of this year.

Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (Gilas) has been the largest private contributor to the push to improve the public school system’s access to computers and the World Wide Web.
Led by the Ayala Foundation Inc., Gilas is a program driven mainly by corporations and non-profit institutions "that realize the need to invest in bridging the digital divide among the nation's public high school students."

Read the complete original article here http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20090906-223822/P11B-set-to-hook-up-public-schools-to-Net

October 5 is Happy Teachers Day

By Presidential Proclamation No. 479 [10] to honor more than 500,000 teachers nationwide. However, (Tagalog:Araw ng mga Guro) in the Philippines (Teacher's Day) is actually celebrated in schools between the months of September and October (mainly elementary and secondary levels).

Teachers are presented with orchid corsages by students. Groups of students representing various grade levels perform short skits or song and dance numbers, or read poetry for their teachers in front of fellow schoolmates in school-wide activities. These activities are planned by senior students in the Student Council who coordinate the activities well in advance. For Filipino-Chinese schools, a program is usually organized by students for teachers on September 27, while September 28, considered as the actual Teacher's Day, is a school holiday where both teachers and students are allowed to rest. September 28 was chosen because it is known as the birthday of famous Chinese philosopher Confucius

For some universities in the Metro Manila area, Catholic Teachers' Day is celebrated on the second week of February.

"eBay for teachers" makes its debut

A new startup thinks it can help fix the USA's under-funded andovertaxed education system.

EduFire fancies itself as an eBay for teachers. The one-year-old site has recruited and attracted more than 5,000 teachers, who offer 150 to 200 online classes a day to some 30,000 students. The courses typically are in language, test preparation and technology training. Most classes are free, but teachers have the option of charging for others, and pocketing 85% of the fee. A SuperPass of $30 per month gives students unlimited access to all courses.

All start-ups face tough challenges, especially in a difficult economy. But EduFire might get lucky. The Obama administration has put a renewed focus on education, and a Department of Education-SRI International study concluded that online learning has better outcomes than face-to-face, classroom learning. And the growth of broadband has vastly improved video streaming, interactive presentations and other teaching tools

http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/09/ebay-for-teachers-makes-its-debut.html

USA Schools Look Abroad to Hire Teachers

Some American school districts have turned increasingly to overseas recruiting to find teachers willing to work in their hard-to-staff schools, according to a new report by a national teachers union.
The report used government data to estimate that 19,000 foreign teachers were working in the United States on temporary visas in 2007, and that the number was rising steadily. There are more than three million teachers in American public schools.

“Overseas-trained teachers are being recruited from nearly all corners of the globe and are being placed primarily in hard-to-staff inner-city or very rural schools teaching the hard-to-fill disciplines of math, science and special education,” said the report, by the American Federation of Teachers. Click this link to read the original article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/education/15teach.html

Teachers oppose shortened class hours

MANILA, Philippines - A national teachers’ organization has opposed the Department of Education’s move to shorten class hours in public elementary schools in a bid to add more class shifts.

The Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers (ASSERT) said reducing the learning time of students to add more class shifts in public schools would result to heavier loads for teachers and raise the possibility of institutionalizing three shifts or even four shifts of classes in public schools from the current two-shift system.

ASSERT secretary general Fidel Fababier said adding a third shift in public schools was some sort of punishment for teachers who would be made to shoulder the burden caused by DepEd’s failure to secure more funding for more classrooms and school buildings.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus issued last Aug. 25 an order reducing the “teaching and learning time” in the elementary level.

In DepEd Order 90 series of 2009, Lapus decreed that classes for Grades 1 to 2 will be four hours, Grade 3 will have four hours and 30 minutes, and Grades 4 to 6 will have five hours. Click this link to read complete article http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=507252&publicationSubCategoryId=63

ReadWriteWeb's List of Kid-Friendly Online Resources for teachers

In an age when gross-out sites like goatse are just a click away, a number of services offer parents the information they need to find quality online entertainment. While past generations were raised on unfiltered television and video games, today's parent take a more active role in the process of media consumption.

AOL's PlaySavvy: PlaySavvy is another site that offers parents a chance to check out age-appropriate kids games. Similar to What They Play, this site lists the ESRB ratings next to games and information is categorized by topic and gaming system. Products for console favorites like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii are often featured on the site. AOL also offers parents daily articles and a section to view the most popular games.

Parents' Choice: Established in 1978, this site is run by the Parents' Choice Foundation - a nonprofit organization that offers awards to the top children's media and toys. Some of the award categories include websites, video games, DVDs, software, television programming and toys. This site definitely skews towards narrative-based educational materials. If your kid has a shorter attention span, you might want to visit PBS Kids instead.

Common Sense Media: Common Sense media is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to offering parents reviews and suggestions on appropriate content. The group produces movie, website, TV, game, book and music ratings as well as a number of educational tools for classroom use. The site can be personalized for kids between the ages of 2-17-years-old and it's available in English and Spanish. This site tends to weigh the benefits of mainstream media sites.

PBS Kids Play Island: This site offers parents reading resources, videos and games in English and Spanish. While the majority of the content is best queued up by a parent or teacher, the videos are particularly high quality and completely commercial free.

National Geographic for Kids: This site offers kid-friendly games, videos, stories and activities for nature lovers. The same photography that has made National Geographic a hit with grownups is likely to please kids. Not surprisingly, the video content is equally compelling. Discovery Kids offers a similar experience and is a great site for visual learners.

Totlol: Totlol is a parent-moderated version of YouTube. The site offers video options specifically designed for children and even offers "age optimized interfaces" to ensure that kids of different ages get the most appropriate content. In 2008, ReadWriteWeb covered Totlol's beta launch. As of today the site charges a $3 per month subscription fee or $54 until your child grows up.

original link here http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/24/24readwriteweb-readwritewebs-list-of-kid-friendly-online-r-47945.html

English skills remain a plus for Cebuanos

CEBU, Philippines - The English proficiency of Filipinos, particularly the Cebuanos, is one good advantage emphasized by a company engaged in inviting more investors to the city. Click this link to read the complete original article

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=504213&publicationSubCategoryId=108

P1B set to retool teachers in Math, Science

MANILA, Philippines—A total of P1 billion in fresh funding has been set aside to polish the abilities of public school teachers in the core competencies of English, Science, and Math, Cotabato Representative Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said in a statement Sunday.

The amount, included in the proposed P1.541-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2010, would be spent for the "in-service retraining" of 276,534 teachers who are non-majors in English, Science, and Math, according to Taliño-Mendoza.

She said the teachers "without the required specialization" would undergo three weeks of intensive university-based workshops. Click the link here to read the original posting

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090913-224996/P1B-set-to-retool-teachers-in-Math-Science