Regional Kapihan in Bicol

From Pels:

REGIONAL KAPIHAN IN BICOL
Partner Institution: Bicol University

The PeLS Kapihan was introduced last August 2007 to establish and strengthen networks and linkages among e-Learning practitioners and institutions over a cup of coffee. It also aims to encourage PeLS members to share their best practices to other members of the Society in a full and open discussion on eLearning topics of mutual interest.

On May of 2009, the PeLS Kapihan goes to the Bicol in order to reach out to its members and to commence with the planned establishment of PeLS regional chapters. This month’s kapihan will again feature the Board of Trustees as they share their expertise to the current and upcoming regional members in order to further build a community of eLearning practitioners in the Philippines.

The 9th Philippine Computing Science Congress (PCSC 2009)

From the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP):

The Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP) invites you to participate in the 9th Philippine Computing Science Congress (PCSC 2009).

The CSP organizes this conference to enable local and neighboring computing educators, researchers, and ICT professionals and students to interact and to share their work in computing, computer science, computer engineering, computational science, and information and communications technology (ICT).

For more information please click here.

7th National e-Learning Conference

The 7th National e-Learning Conference and Techno Fair of the Philippine e-Learning Society (PeLS) will bring together various stakeholders in e-Learning in an academic forum with focus on learning and technology. The conference addresses the needs of educators, trainers, managers, media specialists, technologists, researchers and students in designing, developing and deploying e-Learning programs, products and services.

7th National e-Learning Conference
Collaborative E-Learning in the Global Arena: Linking the Academe, Government, Industry and the Development Agencies
October 16-17, 2008, SGV Hall, AIM Conference Center Manila

REGISTRATION:Download (right-click, Save As) the Registration Form and Conference Details.

Or inquire at +632 5712532 or 4061603/

Or email pelsconference2008@yahoo.com or pelsconference2008@gmail.com

Conference Rates

Onsite Registration
(10/16/2008) P4,000.00

Regular Registration
( 10/01/2008 - 10/14/2008) P3,500.00

Early Bird
(06/01/2008 - 09/30/2008) P3,000.00

Note: Participants of the 7th National eLearning Conference will automatically become a member of the Philippine eLearning Society (PeLS) for one year.

1st Philippine Open Education forum

1st Philippine Open Education forum Programme
Arellano University
School of Law
23 April 2008

830-900 :: Registration

900-915 :: Invocation

915-1000 :: Introduction to Open Education
Speaker/org: Creative Commons Philippines
Atty. Jaime “Jimmy” Soriano
1000-1015 Q&A

1015-1030 :: Break

1030-1115 :: Creative empowerment and liberal education
Speaker/org: Friedrich Naumann Stiftung fur die Freiheit
Mr. Sigfried Herzog
1115-1030 Q&A

1130-1215 :: The public direction of Philippine education (primary and secondary)
Speaker/org: Department of Education
Atty. Geronimo “Indy” Sy
1215-1230 Q&A

1230-130 :: Lunch Break

130-215 :: Private initiatives towards open education: International/Local
Speaker/org: Creative Commons Philippines
Atty. Michael Vernon “Berne” Guerrero
215-230 Q&A

230-315 :: Private initiatives towards free and open books
Speaker/org: Bayanihan Books
Mr. Greg Moreno
315-330 Q&A

330-345 :: Break

345-430 :: commercial/business reaction to open content
Speaker/org: Vibal Foundation
Ms. Kristine Mandigma
430-445 Q&A

445-500 :: Closing remarks

for more info please check: http://philippinecommons.org/

From PeLS: PeLS SUMMER KAPIHAN on April 19, 2008

The PeLS Kapihan was introduced last August 2007 to establish and strengthen networks and linkages among e-Learning practitioners and institutions. It also aims to involved PeLS members who are experts in their own specialization to share their best practices and knowledge to other members of the Society. This informal discussion over a cup of coffee is intended to be lively and thought provoking as it also encourages the participants for a full and open discussion on the topics presented about eLearning.


When : April 19, 2008 (Saturday)

: 10:00am-03:00pm

Where : to be announced



TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Evaluation in an Online Course

Dennis Berino
Assistant Professor, De La Salle University

m-Learning

Ma. Regina E. Estuar, Ph.D.
Research Director, Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center


COMPUTER HANDS-ON TRAINING

Publishing Your Content using EXE LEARNING

The eXe project is developing a freely available Open Source authoring application to assist teachers and academics in the publishing of web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup. Resources authored in eXe can be exported in IMS Content Package, SCORM 1.2, IMS Common Cartridge formats or as simple self-contained web pages. (http://www.exelearning.org)


Designing and Developing an Online Course site using MOODLE

Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. You can download and use it on any computer you have handy (including webhosts), yet it can scale from a single-teacher site to a University with 200,000 students. (http:///www.moodle.org)

NOTE: This Summer Kapihan is open to all PeLS members with a registration fee of 500.00 pesos inclusive of food and certificate. The sessions on EXE Learning and Moodle is an applied hands-on computer training so everyone is encouraged to bring softcopy of course syllabus with learning activities, lesson plan or a training program for actual application and uploading in EXE and Moodle.

Only 40 slots are available. To register please contact MS. LOVELY REYES at +639174914996 or email her at pels_secretariat@yahoo.com.ph

Workshop for IT educators/school IT administrators!

From Ms. Aileen's post:

Google for Educators

We're hosting a workshop for IT educators/school IT administrators!

Here are the details -

What: Internet for Educators

Speakers: Jeff Keltner, Product Manager, Google Apps for Education
Aileen Apolo, Google Country Consultant - Philippines

Topics: Google Apps for Education/Tools for Classroom

More info here.

Multiple Intelligence and Learning

According to en.wikepedia.org:

Multiple intelligences is educational theory put forth by psychologist Howard Gardner, which suggests that an array of different kinds of "intelligence" exists in human beings. Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique "cognitive profile." The theory was first laid out in Gardner's 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and has been further refined in subsequent years.

What has it to do with learning?

It implies that no student is not capable of learning things. As a teacher, we must consider the different levels of intellegences of our students because it is in theory of multiple intelligences and our understanding of our students that we can be able to produce certain approaches and situations for them to learn in their context not ours.

For more information about multiple intelligences please visit the following links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
• http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml
• http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

and better yet take this MI test to see for yourself your MI levels.

digitalsandbox recommends: Creative Commons

From creativecommons.org:

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved."

We're a nonprofit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free.

For more info read here.

Constructivism Revisited

According to en.wikipedia.org:

Constructivism is a theory of learning where humans construct meaning from current knowledge structures. This philosophical framework is a set of assumptions about the nature of human learning that guide constructivist learning theories and teaching methods of education. Constructivism values developmentally appropriate facilitator-supported learning that is initiated and directed by the learner.

What has it to do with learning?

It implies that learners have previous idea about the things we teach. The problem lies whether the ideas that they have will be complete or incomplete or right or wrong. It is our task to bring out these ideas and attempt to complete and correct them.

For more information about constructivism please visit the following links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)
• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
• http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism/

digital sandbox recommends: Free Online Seminars

It is not always that we read or hear free seminars. Seminars are expensive but what if we have all the means to have it without even digging our pockets? Enter Concept to Classroom website where it offers the following courses below to jumpstart your way to upgrading your teaching knowledge:

• Afterschool Programs - From Vision to Reality
• Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Redesign
• Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning
• Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
• Inquiry-based Learning
• Interdisciplinary Learning in Your Classroom
• Making Family and Community Connections
• Tapping into Multiple Intelligences
• Teaching to Academic Standards
• WebQuests
• Why the Net? An Interactive Tool for the Classroom

All the informations and ideas pertinent to these courses can be found here. If the link does not work then copy and paste this link: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/

PELs Kapihan Highlights

I was fortunate enough to attend the Pels Kapihan. Sir Jun and Sir Gelo were kind and generous hosts to us in the said event. Here are some of the excerpts of PELs Kapihan:

It started with Sir Joel's presentation concerning Personal learning environment or PLE. It is
related as a system wherein learners can control and manage their learning. He is optimistic about elearning. He said that, "ple/elearning can push the economy forward." As for the question of answering the issue about 90% of Filipinos who did not expose themselves to elearning, he responded that "we have to push the envelop further" which means that all of us should go hand in hand to make use of the technology for education. He also discussed the elgg advantage over other social networking websites.

Eddie Mendoza's presentation was about eLearning in a Corporate Setting. He mentioned that the potential of elearning is HUGE but there are certain challenges that he stressed.

• First challenge, was how many Philippine companies are participating in elearning?
• Second challenge, have we ever considered the motivation of people to learn?
• Third challenge, if self instruction works then how is it that in training manuals/modules don't have self learning?
• Fourth challenge was the issue of self-study, there has been hesitation of in the part of trainors because they weren't sure if the learners are going to learn.
• Fifth challenge, the technology and instructional design are there but organizational change must be important in order to make things work.

The corporate perspective according to Mr. Mendoza: learning for learning sake will not be effective, learning should take place in consideration for the company's future and growth. His suggestions for the corporations must seek initiatives like:

• new recruits must be pushed to learn
• give them exam/certification test to push others to learn/apply certification model in order to
• push them to study
• focus in the things that are important, consider economics even if there is a resistance.

Atty. Michael Vernon Guerrero's presentation was about Creative Commons Philippines. Its current version was 3.0. He discussed the following:

• Copyright Misconceptions: "You Don't Assign a Copyright"
• "enable the legal sharing of cultural, education, and scientific works." CC mission
• concerted efforts on "open education" in the Philippines
• the definition of Expression against the Derivative....
• the importance of using the CC license in my creative works....
• you can change CC licence from NC to Commercial just make sure that it is your OWN work...
• WEST CC adopts Liberal licences while EAST CC adopts Restrictive licences.
• The difference of CC licence from other licence. CC is not a litigator.
• Inventions or documents that pertain to inventions are under patents

Ninia Calaca's presentation was about eLearning Roadmap and PeLS Initiatives. She also reported about the Usage of Appropriate ICT in the Philippine Educational System
2007 APEC e-Learning Program. She observed that there were so many efforts and initiatives but it is fragmented. She suggested to us to upgrade the quality of elearning and observed that in the formal education setup, the problem is the quality of content. She shared a solution to this problem by saying that content should come in CHED and DEPED for quality standards and it will be cascaded to the institutions. Although there were a lot of things to hurdle, she maintained that we need a collective effort in order for us to push e-learning in the Philippines.

10 Reasons why you should use Moodle(my personal thoughts on content management system)

Question: What is the cross between beef and ramen?
Answer: Moodle.

Moodle sounds like a brand of a product for beef flavored noodle but, kidding aside, it is actually an open source content management system, virtual learning environment, or free elearning software for the rest of us. Last summer, I have had the opportunity of using it in my Introduction to Literature class and here are the two centavos worth of the summary of my experience.

1. Moodle is Free

Unlike Blackboard and WebCT, Moodle can be downloaded freely in its official site, moodle.org. Since it is an open source software, its development is revolutionary rather than evolutionary. Programmers, developers, and users around the world are working gratis towards the improvement of Moodle. Unlike other freewares, Moodle offers full functionality, 24/7 support in moodle.org forums, and simply best value for money because it is free.

2. Moodle is Easy to Use

Whether you are an administrator, educator or learner, you will find Moodle easy to use due to its graphical user interface which we are all familiar with. For example, you can include like a quiz in a given topic by choosing from the list of activities under the activity menu. Not to mention the icons specifically created to understand better the nuances of course creation under the Moodle environment. The eye icon hides and unhides a particular resource or activity. The up icon moves a resource or activity within the lesson up. It means you don't have to be a programmer in order for you to use it but you need to invest some time in order for you to familiarize and get the hang of navigating yourself in the Moodle environment.

3. Moodle is Intuitive

Due to its ease of use, many of its functions are geared toward student learning thus Moodle was designed with educators in mind. With the vast array of options to enhance learning, teachers find it very helpful. As for me, Moodle helped in a way to bridge the content gap in my class. I realized that no matter how i taught in class a particular lesson I find myself asking if what I have gave them is sufficient. Moodle's intuitive features like resource and activity pull down list makes course creation a breeze. Let us not forget to mention the endless options offered in Moodle that you can give as for students' activity.

4. Moodle is Feature rich

As I have mentioned earlier, Moodle has an endless list of resources and acitvities. As a Moodle facilitator, I have my way of "enrolling" my learners in the virtual class. I can assign an "enrollment key" to filter away those users who are not supposed to be included in my class. I can also assign my learners into groups. In relation with resources, I can create links to any content rich sites outside Moodle without leaving its environment or opening a new browser(though it can be done as an option). As for activity, here are some of the many activities found in the list forum, quiz, wiki, and workshop. You have to explore Moodle to appreciate its wonderful features for student learning.

5. Moodle has Pedagogies

Usually in the creation of educational software, nobody asked what learning framework should be its guide. Unfortunately, most commercial software are geared towards how many features it offer rather than addressing the obvious. How will the learners learn while using it? As for Moodle, Constructivism, Social Constructivism, and Connectivism are all adopted as for its pedagogy. It means to say that knowledge can be built and developed through constant interaction and cooperation. All the more that knowledge is processed then therefore learners are also immersed during the process.

6. Moodle is Student-Centered/Active Learning

Many believed that learning occurs in the structured set-up wherein there are classroom, teacher, and a group of students. Inside the classroom the usual approach is the teacher gives lecture, quiz and homework and then the students listen, answer the quiz and prepare for homework. Using Moodle gives teachers another alternative for students to learn independently and interdependently by giving them the opportunity to study online. Students learn how to assimilate and process information(as in Constructivism), and also learn to cooperate and interact with one another while engaging themselves in student centered learning activities like wiki projects, workshops and forums(as in Social Constructivism). Students learn while fulfilling tasks set upon by the teacher in Moodle.

7. Moodle gives Instant Feedback

Using Moodle, gone are the days wherein you have to manually correct student papers . Students who took their tests , quizzes , and projects in Moodle can view their grades and results almost instantly. All teachers need to do is to assign how students are to be assessed and just choose an option of points(let's say the total score for an activity is ten or one hundred). When teachers and students are all simultaneously logged in, they can give and read their comments and replies using chat and forums in real time.

8. Moodle is Integrated

The learning resources, activities and features are modular which means it can stand alone but they are also designed to complement each other. Examples are: the default news forum can be complemented with the calendar which is offered as an optional block. Resources like text and web page can be complemented by uploading files like podcast to enhance the learning experience of your students.

9. Moodle is Multi-functional

The Moodle environment offers feature rich elements starting with the block elements like calendar, student activities and text upto activities like chat and forum and wikis. Since it is not exclusive unlike commercial softwares , Moodle supports operating systems like Linux and its other versions. Moodle can be used also as a project collaboration site, news website, school portal, and the list of possible uses is limited only to the users imagination.

10. Moodle is Interactive

Whether you like it synchronous or asynchronous, it will never be a problem when you use Moodle. It is designed to engage learners to participate and collaborate with one another. Elements like chat and forums are there to instill the value of active participation and self-initiative. Projects like wiki and workshop helps learners to study the inner workings of the ideas found in a lesson and to study it with others interdependently.



I end up by saying that when you experiment with Moodle and use it, you will not benefit yourself but your students too. Just don't take my word for it. Try it! :)