RFID system to help track pupils? PNP floats idea

THE Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system, originally used by manufacturers to track inventories, is now in wide use for other applications, including the tracking and retrieval of medical records. But soon, if the chief of Metro Manila’s police force were to be followed, it could also be an innovative way to ensure the safety and security of students while inside the school premises.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Regional Director, Chief Supt, Roberto Rosales, made the suggestion on Monday to Metro Manila public-school superintendents and parents-teachers association (PTA) officials.

RFID is a relatively new technology that uses a device attached to an object, an identification card, for example, for purposes of identifying and tracking the person or the carrier of the object using radio waves. This object, typically referred to as an RFID tag, can be read from several meters.

RFID is now being used by some manufacturing companies in managing inventories of their products. It is also being used in some hospitals abroad to help doctors and nurses retrieve medical data of patients given an RFID device through a handheld device connected to a central server.

In a round of inspection that Rosales led on Monday morning in connection with the opening of classes for school year 2009-10, he asked school officials to consider the use of RFID to monitor the whereabouts of students while inside the campus and to prevent the entry of unauthorized individuals posing as students.

Rosales visited P. Gomez Elementary School in Sta. Cruz, Manila and Ramon Magsaysay High School where he finished his elementary and high school, respectively, and the Caloocan National High School.

Caloocan National High School, which has 9,343 students enrolled for this year, has the biggest number of students in the country, according to the Department of Education.

Rosales said NCRPO will continue to be under Full Alert Status for the next two weeks to cover the opening of classes for elementary and high school this week as well as the opening of classes for collegiate level next week.

Relatedly, Major Gamal Hayudini, commander of the 4th Civil Relations Group, Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said students are among the primary targets of lawless groups, “especially the left-leaning organizations in their recruitment.”

Students are also at risk from kidnap-for-ransom groups, said the AFP, citing what happened in Barangay Sunrise, Isabela City, Basilan, earlier this year where a school boy was kidnapped even during peak hours of the day.

Still, the AFP and the PNP have strengthened security measures “to protect the students and the teachers” but also requested them to cooperate “with authorities against these criminals.”

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said the first day of classes went on smoothly.

Still, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said they had instructed school authorities to keep a tight watch over students for signs of the A(H1N1) virus.

Lapus said he has made the use of faucets and hand washing a daily routine for students and ordered all schools to make sure they have running water.

The DepEd and the health department have set up a response-alert system similar to that of typhoons, that would allow school authorities to suspend classes if needed.

During the weekend, the Departments of Health and Education rejected last-minute calls to suspend classes over the A (H1N1) scare, saying that doing so might cause panic and disrupt preparations for the opening of classes in 43,000 schools nationwide.

Lapus urged parents to call their “Oplan Balik Eskwela” command center at 636-1663 and text 0919-4560027 for complaints.

He said the DepEd has quick-response teams that are on call from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As of Monday afternoon, the DepEd had received 352 queries and complaints, of which 348 were resolved. Most complaints involved the collection of fees.

During the press conference after his school inspection, Lapus reminded school authorities against collecting fees of any kind during this month. Written by Claudette Mocon / Business Mirror

DepEd backs cellphone ban

EDUCATION Secretary Jesli Lapus has expressed full support to the proposal of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez for a nationwide ban on mobile telephones in schools to put an end to class mischief, including test cheating with the use these hi-tech gadgets.

The education chief lauded HB 4246, authored by Rodriguez who claimed that aside from cheating during examinations, cellular phones are also being used by students in making prank calls such as reporting false bomb threats to achieve early dismissal of classes.

He said that some features of cellular phones, particularly games compete with the student’s attention.

“We favor the total ban of cellular phone in schools. It distracts from their school lessons especially play hi-tech games,” Lapus said.

He said that some schools, particularly in private and exclusive schools, have banned cellular phones inside school premises.

Rodriguez noted that police have expressed alarm over the upsurge in cell phone-related crime incidents victimizing many students. By: Alvin Murcia Journal online

PNP cracks down on cybersex in schools

By: Alfred P. Dalizon - Journal online

A SENIOR Philippine National Police official yesterday said more policemen will inspect internet cafes near schools and universities amid complaints they allow young students to engage in cyber-sex crimes.

“We will see to it that all city and municipal ordinances will be implemented to the hilt particularly on establishments including internet cafes located near schools and universities,” Director Silverio D. Alarcio Jr., PNP director for operations, told the Talakayan sa Isyung Pulis or T.S.I.P.

Dr. Corazon Rubio, deputy superintendent of the Quezon City schools division, earlier expressed alarm over the presence of internet cafes reportedly allowing students to view pornographic sites.

Rubio also asked the PNP to address the problem of fraternities, drugs and other petty crimes near their schools.

The school official said they need a much stronger police presence on school premises since most public schools don’t have the capability to hire their own security guards.

PNP chief Director General Avelino I. Razon Jr. said police will tightly secure schools and universities as millions of students return to school on June 10.

Razon asked for a dialogue with school authorities so that their concerns can be immediately acted upon by the “Mamang Pulis.”

Radio, ‘older’ tech remain relevant in ICT for education

Unless universal broadband Internet access becomes available to all Filipinos, traditional technologies such as radio will remain a relevant tool in the delivery of education in remote areas in the country. This was the finding of a foundation helping local communities harness information and communications technology for education and learning.

Ten years after it was established, the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (Fit-ED) has also learned that providing Internet connectivity to schools is not always the appropriate option when it comes to implementing ICT for education programs, said Victoria Tinio, executive director of Fit-ED, in an interview.

Fit-ED has been running a project dubbed "Education for All Thru Radio (EFAR)" which has proven to be an effective way of delivering science training to primary school teachers, as well as to communities in remote areas where there is no electricity.

Fit-ED launched this project August 2007 with the Department of Education and Coca-Cola Co. through broadcast networks in the country, added Liezl Formilleza-Dunuan, senior program manager at Fit-ED.

A 16-part science literacy program was developed by the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development for the project. So far, the project has reached 400 schools in 11 school divisions across the country, thanks to the power of radio.

"We really don't want to neglect the older technologies that are still available," said Tinio, as she explained that Fit-ED's philosophy revolves around the idea that any successful ICT for education programs start with an "appropriate choice."

In the case of using technology to deliver training to teachers, radio was the unbeatable choice in offering science training to teachers in remote areas in the country.

"Unless we see universal broadband access in the Philippines, or even universal power, we'll continue to use radio and other traditional technologies," Tinio said.

Tinio stressed that ICT for education programs should focus more on the "educational goals" and not just technology. Technology, she pointed out, is one of many ways to deliver educational goals. In the case of the EFAR, radio proved to be the most cost-effective means.

For years, efforts in ICT for education have been focused on providing connectivity to schools, said Tinio. While this is also necessary, Fit-ED has stopped doing this in 2002 to deal with other projects that aim to deliver more impact on improving learning and education in the country, Tinio said.

"We need to be very clear why we want to bring technology into a learning environment. Educational goals don't change. Technology is just one resource to reach this goal," she said. By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

DepEd not ready for CyberEd

SPECIAL REPORT: CYBER-ED PROJECT

DepEd not ready for CyberEd

Experts cite serious implementation problems

By Rene Q. Bas, Editor in Chief , Manila Times

Top-ranking information and communication technology experts who participated in the full-day November 9, 2007, roundtable on the Department of Education’s Cyber-Ed Project (CEP) say the department is not ready to handle the $465.5-million project.

They find serious problems in the CEP.

They are urging DepEd planners to restudy the project and make it truly responsive to the real needs and problems of the country’s education system.

This special report, which will run in three-installments, is the first time the discussion papers generated at the roundtable held at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, are being released to the public.

DepEd presentation

More than 50 roundtable participants listened to Assistant Secretary of Education Jesus Mateo describe and explain the project through a PowerPoint presentation.

A team of experts supported Assistant Secretary Mateo, who is also the DepEd’s director in charge of the Cyber-Ed Project.

Chief of Staff Glenn Sumido of the Office of the Secretary of Education was also a roundtable participant.

Of the 50-plus participants more than 30 are educators and education-ICT experts. University presidents, vice-presidents, heads of faculties and school principals also actively took part in the roundtable.

Forbidden to submit text

The full text of Mateo’s presentation, complete with slides and additional amplifications, should rightly be in this special report. Mr. Mateo was, however, forbidden by a superior to submit his paper to the organizers for inclusion in the complete Report of Proceedings of the Roundtable.

The Mateo presentation was more thorough than those he had given in other venues. It gave roundtable participants new elements not found in the pre-roundtable version of the DepEd website’s pages promoting the CEP.

Mateo’s presentation, as does his DepEd website, reviewed the problems of Philippine basic education. He stressed the need for government to take drastic measures to make sure that all learners are provided with the resources they need to learn while also improving the effectiveness of the system.

Overarching framework

He said, as Secretary Jesli Lapuz has been telling audiences, that DepEd sees the Cyber-Ed Project (CEP) as the “quickest and most cost-effective way to deliver high quality education to all learners” and “a total solution to multiple persisting educational problems.” CyberEd will be made the overarching framework for all education ICT initiatives in the public basic education sector.

Mateo told the roundtable facts that we also reported in our first special report on the CEP (published on August 19, 2007). CEP will have a nationwide network utilizing satellite technology; 12 video channels, wireless wide area networking and Internet made available to schools, even in the remotest areas.

As many as 37,794 elementary and secondary schools will be benefited but only 26,618 of these will receive equipment. The other 11,176 will be covered by means of a “clustering scheme” through less advanced audio and video devices.

CEP will cover all elementary grades and high school levels.

Panel of reactors

Mateo’s presentation was immediately followed by talks and presentations made by the expert panel of reactors.

The panel was made up of Dr. William T. Torres, president of Mosaic, Inc.; Dr. Merle C. Tan, director of the UP NIS-MED; Dr. Allan Bernardo of De La Salle University’s College of Education; and Dr. Alexander Flor, dean of the UP Open University’s Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.

Satisfactory answers

Mateo and his support team gave satisfactory and frank answers to questions raised after his presentation. His team did so again in the formal open forum that followed the talks of the panel of reactors. Asian Institute of Journalism president Romulo Tuazon was the moderator.

Workshop groups

The participants broke up into three workshop groups, each group assigned to discuss a different set of essential areas of reform and development in basic education.

The conclusions and recommendations of the roundtable emerged from these groups and were aired and further assessed at the plenary session.

The Manila Times School of Journalism in partnership with the University of the Philippines’ National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NIS-MED) convened the roundtable. It was held in the UP NIS-MED conference hall in Diliman, Quezon City.

Dr. Fe Hidalgo, former DepEd secretary and now president of The Manila Times Education Group, served as lead convener of the roundtable.

Dr. Josefina Patron, consultant to the National Broadband Network, headed the organizing and management committee.

The complete proceedings of the roundtable will be available on The Manila Times website beginning January 14

DepEd rolls out second mobile school

By Alexander Villafania - INQUIRER.net

The Department of Education (DepEd) has teamed up with technology school STI Colleges and Education Centers to roll out a second mobile school in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the mobile education program aims to widen access to remote public schools using the Internet technology.

“The launch of the second Mobile School speaks of the department’s thrust to integrate information technology in public education,” he said.

The Mobile School is a 50-seater bus carrying 27 computers with wireless Internet connection. It costs at least P5 million to build.

The mobile program is under DepEd’s Adopt-a-School Program, which also aims to enhance computer literacy among public school teachers.

Its launch coincides with STI Foundation’s IT literacy advocacy for the disadvantaged sectors, particularly out-of-school youths.

The first DepEd Mobile School launched in January reached out to at least 6,000 students in about 70 sites in Luzon.

Lapus stresses technology in revolutionizing education

EDUCATORS, teachers and representatives from the private sector and government and non-government organizations underscored the importance of technology in revolutionizing the deteriorating Philippine education.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, speaking before the hundreds of delegates on the Education Summit 2007 at Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, said it is the role of all education stakeholders and the private sectors to empower today’s young with the skills necessary to help them survive the toughest times.

He said that the ability to improve the skills of Filipino youth to become globally competitive rests solely on the government and the stakeholders’ ability “to innovate and transform education into what is required.”

“If we are to prepare ourselves to become successful in the 21st century, we must recognize the need to go beyond traditional teaching methods,” Lapus said.

“We have to look beyond the power of these technologies to improve our lives. We too must take into account that our world is dependent so much on these technologies that ignoring them will not only prevent us from being competitive globally, it may actually render us incompetent and powerless in the coming years,” he added.

He, however, stressed that sound policy is necessary to ensure that all schools, particularly those in the far flung areas are given equal opportunities on educational technology.

“We believe that it is not enough to simply provide computers with internet connection in the classroom and hope-that somehow-learning with occur. We need a comprehensive response to the challenges and opportunities given to us by these new technologies. We need an encompassing strategy that is backed by sound policy,” Lapus explained.
Jeffrey C. Tiangco - Journal Online

RP educators say computer games can make learning fun

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

Miguel Escaño, English instructor at Ateneo de Manila University, said he learned about the world's geography from a PC game called, "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"

Where in the World is Carmen San Diego is a computer game that takes you around the world as you track villains.

As today's kids are more computer-literate, educators are now more open to introduce computer games and interactive simulations to make it easier and interesting for students to understand concepts in science, math, English, and even ethics.

Escaña was, in fact, part of a new program in Ateneo that used role-playing games like Neverwinter Nights to teach ethics, story-telling and philosophy.

"Teachers are seeing computers games as a 'weapon.' In the array of choices of instructional materials, games are becoming an option," Ma. Mercedes Rodrigo, associate professor and chairperson at the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS).

Rodrigo stressed that computer games have broad applications in e-learning, the most evident of which is that computer games make learning fun.

"It easier to learn when you're having fun," she added.

At the same time, students can do silly things as they learn, Rodrigo said. In one role-playing game, there were two warring clans: the fishball clan and the barbeque clan. The objective was to retrieve the "golden lechon."

To help elementary students understand globalization, Rodrigo said a computer game required them to go shopping.

There are also other text-based games that help student learn foreign languages like French, Rodrigo said.

Diwa Asia Publishing Group Inc., developer of e-learning system Genyo, has been developing interactive games for elementary and high school students. Recently, the company has partnered with Singaporean firm Learning Edvantage (LEAD) to enable students to access interactive content in a web portal.

Jose Maria Policarpio, executive director of Diwa Asia Publishing Group Inc., said that interactive games used in Singaporean primary and secondary schools would be introduced soon in the Philippines through its partnership with LEAD

All set for Cyber Ed

By: Jeffrey C. Tiangco - Journal.com

EVERYTHING is set for the P26.48-billion Cyber Education program of the Department of Education.

The department recently held a video tape session to select teachers for the “teaching demonstration” using optical media despite appeals from academicians and universities not to rush the project.

The teachers said they were advised to report to the DepEd Central Office for “demo teaching.” They added that the DepEd will choose from among the video recordings the ones to be shown in the remote areas.

Jess Ostos, and Miriam Collantes, from Marikina and Manila, respectively, said the “audition” was for master teachers in Science. Teachers from Makati City and Quezon City were also present in last Wednesday’s audition.

Ricky Santos, DepEd special assistant on Information Communication Technology integration in education, said the audition is part of the preparation for the eventual implementation of the Cyber Education project.

Earlier, President Macapagal-Arroyo announced the suspension of the CEP amid controversy generated by the $329-million national broadband network deal.

CEP will use satellite technology to deliver key learning concepts and other educational services to rural schools through television screens.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has said the DepEd will “lay down the groundwork” for the project. He said the integration of IT in the education system has become inevitable, noting that the country has been lagging behind in this aspect.

Cyber notes

DEMAND AND SUPPLY By BOO CHANCO - The Philippine Star

Back to our horrible reality… COA found out that computer packages worth P138.84 million in public schools were not used "due to lack of resources, facilities and technical capability to operationalize the PCs for Public Schools Project." The COA discovered that 349 computer packages worth P115.7 million were used by the school administrative offices instead of the students because they schools were not ready to implement the computerization project.

The project is spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry together with the DepEd, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Finance and the private sector. Funds were also secured from the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of congressmen. It aims to provide computers to schools for students to use as a learning tool. This DepEd failure negates all the best intentions for the project.

E, kung yung mas maliit na project hindi kaya, CyberEd pa kaya? I have two words for Secretary Lapus — WHITE ELEPHANTS.

Lapus on CyberEd project: It will make children learn better

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- To dispel speculations of irregularities, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has assured lawmakers at the House of Representatives that he would furnish them a copy of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the P26.4 billion cyber education project (CEP).

Lapus came prepared when he appeared before the committee to defend the P146 billion budget proposal of his department for 2008.

When opposition Congressman Rufus Rodiguez threw the first question about the project, the Education czar volunteered to make a presentation so he could thoroughly explain the project.

“What will cyber education achieve? It will make our children learn better. It will make the teachers teach more effectively” Lapus said.

“They will be retrained. The principals would be able to manage schools more efficiently. The schools will be online with management, with the division, with the region, and they’ll be online like bank branches,’ he said.

With the CEP, the government could save some 60 billion pesos, including P1 billion a year from teachers training, said Lapus.

Lapus also cited the 37, 794 public schools nationwide or at least 13 million learners, who stand to benefit from the project.

After seeking some clarifications on the implementation of the project, Rodriguez requested a copy of the agreement from Lapus, who promised to furnish the committee a copy as soon as possible

Senate bill seeks to introduce ‘robotics’ in high school

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- As young Filipinos continue to reap honors in robotics around the world, Senate President Manuel Villar has filed Senate Bill 1579 seeking to introduce robotics into the high school curriculum.

The bill also provides for the appropriation of P100 million to support the incorporation of the subject in physics and other science subjects. The money is for designing the course, teacher training, and development of tools and instructional materials.

“The Philippines has been silently reaping laurels in science and technology,” the Senate president said.

He cited Kim Marco Perez, Dann Joseph Garcia, and Francisco Gabriel Nuñez of the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities who bagged the gold medal in the Open Category of the World Robotics Olympiad in Nanning, China last year.

Villar also praised the Filipino students who won in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair last year.

In the explanatory note on the bill, he underscored the important role of science and technology in attaining progress.

“Science and technology has undeniably become one of the most significant tools in economic growth and a defining source of competitive advantage,” he said.

“Robots shall be utilized as technology tools that will allow students to perform experimental applications in designing, building and testing gadgets for instructional purposes,” according to the proposed measure.

Under the bill, the Philippine Science High School and other selected high schools under the Department of Education shall be the first to be introduced to the implementation of robotics application.