Education in the future?

Checking who has linked with this blog lately, (I do that from time to time) I discovered another one owned and written by another educator. This is very encouraging because I see that more and more people in the profession are blogging and opening their ideas on the web. Anyway, her post Homeschooling:Rethinking our Schools and Our Society caught my attention immediately for it spurred an idea in me. I wanted to add a comment but her blog is exclusively for friends as readers have to log in. At any rate, what would schools be like in the future considering the availability and capabilities of technology?

In her article, she talks about her preference of having her child homeschooled. She informs us that more and more children are being educated through this process. So, too, does she give famous names who had been homeschooled and made it to the top.

I think homeschooling is not a far-fetched scenario given the extent of what technology can do today. For example, whereas we have to buy volumes of encyclopedia before just to get an idea on a certain topic, the same can be had with just a click on your mouse.

Let me take you further. As I envision it, our concept of what a school is will dramatically change in the near future. Schools as we know it will become obsolete. While there may still be a building we call a school, we will have no more classrooms per se but several roomful of computers where a teacher is assigned to each while the learers stay at home. Instructions will be in the form of modules and will be individualized for each learner who, in turn, will be more independent. Since progress will be up to the learner, the slow learners will be spared of the humilliation of being left by his/her peers for after all, there is no direct contact with them.

What this means is that a child no longer has to face the dangers of going to school; being run over by a vehicle while crossing the streets, the hassles of commuting to and fro' being kidnapped, be confronted by bullies, playing hooky :-) or whatever... that also means less expenses for baon, miscillaneous expenses, grouchy teachers, etc. (No more suspension of classes during typhoons provided there is electric current) All they have to do is to log in to a site, open their lesson and learn. This may also mean that we can go global. Enrol our kids to schools anywhere in the world. Ah, the possibilities are just limitless.

Graduation and Politics?

I was watching the news last night and I learned that the DepEd warns schools not to let politicians take control of their graduation rites. It said that since graduation this year, which happens usually in late March, is close to election time, candidates might use the graduation for their campaign. Why not? You know these politicians. Give them a chance to talk and they will go on and on until kingdom come. Given an audience who will surely not leave their seats until their graduates have been given their diploma, candidates are sure to have a "captive" (or should I say "captured") audience for their propaganda.

Would listening to a candidate say his/her piece really that bad? I am not that certain, actually. I remember PGMA attending a graduation ceremony last year receiving catcalls and boos during her speech. It was a very humiliating experience for any public speaker, I'm sure. If my memory serves me right, the student was reprimanded. Of course, you don't humiliate your president like that. After all, she is the President of the Republic of the Philippines. This is not the case with candidates! Now, what if in spite of the DepEd's warning to schools and still a candidate finds his/her way to the podium in a graduation ceremony, we give hi/her the thumbs down io the middle of his speech? That ought to deplete his oversized ego, right?

I remember a story I read from Larry Henares' Make My Day when he still writes for the Inquirer a long time ago, which goes like this:

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There was this president who went to a foreign land who, after the usual greetings, gave out a speech. During his speech, people chanted "Oooopah, ooompah". Not knowing what this meant, the president thought it was their way of welcoming a guest and that they were cheering and egging him on to continue. He really felt elated by this warm response.

Later in the day, the host president took the visiting president on a tour of the country. During the tour, they reached a certain ranch where hundreds of cows and horses were foraging. As they were walking, the host president said, "Mr. President, be sure to look where you are going or you might step on an ooompah."
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So, should there be an unscrupulous "trapo" who uses a solemn ceremony as a graduation for his political campaign, let's cheer him/her on. Begin chauting: "ooompah! oompah"

Blogs!

When I started blogging, I had only one thing in my mind. It was going to be a personal journal that contained my thoughts on any topic and a repository of my so called poems. Hence, my first blog.came out to be some sort of an odd mixture of diary, poetry and rants. I thought the blog lacked focus. The blog might have been personal but the learner in me got more inquisitive, aspiring to do much better. It was at this time that I learned to look at other blogs, notably, Batjay's and Sassy's blogs. And as my side panel says, it was Batjay who urged me to create a teaching blog.

My only purpose for blogging is to keep something of me for safekeeping until such time as my children and/or their children (and so forth), would get to know who I am, what I live for, how I live and how I react to certain situations. I think this is better than making long sermons that would enter the right ear and come out at the left. Teen-agers! We all went through this stage, did we not? In the process, I share my thoughts to the net hoping I can inspire and be of help to anybody out there to whom my words speak.

Three years have passed and this blog has gone a long way. It has been featured as blog of the week in Pinoyblog.com and the Manila Bulletin together with Marisol Angala, another teacher, based in Washington. Yesterday, I received a note from Ipanema that the blog is a nominee in this year's Philippine Blog Awards. I did not know this so I immediately checked Technorati -- and there it was! The blog is a nominee for Best Socio-Political blog. Hmm, not bad! I do not expect to win for there are many blogs out there more worthy but to whoever nominated this blog, my sincere gratitude. God Bless you.

The glass is half full?

Remember that phrase that urges you to think positively - You do not say the glass is half empty but the glass is half full? Well, here's another version of it. I got this from Ipanema's blog where she first gives us the list of the richest people on earth as listed by Forbes Top 10 Billionaires. After that, she gives us her status on the richnes scale using this site I tried it and guess what, she's richer tnan I am but what the hey> I'm still at the top 13.31% richest people in the world. Here it is based on a rough estimate of my annual gross income. Try it, it's fun!

I'm the 798,928,823 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>