Basyang is the Least of their Worries

CICT’s iSchools Project conducts Project Design & Management Training

Braving the heavy winds and unyielding downpour of tropical storm Basyang, 34 project managers representing different State Universities and Colleges (SUC) converged to attend the iSchools Project’s Project Design & Project Management Training-Workshop. The training-workshop is being held in Costa Palmera Resort, Sto. Domingo, Albay from July 12-17, 2010.

The 34 project managers represent the SUCs that partnered with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to implement the iSchools Project to its 320 recipient schools nationwide. Most of these project managers are professors, directors and even deans recruited from the Information Technology departments of these universities and colleges.

At the end of the training-workshop, the participants should understand the principles of managing a development project; and undergo a thorough workshop on project designing and planning. To validate this, attendees will have to come up with a development project proposal.

The training is somewhat bittersweet since the iSchools Project is facing an uncertain future inherent in every change in administration. It must be noted however, that the Project is currently undergoing the last phases of its implementation. Funds have already been transferred to some SUCs that will be implementing a slew of roll-out training in the coming months.

“It is true we are anxious about who will become the next CICT Chairman,” shares Toni Torres, iSchools Project Manager, “since he or she will have to face a lot of challenges right away.”

“Our fear is that without a CICT Chairman, the new government will neglect to push through with what we committed to our 320 recipient schools. We are hopeful that President Aquino will consider,” she adds.

Each recipient school will get 21 computer units, a one-year internet subscription, and a set of ICT training. The training covers basic internet literacy, elibrary management, laboratory management and web development.

Still, Torres remains undeterred.

“Even without the President designating a head for CICT, the iSchools Project and its allies will continue to deliver the services and training we promised our recipient schools.”

“In fact,” Torres adds, “we braved a storm for it.”

PC Recycling

Fortifying the School's Computer Laboratory

With the passage of time, ICT equipment will gradually become obsolete. This is a reality that will affect thousands of computer units currently housed in the laboratories of the public school system.

The iSchools Project of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology took a step towards addressing this trend by successfully concluding its PC Maintenance, Recycling, and eWaste management training-workshops. Thirty-two State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) nationwide implemented this training-workshop in their localities. The following aspects underlie the program:

Objectives of the PC Recycling Project

The objectives of the PCR are to build the technical skills of teachers that will strengthen their ability to maintain their own computer laboratories.

Skill-building of teacher-participants are geared towards enabling them to -

• Identify parts of computer system that may be needing service or replacement
• Trouble shoot basic computer problem
• Proper disposal of electronic wastes
• Apply creative recycling and reuse of non-serviceable parts into creating instructional material
• Draft an eWaste management plan for the school
• Participate in the online electronic depot whereby schools can exchange information as to the availability of parts that can be leased/sold to schools needing them

Under the program, the public high schools that were beneficiaries of different computerization projects were given the chance to participate in this iSchools initiative.

In fact, 1,392 teachers and school personnel representing 360 public high schools have already participated in the 10-day training program. As a result, an additional 512 computers resulted in a 67% revival rate of defective PC units used as laboratory materials. Through this initiative, electronic waste is minimized and value for money of computer equipment is maximized.

“Many High Schools have computer laboratories, but due to old age and continuous use, these computers are bound to breakdown and malfunction,” claims iSchools Project Manager Toni Torres.

“We have to do something so they can continue using their computers as tools for teaching and learning. This training is our answer to the wear and tear of computers,” she added.

The training is designed in phases. The first phase teaches the basics of computer systems, basic electronics, and troubleshooting. The next phase focuses on the actual troubleshooting, repair and maintenance, software installation, and a little of networking. The last four days are focused on eWaste management and proper disposal of electronic waste. It also includes a session on creative recycling, in which unusable parts are made into educational materials (mostly CPU parts) while the rest are converted through creative use.

Passion Finding Expression

School launches IT-for-Education Event in Quezon

Fresh from attending the iSchools Project’s Camp Blog last November 2009, teacher Reynald Cacho was determined to produce a similar ICT-for-education activity in his hometown of Lopez, Quezon Province. His is a mission driven by the desire “to share iSchools experiences and inputs and to set a school-level ICT-in-education training,” reveals Cacho.

Thus, after months of preparing the field, Cacho, together with his fellow Camp Blog alumni, launched their iteration of Camp Blog – eBlogit, which stands for “Evolve to Better Learning Order Guided with Information Technology”. The intensive 10-day course was held at the Lopez National Comprehensive High School (LNCHS) from April 12 to 23.

A Germ of an Idea Bears Fruit
Taking root from Camp Blog, eBlogit focuses on making the potential of ICT for teaching and learning bear more fruit. The modules include:

• Basic IT literacy including hands-on PC maintenance and troubleshooting
• Gmail and advanced Google applications
• Online research and writing
• Blogging using the Ning networking platform

Initially, the seed of an idea was grounded on as a small activity confined within their school community.Eventually, a total of 34 students and teachers from LNCHS participated in the event. Student participants were mostly in their 2nd and 3rd years while the teacher participants taught classes in English, Math, Chemistry, Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), Filipino, and Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH).

The buzz surrounding eBlogit's efflorescence was so great that even the DepEd Division of Quezon took notice. Dr. Noy Ogayon, Assistant Schools Division Superintendent, was similarly excited about the activity’s potential. So much so, that he invited participants from neighboring schools to attend the event. Eventually, Ogayon intends to replicate the activity Division-wide.
At the heart of Cacho’s drive to make eBlogit happen was his “passion for teaching and learning mediated by technology.” Thankfully, his passion sowed seeds that made eBlogit germinate, burgeon, and yield gains reaped by its participants.

iSchools Support
Eager to see for themselves how the activity progressed, the iSchools Project Management Office (PMO) sent its Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team to the school to map the groundwork. Seeing it first-hand, M&E Officer L.A. Abalos shares how she liked the participants’ “eagerness and perseverance to learn new things.” In fact, she was amazed with everyone’s attitude, gushing, “as in bibo talaga lahat!”

“This is exactly the progression we are hoping recipient schools take,” quips iSchools Project Manager Toni Torres, “people are duplicating what they learned in Camp Blog.”

Torres is quick to express support for eBlogit, adding that the iSchools PMO “is always more than willing to assist in the design preparation and even in teaching some of the modules.” Looking forward, Torres is hopeful about the future endeavors the iSchools Project will be undertaking.

“Maybe our succeeding Camp Blog runs can inspire a new batch of teachers and students to heed the challenge of bridging the digital divide.”

Camp Blog 2010

Discovering and Harnessing Regional ICT Champions

Seeking to make good on its promise of “bridging the digital divide,” the iSchools Project will conduct Camp Blog 2010 this May 31 to June 9 at Nature's Village Resort, Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

While past Camps offered only basic blogging as its forte, this iteration will address the different capacity-building needs of iSchools recipients be it students, teachers and school administrators. Camp Blog 2010 will conduct 3 simultaneous events: Camp Blog 1C, Camp Blog 2A and Framework Planning Workshop on Capability Building for Teachers.

Eventually, the iSchool Project hopes that these participants will become competent ICT-for-education champions in their localities.

Camp Blog 1C

This is a content generation activity for teachers and students which advocates blogging as a tool for education. While past Camps 1A and 1B focused on English, Math, Science and Technology Livelihood Education (TLE), 1C focuses on creating online content on Filipino history, culture and the arts – a first in Camp Blog history. Camp Blog 1C is highlighted by a heritage tour covering various places of interest in historic Negros Occidental which includes stops at Balay Negrense and the Ruins in Talisay.

Camp Blog 2A

This is the first advanced-level course offered by Project in its Camp Blog series. Teachers, who were particpants of Camp Blog 1A and 1B, will get to develop learning objects, which are essentially self-contained and reusable digital units of learning. Camp Blog 2A chose participants who continued to post relevant educational content in their blogs even after Camp ended. In a way, the iSchools Project rewards those that stick to the program and make the most use of the training given.

Framework Planning Workshop on Capability Building for Teachers (ICT4BE)

This activity will be the first time the iSchools Project will engage DepEd Superintendents and Principals from all over the country. Essentially the participants, who are mainly school adminstrators, will draft a framework that integrates ICT in the overall improvement of teachers in their various capacities be it teaching, classroom adminstration, development of education materials and even their own personal development. Essentially, the Workshop will be bringing the conceptual to the actual by defining a teacher's ICT competencies manifested through actual ICT tools.

About Carlos Hilado Memorial State College

Carlos Hilado Memorial State College is the State University and Colleges (SUC) tapped by the iSchools Project to host the event. Carlos Hilado Memorial State College is a public, state-owned college with its main campus in Talisay City, Negros Occidenal. It provides advanced technological, professional and vocational instruction and training in science, agriculture and industrial fields, as well as short-term courses. It is notable for being the only state college in the province of Negros Occidental.

About the iSchools Project

The iSchools Project is the main organizer of Camp Blog 2010. It is one of the flagship projects of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT). Recognized at the 3rd Government Technology Awards in Bali, Indonesia, the project aims to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. With an annual budget of P350 million, it has provided training modules and increased ICT access in public high schools, making it the most comprehensive initiative of its kind in the Philippines. Now on its 4th year of implementation, the iSchools Project has provided these services to 1,000 public high schools nationwide.

Stories From the Field

iSchools Project conducts writeshop for SUC writers

Thirty-five writers tapped from various State Universities and Colleges (SUC) from all over the archipelago will converge in the coastal City of Baybay, Leyte to undergo the Basic Online Writing Techniques (BOWT) training workshop from April 21-24, 2010.

The three-day workshop, hosted by the iSchools Project in cooperation with Visayas State University, will aid SUC writers in capturing the impact of the iSchools experience. At the end of the training, SUC writers will be expected to produce articles that chronicle the project's contributions to its recipient schools.

With three implementation runs tucked under its belt and another one at hand, the iSchools Project is close to its goal of “bridging the digital divide” by delivering internet laboratories and ICT literacy training to 1,000 public high schools all over the Philippines.

“We are fiercely proud of our project's contribution to school communities around the country,” declares Antonette Torres, iSchools project manager.

“The challenge now,” she adds “is for the writers to produce quality stories from the field, that best relay our message to a national-- even global audience.”

To meet this challenge, the iSchools Project tapped renowned professionals in the fields of journalism and photojournalism to develop workshop sessions targeting the specific needs of its 35 SUC Writers.

Two-time National Book Awards for Journalism awardee Jose Torres, Jr. will lay down the groundwork by reintroducing the concepts and practice of news and feature writing. With these basics covered, Torres will teach the writers how to tailor-fit their work for an online readership with a session on online writing.

To appeal to the more visual reader, a session on photojournalism will be led by respected photographer Jimmy Domingo-- who also lectures at the Photojournalism Program of the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University (ACFJ) and sits at the board of the Philippine Center for Photojournalism.

The BOWT is just one among the series of Content Development activities developed by the iSchools Project aimed to generate material for the web portal it will launch during the National ICT Month celebration this coming June.

The iSchools Project is one of the flagship projects of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) under the ICT4BE Program. Recognized at the 3rd Government Technology Awards in Bali, Indonesia, the project aims to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. With an annual budget of P350 million, it has provided training modules and increased ICT access in public high schools, making it the most comprehensive initiative of its kind in the Philippines. Now on its 4th year of implementation, the iSchools Project has provided these services to 1,000 public high schools nationwide.

Unsung Heroes of the 2010 Elections

With the conduct of the recent national elections, the general public has attributed its success to the reliability of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines provided by Smartmatic.

However, we tend to lose focus on the less dramatic – the unsung heroes of this May 2010 elections – the public high schools teachers, who by their tireless effort and proficiency in ICT, have been able shape the democratic exercise we all love and cherish.

Over the course of its three implementation cycles, the iSchools Project has distributed 14,280 computer units in 680 internet laboratories nationwide. By the end of August 2010, the 1,000th public high school would have received the same facilities.

The hallmark of the Project has always been the set of training activities accompanying the internet laboratory. The training ensures the sustainability of the laboratory in a three-fold manner, by getting the school community involved in the laboratory’s physical upkeep; by ensuring a cadre of ICT lab managers responsible for the technical upkeep; and by empowering teachers who integrate ICT in their daily tasks of lesson delivery and school management.

The iSchools Project has a unique set of training activities that cannot be found anywhere else. Each public high school is ensured to receive the following courses:

• Computer and Internet Literacy Course (CILC) as an introductory course to ICT-for-education purposes
• Laboratory Management and Web Development for its lab managers
• Library Management for the schools’ librarians
• Sustainability Planning Workshop (SPW) to develop a sense of community ownership and responsibility for the laboratory’s continued upkeep

To date, the iSchools Project would have delivered the training to over 6,000 public high school teachers nationwide. Now beyond the chalkboard, teachers have come to appreciate ICT as a tool that empowers.

By continually enhancing the ICT awareness, appreciation and competency of public high school teachers nationwide, the iSchools Project would have done its share in ensuring that even the next automated elections would be an even more efficient democratic exercise worthy of the Filipinos’ trust.

The iSchools Project is one of the flagship projects of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) under the ICT4BE Program. Recognized at the 3rd Government Technology Awards in Bali, Indonesia, the project aims to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. With an annual budget of P350 million, it has provided training modules and increased ICT access in public high schools, making it the most comprehensive initiative of its kind in the Philippines.

From Antiquity to Modernity

iSchools Lays the Cornerstone for Modernizing the Public School Library

What is a library? Is it an archaic structure that houses the life's work of literary giants and philosophers? Or is it simply a place where weary students can catnap in between classes?

These were among the questions that acted as scaffolding for the discussions during the Library Management Validation Workshop held from April 14 to 15.

The workshop's goal is to evaluate the iSchools Library Management and Information System or iLMIS software and its accompanying manual. After spending more than a year in the making of the project, the developers, manual writers, and evaluators met again to review the manual and suggest improvements.

The iLMIS is the open source eLibrary system to be introduced by the iSchools Project to all of its 1,000 public high school recipients nationwide.

The iLMIS was formed through a partnership between the iSchools Project and developers from the Laguna University under the Laguna Provincial Government through its Management Information Systems (MIS) office. The iLMIS hopes to improve library management by providing school administrators with an ICT system that simplifies and makes more efficient the process of storing, cataloging, and filing learning materials. Eventually, the system will allow materials to be shared with other school libraries within the greater iLMIS network.

The Laguna Provincial Government, through its MIS office, is mandated to develop systems and software applications for its concurrent units such as the Laguna University. After the MIS office successfully developed a Library and Management Information System (LMIS) for Laguna University, it decided to popularize and distribute said software to organizations willing to adopt it. The iSchools Project has thus adopted and promoted the LMIS to its partners nationwide.

Where will this leave librarians?

Will this digitization movement downsize and eventually eliminate librarians from the frame? Not by a long shot. This is the encouraging pronouncement of the iSchools Project.

“Librarians should see the iLMIS as a tool of empowerment. It will make them actual librarians– not just book filers,” reassures iSchools training officer Joed Alcid. “Through the iLMIS, librarians now become information managers.”

To lay the groundwork for actual software application, the project tapped manual writers from Cavite State University, Ifugao State University, and Bicol University. Quite aptly, the writers are familiar with the challenges facing librarians since they work for their university's high school libraries.

While the validation workshop is the first good nail driven in, Alcid concedes that the manual needs more hammering out. Both reviewers and writers agreed that there is a need to be more responsive to the demands of a 21st century library. Because of this, an additional chapter for computer and internet-based information and intellectual property rights will be built into the manual, just in time for polishing in the next review.

“Schools can now see that technology cannot replace librarians.” Rather, technology acts to further buttress the role of librarians. In the greater scheme of education, concludes Alcid, “technology serves to enhance, encourage, and support classroom learning.”

So, what is a library then?

According to blueprint, a library has functioned throughout history as the storehouse of knowledge that is shared. In these modern times, with the iLMIS, this knowledge can now be stored and shared beyond the physical confines of form, time, and place.