When I think of PH Schools, Colleges & Universities, SCUs, which are under the Commission on Higher Education, CHEd, I think of their contributions to Agriculture, which must not only survive this pandemic lockdown but thrive. And yes, it may be that the Hope of the Farmerland lies with the youths coming out as products of SCUs, college graduates and/or youth entrepreneurs. All the more reason that teaching at the SCUs must be restructured with the powers of the digital universe.
The above image titled “Rethinking Teaching 2020” is by Torrey Trust shared by Ivan Marcelo A Duka on Facebook, but without a website to trace to. Thanks anyway, Ivan. I find that Miss Torrey is an Associate Professor of Learning Technology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst[1] (torreytrust.com). Nice thinking, lady!
I put in the image of a “Friendly WiFi[2]” because that’s what a WiFi should be: user-friendly. Actually, it means you have to make friends with it, be acquainted more with it, explore it some more. The lessons you learn as a teacher will be your own – and then those of your students.
Some 25 years ago, within the campus of UP Los Baños, we were one of the first families who recognized the informative & intellectual values of the Internet, as I am an instructor as well as a creative writer. The UP College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, taught me my BSA major in Ag Edu; I taught myself creative writing via the pocketbooks How To Write, Speak And Think More Effectively by Austrian-American readability expert Rudolf Flesch (about 1965), and wonderful creative thinking with Mechanism Of Mind by Maltese doctor & psychologist Edward de Bono (about 1975). With books like those, you get ideas how to generate more ideas; with the WiFi, you get the universe!
How did I learn to use our WiFi? The hard way. You have to learn to conduct searches using double quotes, for instance. But there is no other way!
If you’re afraid of using the Internet for teaching, just look at the list of Miss Torrey and try one:
“Instead of Long Lectures – Mini-Lessons with Active Learning.” You the would-be lecturer have to study your material first so that you can extract many mini-lessons. And you will enjoy it too!
“Instead of Feedback – Feedforward.” Instead of feedback – recitation, test, report – why not ask the class their individual opinions? Will make for exciting sessions – just watch out against negatives.
“Instead of high-stakes tests – Low-stakes.” Little surprise quizzes that encourage everyone to pay attention.
“Instead of one-size-fits-all.” Make learning fun, including yours! That’s what the Internet is for.
And don’t think of it as school – just another playground of the mind, yours and your students.
Instead of Control(critical thinking), better Explore(creative thinking). And you know what? When you encourage your students to explore, you and they will learn more!@517
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