Digital Rethinking Teaching 2020 – What About Our Schools, Colleges & Universities Under CHEd?

Teaching 2020, we should be modern explorers of the low seas of indigenous knowledge and high seas of modern science!

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

 


[1]https://torreytrust.com 
[2]https://www.friendlywifi.com/public-wifi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knorr Of Big Business Unilever Thinks Big Business Regenerative Agriculture – My Tiny Country PH Also Should!

Image
“Knorr’s plan for 50 regenerative agriculture projects is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use by an estimated 30% while improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.” That is regenerative agriculture (RA) news by Julian Cirineo (05 Nov 2021, “Unilever Wants To Rethink How Farms Work To Secure Food And Resources For The Future,” Rappler , rappler.com ). Note: 50 (not 5 only) RA projects to improve greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water use by 30% – plus improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods. Note the last 7 words in the above paragraph. How can RA improve biodiversity? RA requires that the farmer practices multiculture (a few or many crops grown at the same time in the same place), where monoculture (such as rice-only or corn-only) is the practice – the biodiversity improves crop health because of the ensuing balance of nature, such as some organisms feed on other organisms that would otherwise become pests or cause diseases. RA is your
Read more

In Looking At The Crown Of Thorns, I Found The Clowns

Image
We could use a surprise sense of humor!  Yes, especially on the wide problematic fields of Agriculture. There was this news that some high PH government officials wanted to probe Vice President Leni Robredo for “competing against” PH agencies in providing much-needed assistances during this coronavirus lockdown, and Marigs Laririt shared a picture-story on Facebook quoting Ms Leni as saying, “I didn’t know it was competition. I didn’t see any competitors!” Ms Marigs says, “Ay, parang friends ko kung sumagot si Mam.” (Ay, with Mam, it’s just like my friends answering back.) That is a two-handed backslap, and you can imagine the lady laughing! She is the humor-monger; they are the clowns. Today is Friday, 03 April 2020 and in one account ( Wikipedia ), Friday the 3 rd of April was crucifixion of Jesus and his crowning of thorns [1] . (images: Crown of Thorns [2]  from St Anthony Messenger , 1 st clown [3]  from The Guardian , 2 nd clown [4]  from Shutterstock ) About the living clowns I
Read more

“Natural Farming” – Aggie Journalists, We Must Be Careful With The Terms We Use!

Image
Look at the contrasting images: Which one is correct in claiming what is being practiced is “natural farming”? Top Image: This one accompanies the Anonymous WWF-Philippines story, “Mindanao Farmers Start Off the Year with Natural Farming Systems Technology” published online December 2019 [1] . The World Wide Fund, WWF, is a very credible international source of knowledge on conservation, right? Not this time. Very clearly, you can see the white plastic mulch covering the furrows and bare soil in-between them. Mr or Ms Anonymous, the plastic mulch is not natural. The soil not covered in-between furrows is not natural. So much soil bare, not natural, allowing so much natural water wasted because it had evaporated from the unprotected, hot soil surface! That is not conservation; that is not natural. The term “natural” is used here very carelessly . Aggie journalists, wake up! How come I noticed all that immediately when I saw the photograph? Because I learned my organic farming more t
Read more