Teacher on Center Stage: Francis Jim Tuscano (1 of 2)

Francis Jim Tuscano is an EdTech advocate too!

The blog is glad to have this interview with Global Teacher and Distinguished Apple Educator, Francis Jim Tuscano. He talks about technology in education, makes a distinction on Blended Learning as approach and modality, and shares strategies for teachers who will be teaching remotely in this coming school year.

1. All of a sudden, Educational Technology and Instructional Design are thrown into the forefront of education. What do you think of this phenomenon given the circumstances and how is PH education responding to the change and challenges in teaching and instruction?

What’s happening right now is definitely and undeniably accelerating the adoption of technology in teaching and learning. Before the pandemic, a lot of schools did not see Edtech as a priority because we have never imagined the possibility of school closures that will not allow face to face teaching and learning. It was a very remote scenario that a lot of us never considered in our wildest dreams. But unfortunately, we are in a public health emergency right now and distance education or remote learning is the only viable option to continue learning and teaching, aside from homeschooling. The accelerated adoption is so obvious right now as seen in the rapid adoption and purchase of learning management systems and the rise of webinar workshops or talks on technology integration. 

Personally, I am excited with this because people now realise the importance of technology, its possibilities in elevating or raising the bar of learning. For now, my fear is that schools and educators overlook their core reason for adoption. I mean, right now, the core reason is to answer the negative effects of the pandemic but that can be very short-sighted. I hope that despite the quick transition that is happening in many schools right now, they see, invest, and hope to sustain with a long-term vision. It is not something that you invest now and then terminate once the pandemic ends. The investment on infrastructures, devices, and professional development of teachers cost much, so it is important that school leaders are able envision technology and embed it naturally in their vision and mission as a school community. They should have a bigger why that will guide their tech adoption even beyond the pandemic. 

In terms of its adoption then, the current situation in the Philippine education system show us the haves and have nots, the digital divide which has been present before. The pandemic has just made it more obvious and this is the case in a lot of countries. So, we are again playing catch up, accelerating things, racing against time to put more devices in the hands of teachers, partnering with local government units for donations of devices to students who do not have access, and training teachers to learn more ICT skills. There was a big misconception that online learning was the way to go and I would like to temper this. 

Despite being an advocate for Edtech, I always cautioned educators and school leaders to be more careful in making decisions regarding Edtech or online learning adoption. While we want to push the agenda for better ICT access and infrastructure in the country, such quick decisions right now puts families, parents, and students in a very difficult situation. Context of the learner should always be considered. If there is inequitable access, then do not at all adopt online distance learning. ICT or Edtech should always be a tools to bridge the gap in education, as envisioned by UNESCO. But, reality has shown us that it is a two-edge sword. It can bridge and widen the gap at the same time. In the end, we do not want Edtech adoption especially in school communities with equity issues to be the wall that bars students from accessing education. 

Live Blogging: Klasrum Adarna - Library Hub Improvement

Adarna House celebrates its thirtieth year of being the Filipino's child's provider of his/her first books. In line with this, they have planned more projects to help the public educational system of the country. It's extending its reach and digging deep into its resources to give back and continuously make a difference.

One of these projects is the Klasrum Adarna Library Improvement Training Workshop. The DepEd Officers of the Library Hub in the National Capitol Region has graciously and willingly agreed to the partnership. From this workshop, teachers, librarians and library hub coordinators are expected to come up with exciting and enticing activities to make the lib hub in their school alive and kicking.

A few weeks back, I set up a working outline for today's workshop. On the last minute, I changed it entirely because I realized that I need to meet the lib hub personnel of each school where they are currently at. Back to the basics. The previous outline is something I can articulate with the lib hub administrators. For today's participants, I'm giving then a KISS - Keep It Sweet and Simple.

Topics for discussion this morning will include the following: Reading and the Library, Roles of Libraries and Librarians, Models of Library Operations, Activities to Promote Books, Reading and the Library. In the afternoon, we will have a workshop on concerete activities that can be done.

Ms. Digna Aquino of the Pasig Library Hub and Mr. Troy Lacsamana of the Quezon City Public Library will be providing real life success stories of library activities they've done for their library clients.

A Comment On A Commentary Part 1

I came across Mike Luz's Reform Agenda for Teachers over the weekend. I read it several times. On my third reading, I was pretty impressed with Luz's vision for the Filipino public school teachers. Having worked with public school teachers via the Readathon Prpgram of Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation over the past years, Luz has hit the nail right smack on the head. Our teachers need to go back to the basics to be effective and efficient.

I agree on all his points: from the improvement of teachers' salaries to their working conditions; pre-service and in-service training; upgrading of competencies in the communication arts and computer literacy. Teacher development is one key to an improved educational system.

Here's what made me fall from my seat though --

All non-teaching assignments should be reviewed and minimized. Non-teaching assignments (e.g., librarian, bookkeeper, property custodian, etc.) take a teacher away from teaching. If these jobs can be done by volunteer parents, this would greatly improve “time-on-task” of teachers.

While I agree that teachers should focus on teaching, primarily because it is their job to TEACH, I beg to differ when Luz pointed out that the work and the job of a LIBRARIAN be given to parent volunteers. Teachers are given non-teaching assignments like library duty because there is a dearth of librarians in the public school system. Parent volunteers as LIBRARIANS is not the lesser evil. What can librarians do that parent volunteers can't?

Librarians can establish learning communities through the provision of learning resources and information. They can work with teachers to further one's professional growth. They can act as team "teachers" who lend support in teaching and instruction. Librarians can model the reading habit to children and guide teens on making decisions on simple to complex school projects. Librarians, just like teachers, can effect and affect change as he/she preserves the heritage and legacies of a culture and a nation. These are but some of the few things that librarians can do in a school. Build as many libraries as possible. That's good. Set up mini-libraries and literacy centers in the classroom. That's great! But with out the help of a librarian to manage the library as well as support the teacher in these endeavors, literacy instruction is incomplete.

Sadly, public school librarians are item-less in the Philippine public school. Besides, keeping a library and honing librarians to become partners in teaching and learning is an idea that has struggles to take flight in the Philippines. The eternal optimist in me is inspired to look for success stories and then some. More on this in future posts.

Multilingual Education

The College of Education in UP Diliman is churning out one great lecture after the other.

You're invited to the Francisco Benitez Memorial Lecture of Dr. Jose Lalas on

Teacher Education and Multilingual Standards in the Philippines: What, Why, and How

on March 18, 2010, 4:00 pm at the Benitez Theater of the College of Education,
University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

Dr. Lalas is a Professor of Literacy and Director of Teacher Education at the University of Redlands in California, USA.

Registration is free. The venue can comfortably accommodate only 150 persons so a first come, first served policy will be adopted.

A Librarian Among Educators

Last January 30 and February 6, 2010 I had the good fortune of joining Vibal Publishing House's roster of educators who gave seminar-workshops for teachers in Iloilo City and Manila on UbD (Understanding by Designs) and ICT (Information and Communications Technology). From the line up of speakers on the different content areas of instruction, I am the only librarian who gave a session on Storytelling (Iloilo), and Reading and Technology (Manila).

The macro seminar which Vibal Publishing House, Inc. (VPHI) organized was in support of DepEd's move to UbDize the high school curriculum. There are several private schools in metropolitan Manila that have caught on the UbD fever though. A few, like PAREF Southridge and Xavier School, have been successful on its implementation since the early 2000s. No wonder, more and more private schools are studying possibilities of its theory and practice. In my PAASCU visits, I have had the opportunity to see efforts of big and small schools experiment on UbD. This was where the VPHI macro seminar came in - to further evangelize and enlighten teachers and administrators.

For three months, VPHI toured the Philippines to bring knowledge, content and skill to participants from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Guest speakers gave a variety of seminar-workshop activities on UbD and its facility in grade school and high school instruction. While it carried UbD as its main topic, ICT played an important issue of discussion in the con-current sessions. Some provided theoretical and hands-on sessions on ICT integration. For my part, I did Storyteller! Storyteacher! (Iloilo) and Reading Technology (Manila).

Suffice it to say that the teachers I worked with were all tech savvy, if not, were open to using ICT to facilitate learning. The preschool teachers in Iloilo had fun doing the storytelling techniques. I did too! Once again, I had the honor and pleasure to discover teachers with unwavering passion and commitment to the craft of teaching.

BESRA & the Need for Higher Education Reform

Prof. Dina Ocamp sent this invite to a forum via our PBBY Yahoogroup. Since I missed last year's forum on Educational Reform by the UP Diliman, I hope to attend this one to live blog and micro blog as well.

I'm not sure if it's an open invitation. There's a set of contact numbers below though.

The University of the Philippines
Office of the President
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Education, College of Law and the
Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UCIDS)

Cordially invite you to a forum on

The Promise of Redemption: BESRA and the Need for Higher Education Reform

Maria Serena I. Diokno
Convenor

Ma. Cynthia Rose B. Bautista
Allan B. I. Bernardo
Dina Ocampo
Panel Members

Arguing that Philippine education should be treated as cohesive passageways to learning, the panel examines the philosophical and practical underpinnings of current reform plans and proposals. The nature and pace of reforms already in place will be analyzed. Despite its rich and progressive content, for example, why has the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) not moved fast enough? The panel also extends its analysis to higher education and proposes guidelines for reform in the tertiary sector.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 2:00 – 5:00 pm
NISMED Auditorium, UP Diliman Campus

Beamed live to UP Baguio, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Mindanao, UPOU, UP Visayas at Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban

For inquiries please call 4359283 or fax 9293540

Dr. Dina Joana Ocamo, Outstanding Teacher and Filipina

A pleasant news from the education sector! The Metrobank Outsanding Teachers (MOT) of 2009 were announced last 8 August 2009. Among the ten teacher awardees, nine came from the public school system.

From the tertiary level, it was Dr. Dina Ocampo of the Reading Department of UP Diliman who was given this prestigious award. Teacher Dina, as she is fondly called in the UP Reading community was conferred another award last 2007. She was one of the Ten Outstanding Women of the Nation for Service awardee for her groundbreaking work and research on dyslexia. Teacher Dina's research on multilingual teaching won her the MOT this year.

Teacher Dina is founder of Wordlab, a school for dyslexic and special learners. She is also the Vice President of the Philippine Board On Books for Young People (PBBY).

Source of photo - cathychronicles.blogspot.com

Reflections on Educational Reforms

Got this from Dr. Dina Ocampo of The Reading Department, UP Diliman --




We are pleased to invite you to participate in the UP Centennial joint lecture on Philippine Education entitled WHEN REFORMS DON'T TRANSFORM: REFLECTIONS ON PHILIPPINE EDUCATION by Dr. Cynthia Rose Bautista, Dr. Allan B.I. Bernardo and Dr. Dina Ocampo. This will be held at the NISMED Auditorium in UP Diliman on 12 November 2008 at 2:00pm.

Call 9205367 for details.