A Day in the Life of a Librarian: Celebrating the Joys of Our Profession!

by JVC Abatayo

Ahoy, fellow book sailors! Today, I wanted to share some fantastic things about being a librarian that make me fall in love with this kind of job every day. So, grab a cup of tea, cozy up in your favorite reading nook, and let's dive into the world of libraries! 

1. Connecting people with the best book: As a librarian, there's nothing more rewarding than helping someone find one book that sparks their imagination, expands their knowledge, or touches their heart. The joy on their faces is truly priceless!
2. Lifelong learning: The library is a treasure trove of information, and being surrounded by books daily means we're always learning something new. Plus, we get to attend conferences, workshops, and webinars to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in our field.
3. Inspiring the next generation of readers: As a librarian, we have the privilege of introducing young minds to the magic of reading. From storytimes to book clubs, it's incredible to witness children's love for literature grow and flourish.
4. Building a sense of community: Libraries are more than just repositories of books - they're vibrant community hubs where people of all ages come together to learn, create, and connect. It's an honor to be part of an institution that fosters inclusivity and brings people closer.
5. Endless variety and excitement: No two days are the same in the life of a librarian! One day, we might organize a local author event, and the next, we could help a patron with genealogy research or host a DIY craft workshop.
6. The power of collaboration: Working closely with colleagues, patrons, and other institutions, librarians often collaborate on exciting projects, such as preserving local history, developing new programs, or creating digital resources to benefit the community.
7. The gift of storytelling: As a librarian, we have the unique opportunity to recommend stories and bring them to life through engaging storytelling sessions and interactive book discussions, sparking curiosity and creativity in listeners of all ages.
8. Helping others navigate the digital world: In an increasingly digital age, librarians play a crucial role in assisting patrons to access and navigate digital resources, from e-books and databases to online learning platforms. It's gratifying to empower others with digital literacy skills!
9. Witnessing personal growth: As librarians, we get to be a part of our patrons' personal and educational journeys. From helping someone improve their job skills to assisting with research projects, it's heartwarming to see our work's positive impact on others.
10. Embracing curiosity and creativity: Libraries offer a safe space for people to explore new ideas, ask questions, and experiment with different forms of expression. Being a librarian means encouraging and nurturing this spirit of curiosity and creativity in our patrons daily.

There's so much to love about being a librarian; these are just a few reasons our profession is so special. Do you have a favorite librarian or library memory? Share your stories in the comments, and let's continue celebrating the joys of librarianship together!

On Teaching and Transforming

                                                                            by: JVC Abatayo

     Recently, I explored an enlightening educational video, as recommended by our Ph.D. Professor, which poignantly discusses the importance of curriculum through Andrew Hammond's analytical lens. Hammond underscores a crucial perspective on how educational institutions illuminate pathways of knowledge, designed to be advantageous for students' future journeys, while also critiquing the prevalent focus on grades rather than holistic academic performance.

Hammond provocatively questions the extensive emphasis placed on the grading system within our educational establishments. He argues for a shift towards valuing the journey of academic performance over the ultimate numerical outcome. Indeed, pivotal factors that cannot be overlooked emerge behind each curriculum, result, and grade, which demand our attention and introspection.

Inspired by Hammond's analytical narrative on prioritizing cultural considerations before curriculum, I would embed flexibility at its core if entrusted to establish my own school. This would facilitate a learning environment accommodating myriad learning styles and strategies, ensuring no student is marginalized or demoralized due to isolated poor performances. My ethos hinges on recognizing various enablers and predictors that facilitate academic flourishing, emphasizing experiential learning, enriched through social experiences, emotional connectivity, affinities, innovation, and creativity. This approach not only echoes the genuine sentiments of learners but also profoundly impacts their curricular interactions and achievements.

Moreover, I aspire to amplify the role of philosophical inquiry within the educational framework, nurturing student engagement and enhancing the reasoning skills, particularly among low-performing students. By addressing frequent, debatable, and central questions – such as those surrounding happiness, moral principles, existence, and knowledge – philosophical investigations can ignite curiosity and deepen understanding among students.

Incorporating philosophical inquiry in pedagogy is a distinctive tool, unlocking students’ latent potential, something unattainable through traditional instructional methodologies. It empowers students to demonstrate their aptitude in engaging in dialogues, utilizing reasoning skills, and participating in classroom activities that symbolize proficient students.

In conclusion, the necessity to scrutinize, reflect upon, and reshape the curriculum is palpable. Ensuring educational flexibility is paramount to imparting the holistic learning that genuinely addresses students' needs. As educators, we must lessen our reliance on conventional educational paradigms, instead embracing innovative approaches that catalyze positive transformations within our educational systems.

 

Photo From: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/black-and-white-holding-hands

Building Dreams through Educational Assessments: A Reflection

             

by JVC Abatayo

           The global landscape is undergoing significant transformations, prompting a pivotal shift in teaching and learning approaches. Amidst these disruptions, it's imperative to address the burgeoning demands of the future without placing undue reliance on standardized tests.

The requisite skills are evolving in our contemporary era, necessitating the infusion of complex communication, higher-order thinking, routine and non-routine manual skills, and routine cognitive abilities into the educational paradigm. Hence, in their current form, standardized tests cannot fully foster the acquisition of these varied skills.

Why does this view resonate with me? Standardized tests can inadvertently erode the quality of education by imposing limiting and exacting frameworks. They often inhibit educators from exploring, innovating, and adopting flexible teaching methods. Furthermore, standardized tests have been associated with heightened student anxiety and stress, sometimes escalating to severe pressure and depression, due to their prescriptive and high-stakes nature. Such a unidimensional approach to assessment neglects learners' diverse potential and unique trajectories, which is detrimental.

Comparatively, numerous countries are pioneering exploratory and individualized approaches in their educational systems to ensure that no student is marginalized. These systems prioritize being attuned to and supportive of the specific needs of their learners over homogenizing and generalizing education through standardized tests. Their emphasis on learner welfare illuminates a path from which the Philippines, among other nations, can derive invaluable insights.

My firm belief is that our educational assessments must be realistic and pragmatic. The practical application of knowledge is crucial, rendering it active and meaningful, as opposed to passively accumulated through mere memorization. Although memorization has merits, it does not facilitate in-depth learning. Analysis stands as a cornerstone to actual understanding. Permitting students to explore beyond their conventional boundaries and encouraging them to think innovatively and critically are paramount. Consequently, educational assessments should not thwart their ambitions but catalyze their ongoing development and continuous self-enhancement!

 

Reference:

Darling-Hammond, L. (2015, June 30). Testing, Testing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G_vWcS1NTA.

Photo from: https://www.viewsonic.com/library/education/educational-assessment-tools-summative-formative/

Let there be Quizlet and Padlet

Quizlet You Soar the Highest in Teaching!

Reaching greater heights in the new regular education becomes easier now because various online educational tools enable teachers and learners to bring out the best in them. In this part of the article, I will illuminate the beauty of Padlet so that you can see how this marvelous tool can change your life forever.

Quizlet is a digital educational tool containing immense study materials about numerous topics or subjects created by other users. Its study sets are free; any user can make their own learning materials and share them with others to foster resource sharing. The information you can acquire from this app can be presented through flashcards, quizzes, and games, so you can utilize them to uplift student engagement or create an exciting learning experience in the class. Isn’t it astounding?

Like the other digital tools I have tried using, I had a fantastic experience using Quizlet on my own. It was just a trial-and-error session. When it comes to its accessibility, I find it user-friendly because I can simply sign up and log in without complications. It can be used by Android and iPhone users, and since I am an Android user, that’s a good thing for me. As to the learning materials, I can just look for the available ones relevant to the topics I want to acquire. Also, I tried creating learning material and was stunned because I can add multimedia resources to make the content more creative and attractive. To have varied choices of presenting the learning material, you can choose modes like flashcards, learn, spell, test, match, and gravity. These modes are very enthralling, but I love the gravity the most.

However, I can also see two downsides to this tool. First, the learning materials' reliability, accuracy, and credibility can be questioned because these shared resources are not validated or reviewed; that is why it is necessary to thoroughly and adequately assess the information being presented to you before using it. Second, I know that it’s free, but what’s painful about open access is that you can just explore or navigate limited features unless you upgrade and avail yourself of the premium platform for additional customizations and enhancements. Despite these problems, I can still consider Quizlet as a very functional tool that educators can use to channel the enthusiastic energy of learning, even if we are having a hard time dealing with this pandemic.

In 2016, a qualitative data analysis of Bruce Lander's views on what students think about Quizlet showed that most students resoundingly loved the digital flashcards. Still, some of them favor more traditional methods of learning vocabulary. He also expects further additions and augmentations from Quizlet. With this study, we educators must utilize this tool and consider redefining and reimagining our teaching practices (from traditional to modern) by marrying the technology so that the students can be more engaged in learning and discovery. We need to be more open to progress and innovation. Whatever age bracket we are in, seasoned or not, we all need to level up and embrace the new regular education because there’s no other way but to move forward.

With my fantastic experience when I tried Quizlet, I would love to use it again, especially in this upcoming academic year. Now I will start exploring more, and if I have the budget, I will consider unlocking the premium platform to maximize its functionality. I would also love to share it with my colleagues so they know we can still do more despite the hardships this pandemic has given us. Indeed, we can soar the highest in the field of education with the aid of Quizlet. Just let the Quizlet do the magic!

 

Unlocking Padlet: Opening the Door to Literacy

            I know it’s so metaphorical to say that information and communication technology is now our best pal to combat against the cruelties of this pandemic and to survive in this new regular education, but it’s totally the reality. With its glory, innovative and analytical learning is still possible and feasible, even if it’s now done differently. For some, this new system is bizarre because of their reluctance. Still, I have to break free from the bondage of information uncertainty and illiteracy by creating extraordinary learning experiences with the help of the flooding digital tools.

            A new tool added to the list is Padlet. This technological tool can be an excellent venue for students to post and share notes in the same place. The notes can be provided in various formats, such as links, images, videos, and other documents. Students can easily use this tool to enhance their learning experience by conducting group research, unleashing creativity, improving class participation, and acquiring class updates. Mainly, this technology tool can empower collaboration among learners for them to lift each other up in this new typical learning environment.

Regarding its functionality and practicality, the teachers, as the facilitators of learning, can be used in many fruitful ways. It can serve as a digital wall that is very useful in the classroom. Specifically, you can use this to recapitulate or ask students to post a synthesis of what they learned from the previous lessons and activities. It can also help you gather students’ class expectations, organize collaborative notetaking, conducting living Webquest, wrapping up the day by asking questions about what they have learned, letting students store, share, and export relevant images, links, and topics, asking students to share ideas, acquiring whiteboard answers, and many more. This tool is endless, and we can ensure that with its help, the pandemic can’t take its toll on the quality of teaching and learning. It can be your bulletin board, billboard, blackboard, whiteboard, and boredom destroyer!

Regarding my experiences with this tool, I still like its ease of use. From signing up to the actual utilization, I find this accessible. I use my Google account to keep it simple when signing up and logging in. I have just used the free version because I don’t have the budget yet to upgrade it to the Pro version, but it’s manageable, even if it’s just a free version. So, since it’s just free, I am only allowed to create three Padlets at a time, but you can delete them afterward if you want to make new ones. There are actually options that you can do to use it differently. We can have it as a wall, canvas, stream, grid, shelf, backchannel, map, or timeline. Our posts can be enhanced by selecting backgrounds, choosing font styles, selecting the color scheme, attaching links, multimedia files, and other documents. I have found out that we can change the privacy of the post. After the basic steps you need to do, we can just post the content, make it accessible to our students, and explore its possibilities for teaching and learning.

In the 2019 paper of Inma Beltran-Martin about using Padlet for collaborative learning, it was found that the students were highly contented with using this technology tool in class because it can help them achieve a good academic performance. Moreover, it was confirmed that it can successfully support the collaborative work of the learners. With these results, we can really prove that Padlet can save you in handling the virtual classroom.

I firmly believe that Padlet can be significantly used, like other technology tools, to make the new normal learning more interactive and engaging for our learners. With the multiple advantages of this tool, we can organize a safe place for us, teachers, and learners to gather, share, and expand ideas. It’s like a social networking site that is solely for educational purposes. Aside from its focus on academic excellence, it also helps foster camaraderie. Also, I would like to focus on the advantages of this tool (even if there are not-so-serious loopholes or hitches). Aside from the fact that it can be used for free, it is easy to use and allows you to connect heartily and intellectually with your students.

In the meantime, I will settle for the free version, since we also have a learning management system with this tool’s features. However, I still find it more creative and engaging, so I would really find time to utilize it and showcase its beauty and brilliance to my students. I want to connect more with them, especially since this pandemic hinders me from effectively monitoring them. This tool will help me update them and enhance my learning. Together, we will unlock this Padlet’s full features and advantages to open the door that leads to academic excellence!

Author: JVC Abatayo

Photo Credits: 

https://www.generalatlantic.com/media-article/quizlet-raises-series-c-funding-from-general-atlantic/

https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/18/padlet-raises-1-2-million-for-its-easy-to-use-collaborative-website-builder/

The Beauty of Plickers and the Power of Google

Plickers can help you Teach!

To those who are not familiar with Plickers yet, it is an amazing application that is inexpensive and free at the same time. You can upgrade your experience but rest assured, it is very cheap. It is actually an educational tool that enables teachers to conduct real-time formative assessments without being problematic if the students don’t have devices or gadgets. You can simply use it in the classroom when it comes to pre-assessments, exit tickets, and class surveys.

After the presentation of the discussant and the demonstration she did, I’ve tried using it and exploring it to see and appreciate its beauty. Using my laptop and my android phone and of course the downloaded Plicker cards, I’ve tried mimicking a classroom scenario. It was hard since I didn’t get real participation from students because it was just a practice but I’ve found out that those cards will be used by the students to have their responses. All they have to do is to rotate the card to give their answer and the instructor will just scan the card to acquire the instant results. As simple as that.

Numerous studies have confirmed the efficacy of heightening student opportunities to respond to growing academically engaged attitudes. When it comes to the reliability of Plickers as an educational tool, there are also existing studies that exposed its splendor. In 2019, David Bradley Kent indicated in his paper that Plickers is an ultimate tool that can be used to engross students of all ages in formative assessment. He further emphasized that it is unique because it can do the assessment by taking technology out of the learner's hands while at the same time, assessing all students at once. In 2017, Morgan G. McCargo conducted a study about the effects of Plickers as response cards on academic engagement behavior in high school students. He hypothesized that the use of it will augment academically engaged behavior class-wide and minimize disorderly behavior among students. Thus, based on these two pieces of literature, we can say that Plickers can help empower student engagement at school.

What I love about Plickers is that is it is so enjoyable and easy to use. It boosts student engagement because no one will be left behind and everybody will be given a chance to stand and deliver. Moreover, it can be done in real-time and it will surely ease your burden in terms of getting the data of your assessments because it can give you automatic feedback. Furthermore, I love the fact that it uses online games and lessons in which it can really help me up as a college instructor, especially that our school is only catering to online learning.

I can’t wait to utilize this tool in the upcoming academic year. I know it will be difficult to orient or train my students to effectively use it because it is very simple to use if we look at the procedures. It is also accessible because it can be used by students of all ages and they don’t need extra efforts or modifications just to participate or be interactive in the class. I am hoping that my plan to use it will be put into action. I will do my best to make my class more engaging and enthusiastic so that my students can appreciate online learning. With the aid of these available applications or tools and with our undying passion for education, we can successfully thrive, prosper, survive, and get out one piece and triumphant from this maze-like predicament!

Google Suite Can Save the Day!

What makes Google dominating and rising? Is it because it controls the cloud? Is it because it powers up everything? Or is it because it is the most superb educational tool nowadays?

Did you know that it is not called Google Apps now? Ladies and gentlemen, let’s pave the way for the Google Suite! It’s creating a revolution in cyberspace because of its massive capabilities and the huge opportunities it brings. One of its servants is Google Forms. This tool helps people to go beyond the office suite. If you’re a teacher, this tool can give you advantages of efficiently doing assessments, especially in this new normal learning environment where most educators find it hard to handle online education. Aside from that, it can also your means to communicate, get feedback, and collaborate with students and colleagues for it will provide you real-time and quick results. If you are a researcher, this is a big hit for you because you don’t need to meet with your respondents in the far-flung areas just to administer your survey questionnaires and experience various risks. Through Google Forms, we can save time, space, effort, and money. It’s your best buddy when you think that the pandemic hits you hard!

I really consider myself a big fan of Google Forms because it can let me do a lot of things. In my work as an educator, I can make use of it to conduct quizzes or exams and give assignments or homework. It can also help me organize webinars and in-house training and symposiums. In fact, libraries nowadays even use Google Forms to acquire feedback from the users aside from using library management systems. It helps me and my students successfully conquer their research despite the restrictions of the pandemic. It can be our remedy in every pandemic’s misery!

Moreover, I also want to emphasize the superiority of the Google Suite as a whole. It is not only free for educational institutions; it can also help them handle gracefully the new normal education because of its known accessibility and functionality. Google Suite awes me so much because of how it effectively facilitates easy interaction, collaboration, learning, and teaching without being problematic in terms of cost and technicality. From the productive or office suite up to the high-end online experiences, Google Suite can really promise you one thing—awesomeness!

As to the existing studies on the usability of Google Suite, most of the results denote the majesty of this online universe. In the paper of E. Romero and colleagues (2018), it was highlighted that Google Suite for Education and ‘Google Universe’ in general is a prevailing group of combined tools that is worth utilizing. It is a boundless option if educators and learners want to work in the most engaging way using collaborative and easy-to-handle tools for enhancing their learning approaches. Aside from this piece of literature, there are massive studies about the Google Suite as an effective tool for teaching and learning. These studies can attest to how exceptional it is.

Definitely, I will continue enjoying the benefits of Google Suite. Without it, I can’t really imagine how things will work accordingly in my life as an educator and a regular individual in the darkest hours of the pandemic. Without it, the world will surely meet its downfall. Yes. It’s not an exaggeration but I think that could happen, especially that there are many learning institutions that rely on its mercy and compassion. I know that there is so much to explore because Google has lots and lots of features. Possibly, it will require so much from us, but one thing is for sure, Google Suite can always save the day!

Photo Credits: https://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1755-real-time-formative-assessment-without-the-need-for-student-devices

https://www.adhesion.co.nz/other/gmail-for-business

 

 

 

 

It's SAMR Time! Quizizz it!

By JVC Abatayo 

    First and foremost, I’d like to like to congratulate the two discussants for the substantial presentations. Last time, they have presented two very interesting and relevant topics which are SAMR and Quizizz. Before we go directly to my realization and introspection about these topics, let us first find out more about their definitions. The first presenter successfully enlightened us about the beauty of the SAMR Model. The acronym SARM stands for the “Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition”. It is actually a model that provides a scheme of considering how computerization and automation positively influence learning and teaching. It emphasizes the significance of educational technology as an important catalyst for enhancing the quality of instruction and how it helps learners and educators progress with the aid of technological tools and advancements. The only concern that we need to consider when dealing with this model is the level of student engagement. However, we can’t deny the fact that computer technology is the trend now and it unstoppably creating huge and significant impacts on our education today.

To be specific, let us understand each level for us to comprehend well. First, the substitution level indicates that the computer technology can be used to perform a task that is better than the traditional or usual ways, just like asking students to print out handouts and submit it afterward. Second, augmentation manifests how computer technology can be an effective tool to do common tasks and from the name itself, it signifies that we can do some improvements to the student experience using technology which also helps increase or empowers learners’ sense of productivity and unleash their full potentials. An example of augmentation is when students will take a certain quiz with the use of Google Form instead of having the typical pencil and paper style. Third, the modification phase encourages us to level up even more by using technology to redesign significant tasks and by transforming or doing a positive change to the design of the lessons and their learning outcomes, just like utilizing a learning management system (ex: Schoology, NEO LMS, Google Classroom, Moodle, Canvas, etc.) to manage the logistical aspects of handling a classroom, just like monitoring the grades of the students, communicating with them, creating calendars and administering assignments. Lastly, the redefinition level speaks about learning that can be essentially renovated at the “redefinition level” which enables activities that we thought are impossible to commence or unimaginable. An example of it is when we use virtual pen pals which allow us to contact others even if they are in remote or fa places or when students can connect with the experts and professionals relevant to what they are doing or what their teachers are asking them to do. A teacher can also do virtual field trips or virtual educational travels or organize a webinar for students who want to learn from specialists.

The second presenter thoroughly discussed Quizizz. From the name itself, it is actually an awesome assessment tool that enables teachers and students to create and utilize one another’s quizzes. It’s actually a user-friendly and accessible tool that provides a haven for teachers to organize and facilitate live contests, quizzes, and assessment tasks, and the students can actively and excitingly participate in the given tasks. By just doing the simple steps like providing the students the access code, they can access afterwards the live quiz or timed competition. After taking the assessment tasks, they can actually review their answers and you, as a teacher can have the compiled data to monitor students’ performances.

In terms of the usability and accessibility of this tool, it has a minimalist layout and the procedures of using it are very easy to follow which is a great thing because it doesn’t overwhelm the users. Another good thing is that you can apply the SAMR Model using Quizizz. Through substitution, the learners can perform a task on the Quizizz instead of having the usual written quizzes. In augmentation, while they are taking the quiz, the students can view their responses and others’ too in which they can compare the results while remaining anonymous. In the modification, they are allowed to quickly review their responses and make some changes before the teacher can give scores. In redefinition, the teachers can have the compiled data of the results in the form of a spreadsheet to analyze the performance of the students and make some changes or decisions afterward, especially if there are topics that need serious attention (University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2021).

When it comes to my experiences, to be honest, it was my first time to hear and learn about SAMR Model. I have never heard about it before. But surprisingly, I have found out that I have been thoughtlessly applying the model in my classes using our learning management system which is the NEO LMS. Through it, we can post in the news feed the important announcements and every student can read them immediately. We can also communicate with them using chat and receive real-time responses and notifications. We can also creatively create classes there by choosing specific designs and augmentations. We can also administer different assessment tasks like online quizzes, offline assignments, team activities, games, dropbox, essays, surveys, debates, SCORM quiz, and google assignments. We can enter content such as texts, images, videos, and animations. We can upload our resources in the lessons corner or store them in the library. We can immediately connect to Google Meet and Zoom without hassle. We can also monitor automatically their grades, progress, and performances. As instructors, we also have the capacity or the authority to manage the settings in case if there needed enhancements or transformations. This LMS is actually considered the world’s best LMS for schools and universities in the Philippines because of its various relevant features.

As to the Quizizz, I only got the chance to experience its amusing functionality when some of my GS classmates in Capitol University introduced it to us and administered pretest and posttest during their topic presentations. Our LMS also has the same functionality but I would honestly say that Quizizz is more straightforward and easier to use. As a College Instructor, possibly I will consider using it in the near future, but as of the moment, I can fully rely on our LMS because of the massive features that we can utilize.

I strongly believe that the SAMR model is very relevant in this time of the pandemic. Indeed, educators need to familiarize and utilize this model to have a smooth-sailing and innovative way of delivering online education without neglecting the students’ welfare and education. Its phases are easy to comprehend because the processes are clearly manifested. What I really love about it is that it can really transform the usual way of learning. It has great and promising outlooks about improving the quality of education and it enables educators to unleash the full potentials of the students. It can heighten their engagements and it can enhance their academic performance in this new normal learning environment. I would also love to say that Quizizz is very useful, especially in this time of the pandemic where some schools don’t have enough budget for learning management systems. Because it is free and user-friendly, everyone can just use this for teaching and learning. The only issue that I can draw about Quizizz is that for me, it’s kind of childish, easy-peasy, or too creative for me. As a college instructor, I would settle for an advanced tool like the learning management systems that can help you administer all types of assessment. However, I still consider Quizziz as an effective backup plan, a fortress, or a source of ammunition when life becomes harder for your institution or when students want to keep it simple and accessible.

Now I will continue what I have been doing and be more obedient to SAMR Model because it clearly can help me get through this labyrinthine situation that all of us are experiencing. It’s a great concept for us to face online education or even flexible learning. I will be more systematic on my assessment tasks by following the SAMR Model so that my online classes will be more engaging, more fruitful, and more interactive. I will harmoniously utilize this model to surpass the traditional way of teaching and learning by substituting, augmenting, modifying, and redistributing what I have and what I can give to my students. I will reflect even more about the very essence of having technology as an important portal for them to go victoriously to their desired future. Also, through Quizizz, I will offer something new to the table so that my students can have another exciting learning experience that is different from the usual. Furthermore, I will also share these new pieces of facts and information with my colleagues so that they can also consider other paradigms that will help them shape or transform effectively and efficiently their teaching practices. All of us deserve to rise from the ashes that is why with the help of this model and with the aid of the different technological tools and advancements, we can do more and be more in this new normal education. I know it sounds like a cliché but it clearly brings all the thought and reality of what we are experiencing right now.

Photo Credits: 

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5f436498a2392b001b9c9b86/quizizz-youve-been-invited-to-a-quiz-game

https://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html

 

The Cure for Education During the Pandemic: A Reflection

By JVC Abatayo

We are not defeated yet and this pandemic can’t stop us from empowering learning and literacy for I believe that we, educators, are still fighting amidst the constrictions we experience, and with this misfortune, we are still determined and fervent to go beyond our limitations because we desire to uplift academic excellence, research development, and community success despite the scorching setbacks. As a student pursuing Doctor of Philosophy, major in Educational Management, I am so grateful for the action-packed and adventuresome learning experience in our subject, Management of Instructional Program, and with the guidance of our dynamic and benevolent professor, I have imbibed pieces of information and bits of fact about this domain.

The topics that struck me the most when it comes to the management of the Instructional Program are educational technology and online facilitation because they are very relevant in the new normal education. First, I really find the topic about supervision and administration of educational technology very enthralling because it clearly emphasizes the significance of technology in easing the burdens or adversities that we are facing because this pandemic really disrupts everything in the field of education. I know that through technological advancement we can still deliver quality education without neglecting the well-being of our teachers and learners. This also calls for the right time to embrace automation and computerization so that we can be flexible in giving instruction and in managing the classroom without being problematic about the hitches. Second, I strongly believe that online facilitation is also a top priority because we are now espousing online distance learning as part of the flexible learning modality and if we have enough knowledge about it, we can ensure that there will be effective and efficient interactive learning activities, especially if we are already familiar in utilizing the available ICT tools, facilities, and systems that can help us get out from the labyrinthine challenges that this pandemic has brought to us. Thus, being an educational leader in times of the pandemic requires you to be adept in planning and implementing policies and programs significant to educational technology and online facilitation.

To sum it up, as educational leaders, we need to be proactive in working on our responsibilities even if it is quite difficult to find the light at the end of the tunnel. We need to think that investing in education means that you need to do the best that you can just to maintain its eminence even if there are problems along the way. By having a positive and rich mindset that we are not yet defeated because we can still build an indestructible fortress by utilizing educational technology to aid learning and master online facilitation with fervor and dedication, we can still stand firm and reach the highest peak and find a cure for education during the pandemic.