Day 59: Community Quarantine

     ABS- CBN- I heard that 13 senators filed a bill giving the network a temporary provisionary franchise until June 30, 2022.

   What is this? I am not pro ABS nor am I anti ABS, I am pro sanity. This provisional franchise is insane. If congress and the Senate are against the shutdown as ordered by the NTC, and are for the continued operation of the network, then approve the franchise bill. That's it. Fine. Done.

    Why prolong the drama?  Why the two years? A period to think about it? Isn't six years enough? 

     If they are for closing down the network for whatever reasons, then do it. Close it down. Fine. Done.

    The Lopez subsidiary has been lobbying both chambers for six years to get their license granted yet nothing happened. The bills are shelved for reasons that are not really reasonable. The franchise expired and NTC released a ceases and desist order, no franchise no broadcast.

    The network, maybe tired of being passed around played like a ball, has finally filed a case before the supreme court.

   Out of respect for the legal process, it's time for the legislators to keep quiet and let the interpreter of the law decide.

     I think many politicians are taking their time, enjoying the networks predicament. They are secretly revelling at it. It's the revenge they longed for, but at the same time they also know that it is short lived. They can not legally deny the franchise because there never were reasons to. 

   It's a game. Everyone in government is in on it. The network knows that they are being power tripped on by the people that they have offended in the past.

    The network is not immaculate. I think it's also time for ABS-CBN to avoid dipping its hands into politics especially elections. Media are reporters, not king makers.

   As for me, with or without. I have Netflix.

   WEBINAR- Yesterday was the first day of our webinar on Open Educational Resources (OER).  The first topic was an instructional class on Kotobee Author, an E- Book app.

   It's not that difficult to learn because the menu icons are similar with those from Windows office apps and the lay out of the controls are not that far off either. Maybe the designers of these apps have some sort of architecture that they follow, like in how the hardwares are laid out. 

   It may take time to get the hang of it,  but it is intuitive and there are condensed instructional videos available on Youtube for reference. 

   It's just a software. It is garbage in, garbage out. The teachers' training and skills in writing and contextualizing learning materials is still what counts.

    CLASSROOM- Given the choice between teaching in the physical classroom and the on-line classroom, I am inclined to opt for the former. Of course the chances of catching the virus is high but I am more concerned that the clearly defined demarcation between work and home will disappear with online teaching.

   The home is the inner sanctum and should not be violated.

   Of course, I can say this because my work is about ten minutes away ride from home, but if I were working in Makati or Manila, I would definitely be saying the opposite.

   GET ME OUT OF THIS TRAFFIC, I WANT TO WORK AT HOME!

Day 48: Community Quarantine

WEBINAR II- I was listening to a webinar on digital self paced learning and as the speaker was spewing out technical data and jargons, my head was trying to wrap itself on the "now" reality that the educational system has come out of the classroom and into the electronic, wireless, and virtual arena. 

   There were mentions of AI, VR, AR and a host of other acronyms and technical jargons that I find difficult to assimilate, how much more memorize and digest.  

    The migration from a traditional, structured and standardized delivery and assessment of learning to a personalized, self paced learning and targetted assessment (from managed learning to experiential learning) is happening now albeit too early and the department is poorly prepared at the magnitude of it. The pandemic is the catalyst that hastened the process.

   The lockdown forced the Deped into implementing limited distance e-learning (forced prematurely, may I say) with only a very small population of the learners participating primarily due to lack of access to hardwares and internet services .

    I thought that it would take the Philippines a decade or so to adapt to the changes being seen in the more advanced countries where learning are already a hybridof traditional and internet based. 

     But it is the start of the retooling of the educational system to adapt to the paradigm shifts dictated by covid 19. There is no returning to the old traditional ways. 

   It is urgent to speed up the transition.

 My thinking was that it would come after my retirement, but it was not to be.

   As a teacher, I am thinking what will happen to the teacher-learner relationship. Will it stop being interpersonal and relational and go into a virtual and detached service and client relationship?

    What does it  mean to me, how can I adapt? I am a non digital native and learning all the technical stuffs from acronyms to apps to hardwares is overloading my brain. 

    It's a brave new world, though a little old compared with to rest of the world.

  ( Btw,  I don't know what I'm talking about here. Just thinking out loud )

       ZOMBIE- I am not able to get a good night sleep. My body clock is going haywire. The circadian rhythm is slowly being thrown off time by afternoon naps, dormancy,  and the general lack of scheduled and directed activities.

     I wake up at around 6, used to be that at four in the morning I am already up and alert. Go outside to buy food. Stared at the teenaged vegetable vendor for a couple of minutes.

   Feeling conscious at my stare, she asks what it is I need. I reply, "wait,  thinking".

   After getting food, I walk around the street aimlessly looking around at the facemasked people thinking or trying not to think that this will be the new normal.

   This is the start of the new 15 day extension.