Not all of us parents are comfortable tutoring our kids. I remember the time I spent tutoring my kids. While they were away at school, I was making reviewers for them to answer as part of their daily practice. Math was one of the hardest to make reviewers for. Making Math problems took twice as long because I needed to think up different Math problems, then solve them to make sure the solutions would actually work. It was exhausting work!
As a long-time advocate of, and resource speaker on, digital citizenship, I welcomed the recent collaboration of Globe Telecom, Facebook, and the Department of Education (DepEd) to continue bringing awareness of responsible digital citizenship to public and private schools nationwide, for both teachers and students.
(L-R) Globe Senior Vice President Nikko Acosta, DQ representative Galvin Ngo, Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu, Facebook Head of Community Affairs in Asia Pacific Clair Deevy and DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali
Why is digital citizenship even more important now
As of end-2017, there are now over 60 million internet users. That is 60% of the populace! 52.2 million of the 60 million, roughly half of the entire Philippine population, is mobile, spending over 3 hours on it daily. A Philippine National Police (PNP) report also showed that half of internet users are 17 years old and below.
An international think-tank formed in association with the World Economic Forum, the DQ Institute, revealed in its inaugural 2018 DQ Global Impact Report that 56% of kids aged 8-12 years old worldwide who are online, are exposed to cyber risks. A study of the Philippine internet situation in that report shows that 73% of Filipino children are exposed to cyber risks, the second highest in a study among 29 countries.
My son graduated today from Ateneo. He is the last of my kids to do so.
I attended the Baccalaureate Mass this morning. Unlike the past graduations of my kids, the program for the Baccalaureate already includes the Commencement Address. In past graduations I attended, two different commencement speakers spoke on the 2 graduation days.
Batch 2017’s Commencement Speaker was Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, an Atenean herself. In his introductory remarks, Ateneo President Fr. Jett Villarin, S.J. told us that Chief Justice Sereno was his classmate in Philo 103.
Chief Justice Sereno said that she already had a prepared speech that, in her words, was “more lighthearted and general”. But with martial law being declared in Mindanao, she discarded that speech and made this one. I am glad she did. It was powerful, moving, and inspiring!
One of the biggest mistakes I have made in my working life was to approve the hiring of someone who came from one of the top 3 desired schools by employers and who graduated Cum Laude. One red flag during the interview which I noticed (but mistakenly ignored) was the fact that this person kept asking what the salary would be. Rather than be mindful of possible implications of that kind of work attitude, I went ahead and recommended the person for hiring, thinking that grades reflected a higher level of intelligence that would compensate for a self-interest attitude.
WRONG!!! Not only was the person totally wrong for the job required but I found myself either re-doing or completing tasks assigned. What my instincts told me about a self-interest attitude became even more evident as time went on. I was actually relieved when the person eventually resigned.
What does that story have to do with you, my dear college graduates? There used to be a saying: “It’s one thing to GET a job; it’s another thing to be able to KEEP it“. But if I were to go by a recent Jobstreet.com survey, you probably won’t even get hired, in the first place, unless you bear the right kind of work attitude that employers are looking for.
A total of 550 companies that used Jobstreet.com to select interviewees submitted their responses to a survey. Read carefully what the survey reveals.
In a world where technology has become an integral part of one’s life, the academe is also searching and sharing ways to enhance learning. I spent a late afternoon in Xavier School to be part of the get-together of tech integrators from different schools who came together to share how different apps they use are integrated with the subject matter they teach.
Who would ever have imagined it! My whole life, school always began in June and ended in March. But starting 2014, some schools will be shifting academic calendar by beginning in August and ending in May.
The first to announce the change is the University of the Philippines, which will implement the new academic calendar with the 2014-15 school year in the following constituent units: UP Manila, UP Los Baños, UP Baguio, UP Visayas (all campuses: Iloilo, Miag-ao, and Tacloban), UP Open University, and UP Cebu, according to this Rappler article. But did you notice the list still hasn’t included UP Diliman (UPD)? It appears more consultation is needed with UPD’s stakeholders, which they will be doing in the coming weeks.
