Tech | MagandangBalita.com

How about a school that you can take anywhere? As long as there is a computer that can read a flash disk, you can.

In a post about a big dream, several ideas were presented for a free elearning school. A commenter wisely asked what I have been doing since that time. Though there were some advances made in the areas of networking and knowledge build-up, there were significant manifestations of progress.

Until now.

Last Saturday, I made a presentation about entitled e-Learning: Open, Free and Portable. Here is a short summary.

About 10 years ago, e-Learning existed. The main problem then was the use of expensive software and proprietary content. Almost always, budget was a constraint.

Fast forward to 2008.

e-Learning is Free. The proliferation of free and open-source software has benefited all sectors of society, including and most specially education. While commercial tools are also available, dependable and arguably affordable, there exists a whole gamut of no-cost applications downloadable and free. Even support and help can be had from the forums and communities. The following “suite” can already create engaging content.
Moodle - Learning Management System
GIMP - Image Editing
WINK - Screen Capture
Audacity - Audio Recording and Editing
Though varying degrees of expertise and skills are needed, the mere availability of the software is an enabler to developing countries like ours.

e-Learning is Open. The internet has made available an abundance of knowledge never before seen in our history. With a click of a mouse, millions of pages worth of information is freely available. With MIT leading the way in sharing their resources through the MIT Open Course Ware project, many universities have followed suit. There are some projects that I know of commissioned by CHED which will be released through a similar vehicle. The people behind Wikipilipinas are to embarking on a repository of OER (something I wanted to do with eLearningport.com, which will now become a connector of sorts).
With content being open and shared, education can now be a distributed faster, better and more efficiently.

eLearning is Portable. Internet access, or rather the lack of it, is one of the barriers to eLearning. While doing eLearning online clearly has great benefits, it may be necessary to develop courses that do not need connection to the web, or at least constant connection.

School inside!

eLearning is portable, Now, you can put your school in a flash disk.

The point that I wanted to get across was really the last one. Instead of using a presentation software for by visuals, I used Moodle in a USB drive. I got StickyMoodle from VLEMiddleware which packaged all the requirements for a Moodle installation.

A portable school. School in a flash. Education in your pocket. Learning with a stick.

What a concept!

Wouldn’t it be great if those who couldn’t go to regular school be able to have the chance to get an education too?

Filed under Bright Ideas, TEaCHandLEARN, Tech

Many friends and acquaintances frequently ask me for advise when they think of buying a computer. I have basically two questions: How much is your budget and What would you use it for. The rest are just details.

With ultra-mobile portable computers (UMPC) getting popular, the questions still remain the same.

At the Philippine launch of the Asus Eee PC 900 at the Makati Shangrila (May 12, 2008), we got a first glimpse of the big brother of the highly-popular Asus Eee PC 701.

Some interesting notes: 4 GB plus 12 (Windows) or 16 (Xandros) GB SSD, multi-touch trackpad, 1.3M pixel camera, weighing around 0.99 kg, at PHP 24,990.00. As confirmed by Ethan Hung, Asus Regional Marketing Manager, (who graciously sat with us and answered our questions while we were having lunch and he wasn’t) units will be available in stores this week. Just in time for the new school year, if I might add.

There will be accessories, riding on the popularity of the line ala iPod. I think they won’t be pricey, though.
The Asus Eee PC 900 is being marketed as a “girl or student gadget” but men and geeks will also be enticed to give it a second look. It also helps that Asus have opened up a Philippine office. I think I also heard that they also have a service center, too.

Going back to the questions: If you have 25k and would do internet surfing, research and use productivity software on the go, the Asus Eee PC 900 is a good buy.

Thanks to First Tier Brands for the invite.

Shout out to Leah and Aldrin, Abe, Arnold, Eugene, Reggie, Jhay and Racquel (of PDI?).

Filed under Tech

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