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Bloggers’ Kapihan 2.0: Blog Ed 101 was perhaps one of the most interesting forums I’ve ever attended.

The program started late and there were some technical glitches, but the show went on. Prof. Danny Arao of the Department of Journalism in UP CMC discussed how blogging and web sites can be an integral part in alternative education. Some interesting points made are the following:

• New media and journalism should be taught in a multimedia perspective
• Strike balance in concepts and skills (both writing and web authoring)
• Temper excitement and acknowledge the limited reach of the internet
• Importance of the traditional media should not be downplayed

Different forms of media have their own characteristics and advantages:

• print - permanence
• radio - immediacy
• TV - audio-visual
• new media - convergence

Sir Arao has also shared some of his experiences in teaching his classes, and examples of web pages created by his former students. An average of 6 hours is enough to teach his students the basics of HTML. The shortage of computer units has never been a hindrance; he rents computers in shops for his students if the need arises. And his former students are a bunch of geniuses.

They made pun of Sir Arao’s name. Bungang Arao and Mga Isyu sa Ilalim ng Arao tickled the funny bone of the audience. I had actually seen those sites last year, when I stumbled upon Sir Arao’s blog. Pang-asar, haha!

Sir Martin Perez was a blogger first before he became a teacher in Philippine Science High School. He told the story of how he made his transition to a teacher-blogger, and how the disruptions cause by the new media affected his students. He noted that, with the internet as a source of information, students have become more impatient with their classes and expect their teachers to come up with a quick answer for all their questions, which were not covered in their syllabus in the first place. You can read the full text of his speech on his blog.

Through an education student’s perspective, Lalon dela Rosa shared some of his thoughts and plans as a future educator in the country.

I will be writing a separate post about Mr. Tonchi Tinio’s talk about Department of Education’s Cyber Education Project.

Overall, the forum was as informative as it was fun. I enjoyed listening to the speakers, and hey, I even took notes on a post-it (think) pad I got from Lipton.

A list of the talks given by the speakers are posted on the Bloggers’ Kapihan website. See also some pictures and the post-BK entries.