“’Make Dreams Real’ is this Rotary Year’s theme. We can make sure that this dream which has been a long-time one for the three Rotary Clubs in California, Makati and Pasig will begin to become real this year.”
by Ducky Paredes
The harsh realities of Philippine education is that we have a lot of students and an inadequate number of teachers, books, and classrooms. There are 17 million students and 2 million new Grade One pupils every year.
The results are not promising. Literacy rates need improvement. Most of our graduates – even those who finish college — use bad grammar and have poor pronunciation of English words.
Why is this? Government funding is a perennial problem and 70% of 420,000 teachers feel that they are not proficient enough in the English language.
One solution to this may be the Megumi Reader, a joint International Service Project of three Rotary Clubs — R.C. Los Altos Sunset of District 5170 in California, R.C. Makati Bonifacio of District 3830 and R.C. Pasig of District 3800.
The Megumi Reader is an electronic reader using the latest in information technology. The Megumi is portable, durable, programmable, dynamic for various Grade levels and relatively inexpensive,
The technical specifications are: Off-the-shelf device, originally intended as a Multimedia Player; CPU: Intel PXA255; Display: 3.8″ touch screen LCD; Flash: 32MB; RAM: 32MB; I/O: 2 mini-USB, 2 Audio ports; Expansion: Compact Flash Slot; Power: AC/DC 9V with rechargeable battery pack (life is 2 hrs. when fully charged).
The Megumi Reader is a special electronic book that is intended to be a sophisticated teaching tool. It is designed to contain all of the text books needed for elementary education of a child from kindergarten to Grade 6, and possibly even up to high school.
The prototype was developed by a Philippine team over a short period of just a few months. A special concern of the prototype team was to make sure that the reader could not be converted by some nascent evil genius to use as a play station. It is, however, still an very interesting device.
Oral parts of the lessons may be heard through earphones or amplified speakers.
The Megumi would contain all texts required from Grades I to VI. With all these in the Megumi, the student can find anything by using the easy references of the page and word index. Lessons would be presented in form, structure and sequence as prescribed by the DepEd with exercises and tests included.
The Megumi would be bi-lingual (English, Pilipino and even other dialects). It would have graphically illustrated stories and would also have an AM/FM radio.
Press the caption Book Reading, and an illustrated short story will appear. Through the earphone, the child will hear the story read slowly, with every word enhanced or underlined as it is read. The plan is to have many short stories using words that the child is trying to learn. Children’s songs and humorous anecdotes will appear in this section and will be heard through the earphone.
Story Telling is started by pressing on its caption, and the story of Ibong Adarna appears.
Press the title, and the story begins, narrated through the headphone in Filipino.
Press the English button, and the narration in English will be heard. The story may be heard by the child in either language as many times as he or she may want.
Megumi Reader stories will show respect for social values in everyday settings as well as teach vocabulary and good conduct.
Click on Word Pronunciation and Megumi Reader shows all the letters in the alphabet. By tapping on a letter, samples of pictures with the correct pronunciation of the object is illustrated.
It will also have Arithmetic lessons. The child is presented with an illustrated problem: 4 pineapples plus 1 pineapple equal how many pineapples?
If the child chooses the wrong answer, the reader will show what the answer should have been.
What is expected is that the child will recognize letters and numbers, read and correctly pronounce words, understand simple sentences in English and Pilipino and be able to do simple addition and subtraction.
Other significant benefits include the possibility of parents and elder siblings supervising learning with the Megumi at home, thereby supporting and enhancing classroom learning.
The Megumi Reader will also relieve teachers of tiresome chores like preparing test questions, correcting papers, and talking continuously.
When will all this happen and when will everyone of our 17 million schoolchildren have a Megumi in their schoolbags? I do not know the answer but “Make Dreams Real” is this Rotary Year’s theme.
We can make sure that this dream which has been a long-time one for the three Rotary Clubs in California , Makati and Pasig will begin to become real this year.
* * *
The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (North Sector) will conduct Family Encounter No. 9 for participating and servant families in Tagaytay this October. To finance the cost of supplies and accommodations for the Family Encounter Weekend, the sponsoring class decided to conduct a painting exhibit “Art for A Stronger Family, Part 3” beginning at 5:30 this afternoon, July 26 until August 2, 2008 at the Garden of the Divine Word inside Christ the King Mission Seminary on 1101 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City.
The works of famous Filipino artists, including Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Tam Austria, Angelito Antonio, Norma Belleza, Eliezer Dimaculangan, Jamie Kwong and Rico Doronio — will be up for sale. The exhibit will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.
If interested to know more, call Dr. Leo Gonzales at 0922836253 or Win Gonzales at 833-7037.
* * *
“Education is the key to national progress and personal development, and literacy is the needed first step to education. Yet millions of children in many places are allowed to grow to adulthood without that equipment they need to live a full life. The Megumi Reader is being developed to help them get their rightful share of life.” — M.A.T. Caparas, President, Rotary International 1986-1987 and prime-mover of the Rotary Megumi Reader Project.
# # # #
hvp 07.24.08)
Post a Comment