Nagdesisyon ang pamunuan ng Unibersidad na magbaba ng presyo sa mga ebooks matapos umani ng batikos ang kanilang plano na gawing requirement ang paggamit ng iPad bilang kapalit ng mga tradisyonal na textbooks.

Sinabi ng pamunuan ng Senior High School sa isang liham na inilabas noong ika-2 ng Agosto na kanilang nauunawaan na ang mandatoryong paggamit ng iPad ay dagdag gastusin kung kaya’t magbibigay sila ng 40 bahagdan bawas sa mga ebooks.

Matatandaang inanunsyo ng pamunuan ang mandatoryong paggamit ng mga mag-aaral ng Garde 11 ng e-books noong nakaraang buwan.

Iminungkahi rin ng pamunuan na maaring bumili ng iPad, na gagamitin upang mabuksan ang mga ebook, ang mga estudyante mula sa paaralan.

Ang mga iPad na maaring bilhin sa paaralan ay nagkakahalaga mula P13,490-P24,990. Samantala, ang anim na e-books na kakailanganin ng bawat academic strand ay nagkakahalaga ng mahigit P2,000.

Ito ay umani ng samu’t-saring batikos mula sa mga estudyante at magulang.

” It is more convenient than carrying heavy books every day to school…What disappoints me is the late announcement…. the administration should have announced about it earlier so that we would have more time to prepare and save up for the said device,” ani Jillian Bueno, estudyante mula sa Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics strand.

“Mam [Assoc. Prof. Pilar I. Romero, Phd], I, for one don’t like my son to use the e-book. It is still better to study using the printed book. In one of the seminar (sic) I attended, the speaker had a study of his students. The students [bring] with [them their] iPad, and nagpicpicture (sic) lang ng mga lessons sa board, [so] less [chance] to pass the exams because there is no retention of memory unlike writing down notes and reading while taking down notes has the higher percentage (sic) in passing the exams. And the more motor skills [are] being develop[ed],” ani Barbie Agullo sa kanyang komento sa unang inilabas na anunsyo ng pamunuan sa kanilang Facebook page.

Ang nasabing anunsyo ay tinanggal ng pamunuan sa social media pagkalipas ng ilang araw.

Ayon sa bagong liham,  ang paggamit ng technology-based learning ay  para isulong ang mga innovative pedagogies katulad ng paggamit ng e-books, real-time assessment, interactive lectures at participatory activities upang makasabay ang mga estudyante sa pangangailangan ng modernong panahon.

Paliwanag ng pamunuan, “The use of innovative pedagogies is line with our vision of providing our students with cutting edge advantage over students coming from other schools.”

Dagdag nila, maaring bilhin sa labas ang nasabing device. Ngunit pinaalalahanan nila ang mga mag-aaral na tanggalin ang ibang applications kung mayroon na silang sariling tablet upang mailagay ang mga kailangan na libro at learning applications.

Ginagalang naman ng mga opisyal ang desisyon ng mga magulang kung  nais pa rin nilang gumamit ng nakasanayang texbooks pero isinisulong pa rin nila ang kalamangan ng paggamit ng teknolohiya.

“If you believe that traditional books fit your purpose, we can accede to your preference, although we are strongly recommending the use of tablets because of their obvious advantage for your son/daughter.”

Noong 2011, ilang paaralan na sa bansa ang gumagamit ng tablet education gaya ng La Salle Greenhills, De La Salle Zobel Santiago Alabang, Miriam College, St. Paul Surigao, at Meridian International College. – W.Orlina

The 2016 Philippine elections is the latest social media phenomenon to have Twitter’s special emojis.

Partnering with the social media platform and the online news site Rappler, the Comission on Elections (COMELEC) launched custom emojis for the 2016 polls earlier this morning, Friday.

#PHVote and #PiliPinas

The emojis, each bearing the likeness of the five presidential candidates, can be accessed by Twitter users by simply tweeting with the hashtag #PHVote followed by the surname of the respective presidential aspirant, namely: Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Grace Poe, and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

COMELEC chairman Andy Bautista said that the emojis are “geared to inspire Filipinos to engage their opinions via Twitter.”

Another emoji bearing COMELEC’s official logo for the 2016 elections was also launched for the #PiliPinas hashtag. The said logo and emoji, depicting a hand dropping a ballot superimposed upon the Philippine flag, is meant to represent “a vote for the Philippines,” according to COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez.

Thomasian netizens react

Reactions to the emojis have been mostly positive.

Jefferson Buctot, a freshman from the Faculty of Arts and Letters, has taken advantage of the newly-launched emojis to show support for his presidential bet. Although not yet a voter, he says that the gimmick is “updated” and appeals to young voters.

“Nakakatuwa siya [the emojis] on one side pero, at the same time, unconsciously din na nakakapagbigay siya ng awareness for everyone and nakaka-encourage siya [to vote],” Buctot added.

Another freshman, Anthony Laigo from the College of Rehabilitation Sciences found the emojis “cute” and gave the presidential candidates more impact than a normal tweet or text.

Emojis or emoticons – small graphic characters meant to represent or replace written ideas and expressions – have become a staple of communication in social media. Aside from a universally recognized set of emoji characters, Twitter has often launched numerous custom and embedded emojis to coincide with various occasions such as the release of films and music videos, sports games, as well as other trending events.