2 VSU faculty passed ICDL exam

Visayas State University (VSU) is an implementing university of the iSchools Project of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

Being a partner school, VSU be sent two instructors from the Department of Computer Science and Technology (DCST) to take the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) exam. It is an Open Source exam that costs around 3,150.00 pesos.

Mr. Michael Jay Anthony B. Regis and Mr. Jude B. Rola took the exam in Carlos Hilado Memorial State College in Negros Occidental on June 20. It they pass, they can be hired as lecturers for the series of trainings that the iSchools project has in store for its recipients.

On July 15, the announcement was made and luckily, they passed the exam.

Currently, VSU has just opened classes for SY 2010-2011. Although the two instructors will be away from their classes, the university made sure that before they left and took the exams, lessons, exercises or assignments are left for the students to work on.

Compromise is always done between VSU and with the iSchools project management. Afterall, these persons are teachers first before they are part of the iSchools project.

VSU in full support with the iSchools Project

The successs of a project lies on the hands of those who implement it.

It is true. Visayas State University (VSU) can attest to it. VSU has been an implementing university for the iSchools Project since 2007. Part of being an implementing university, VSU team is to attend different capability building seminar to be better prepared for training rollout.

One of these many capability building seminar is the ICT Literacy Conference for Teachers. Currently, the conference is held in Crown Royale, City of Balanga, Bataan. It kicked off July 2 and will end on July 5.

The participants from VSU sent are from the Department of Computer Science and Technology (DCST):
* Winston M. Tabada
* Marionito J. Gonzales
* Jude B. Rola
* Michael Anthony Jay B. Regis
* Magdalene C. Unajan

Despite the fact that classes have started and these faculties from DCST will be missing their classes, still, VSU allowed them to attend the conference. It is of course with the agreement that classes are properly co-ordinated despite their absence.

That is why, iSchools Project in VSU is in good hands.

DCST Hosted web development workshop

The Department of Computer Science and Technology (DCST) hosted the 3-day open source web development training cum workshop. Dr. Alan Loreto, Executive Secretary, gave the rationale of the training during the opening program on June 2.

Mr. Marionito J. Gonzales, an instructor of the department and Open Source Technical Expert (OSTE) for the VSU-iSchools Project, served as the resource person. He provided the participants with the necessary skills on content management for Visayas State University (VSU) website using Joomla.

The training was intended to bring life back to the ‘almost dead’ university website. It has almost been a year since VSU went offline.

VSU has selected representatives from the different colleges / centers to provide the content of the university website. 
-College of Agriculture
-College of Education
-College of Engineering and Agri-industries
-College of Forestry and Natural Resources
-College of Veterinary Medicine
-College of  Nursing
-College of Arts and Sciences
-College of Economics and Management
-VSU Alang-alang
-VSU Villaba
-VSU Tolosa
-VSU Isabel
-PhilRootCrops
-National Abaca Research Center
-National Coconut Research Center
-FARMI
-ISRDS

Currently, the website can be viewed in this address: www.vsu.edu.ph. The overhaul of the website is not yet done but at least, change has begun.

VSU personnel attended web development workshop

Workshop in progress

(DCST-VSU, June 2-4, 2010) - The selected college/center representatives working to bring a fresh look for the university website. With Mar Gonzales (up front) as the resource person and Dale Loreto, member of the VSU web development team, helping the participants.ne but at least, change has begun.

Quality education from a distance

Profile story for Hilaan National High School, Bontoc, Southern Leyte

“Five peso more and you are will already reach heaven.”

This is a cliché common to most of the schools located in the mountainous part of the Philippines. With schools in this areas, one could say heaven is almost at the tip of their fingers. One of these schools is Hilaan National High School (HNHS) in Bontoc, Southern Leyte.

Despite the 18-km distance from the highway, HNHS has 358 enrollees where majority of the students still excel academically. Even though it costs almost 100 pesos for the motorcycle fare, HNHS actively participates in the secondary activities organized by Department of Education (DepEd). They do not just participate, they also win.

The distance and the road going to HNHS is both a curse and a blessing. A curse because of the bumpy ride, the rocky roads and the apparent danger because of the cliff on the road sides. Passing through these roads is sometimes next to impossible if there is a heavy rain downpour. At the same time, most of the teachers of HNHS consider the distance as a “blessing” instead.

The location of Hilaan National High School subjects HNHS to be exempted of periodic visits from the regional office of DepEd. Being exempted means lesser expenses and lesser class interruptions as observed by the students and teachers alike. Even though they often get exempted, it does not mean that the quality of their education is of less quality compared to those schools from the city.

In addition to proving the fact that distance is not a hindrance to quality education, HNHS has been chosen as a recipient school of the iSchools project. This project of President Gloria Arroyo is being implemented by the Commission of Information and Communication Technology (CICT) in partnership with the different state universities and colleges of the country. The project gives twenty one computers to the recipient school and an internet connection.

With the internet connection and the state-of-the-art computers given by the iSchools project, HNHS will now be more connected with world. It will not just encourage the students to do better; it will also improve the quality of education.

HNHS, being a recipient of the iSchools project, implementing and sustaining the project itself needs strong leadership to guide the school in this big opportunity. HNHS is lucky to have Ms. Evangeline Maraon as their head teacher. She does not just have the convincing power of a saleswoman; she also has this strong connection with the local government officials. It helps a lot to have a strong rapport especially in asking for financial support. HNHS is also gifted with dedicated and talented teachers.

Strong leader, dedicated teachers and students that excel: these are just but some of the assets of Hilaan National High School. These assets help HNHS to prove to the world that despite the distance, quality education is still at reach. Just like the cliché that heaven is at the tip of the fingertips, so is quality education for HNHS.