TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - As an electronic flash fires, Rick Hill issues instructions: "Hold it. A little more this way. Perfect. Hold it."
Mr. Hill is operating a digital camera. His friend David Hughes is manipulating a model on a metal table. The model is a three-pound fetal pig.
The program shows a pig fetus on a dissection table, with surgical instruments and marked with a laser beam crosshair.
Mr. Hughes and Mr. Hill, both 37, spent a week dissecting the fetal pig in a makeshift lab attached to Mr. Hill's garage near Tampa, taking thousands of photos.
They then turned those images into a computer program that permits users - mostly high school students - to simulate the fetal pig dissection. Point-and-click versions of scalpels, scissors and even saws allow students to find, remove and examine organs without ever smelling formaldehyde. Hundreds of schools, which are already using software as an alternative to animal dissection will receive the fetal pig module later this month. Other companies including Biolab, Digital Frog and DryLab also offer dissection software.
Nearly a dozen states have laws or regulations requiring public schools to offer students such an option. Animal protection groups have lobbied against dissection and many students have decided that dissecting real animals is not for them.
Mr. Hill said that he and Mr. Hughes, whose six-year-old company is called Froguts, are "on the fence" about whether students should be required to dissect. "We're providing a tool for people to use if they want it," he said.
In 1999, Mr. Hill's stepdaughter, Erin, who was then 11, dissected a frog in school. "About a week later, when I asked her questions, she had a hard time describing the organs in detail," said Mr. Hill, then a high school science teacher. That got him thinking about how he might simulate the dissection experience, in a format that allows users to repeat procedures and then review what they have done - and, he said, "without wasting another batch of frogs."
The men are going for verisimilitude. When they decide to use a tiny rotary saw to remove the top portion of the pig's skull, they add a similar saw - in icon form - to the tool kit in their program.
"If there was a USB device that would let us simulate the smell," Mr. Hughes joked, "we'd use it."
The company sends to subscribing schools compact discs with virtual dissections of six organisms. The fetal pig will be the company's first mammal, and the two men are excited about it. They spent a day examining the animal's exterior, then skinning it.
"We want to do a neat job," Mr. Hughes said. Along the way, they "sexed" the pig, looking for a scrotum or genital papillae - and making notes so that students could repeat the procedure.
Of course, each organism is unique, Mr. Hughes said. One of the things students get out of actual dissections, he said, is the realization that the pig in front of them is different from any other pig. "Theirs will never look exactly like the one in the textbook."
That is lost with virtual dissection.
But for students who will not dissect, they say, there is more to gain than to lose from a computer simulation. "Teachers say, 'We've been looking for a way out of dissection, and you've given it to us,' " Mr. Hughes said.
Source: Bernstein, FA. "An On-Screen Alternative to Hands-On Dissection." The New York Times. Published: October 4, 2005 5-8-2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04diss.html?ex=1286078400&en=90b58c0ef63e92a3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
THE TECHNICAL Education Development and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is developing its first software development and animation training curricula to be implemented in two new IT training centers this month. Co-developed by TESDA with the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc, (ACPI) the training curricula are for basic to intermediate learners, part of TESDA’s human resource capacity building for the growing Philippine software development and animation industries. The two new training centers were built as part of a 5 million-dollar Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) program to help build Philippine human resources. The first KOICA-funded training center is in Quezon City, the second in Bulacan. TESDA IT program director Maria Susan dela Rama said in an interview that TESDA initially worked with the ACPI and PSIA to know what their requirements were in hiring new employees. “They had specific needs and so we had to come up with learning courses that will fast track the skills capabilities of those wanting to enter into these professions, especially since the software development and animation industries are already growing really fast,” dela Rama said. In addition, she said, the agency would follow up the development of new curricula for the contact center and medical transcription industries. De la Rama pointed out that TESDA does not intend to compete with schools that already have curricula in software development and animation but will augment existing skills and prepare potential employees for work in software companies and animation houses.
Source: Villafania, Alexander. "TESDA developing animation, software development curricula." Inq7.Net. Feb 19, 2006 Updated 02:22pm (Mla time). 2-20-2006. http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20060219-66698.xml.html
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I TOTALLY agree on reinstating English as the medium of instruction at all school levels in order to make Filipinos more competitive in the global economy. Here in Australia, English language education is a billion-dollar industry and the Australian government is very supportive in making sure that the industry is well taken care of.
A lot of Asian students from South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Mongolia come here to Australia to study English. Even students from as far as Eastern Europe come here just to study English. Aside from the benefit of learning English, the European students love the Australian environment, climate, beaches, and the diversity of Australian society.
I remember reading an article that in the 1960s and '70s students from Asian countries who wanted to learn English went to the Philippines to study. However, because of the deteriorating English and negative news on the Philippines, such as on the security and political problems, English language students from Asian countries were discouraged about going to the Philippines.
I hope that our beloved congressmen and senators and Executive officials, and the Filipino people in general, will have an open mind about reinstating English as the medium of instruction because it would have an exponential effect on the Philippine economy, specifically in job creation. By doing so, we will allow the Philippines to take a bigger market share of the billion-dollar industry of English language education. Furthermore, it will allow the billion-dollar call centers and BPO sector to grow in the Philippines.
DANNY DELGADO, 6/ 55 Shirley Road, Wollstonecraft, NSW, Australia (via e-mail)
Labor group bats for English as medium of instruction (Jan. 27, 2006)
Source: Delgado, Danny. "English language education is billion-dollar industry." Inq7Express. Feb 01, 2006 Updated 06:23am (Mla time). 2-2-2006. http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20060201-64765.xml.html
LOS ANGELES--In Memphis, Tenn., a small medical supply company called Luminetx has developed a new method of palm-reading that it hopes will rival fingerprinting or retinal scans as a way to perfectly identify individuals.
The technology is based on an infrared scan of the blood cells running through veins, which is then analyzed by a computer.
Luminetx originally developed the technique as a way to help doctors and nurses find veins in patients needing injections. But now, through a new division called Snowflake Technologies, the company is marketing it to banks, credit card companies and even homeland-security officials as a high-tech biometric identification tool.
"Our vein structures are completely different, especially when you look at the palm," said Luminetx Chief Executive Officer Jim Phillips, speaking at The Entertainment Gathering conference here on Wednesday. "In a way, it's like looking at a bar code. We convert your veins to a bar code."
The drive for technology that can uniquely identify individuals has been given new urgency both by the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks, and the growing incidence of identity theft.
Basic biometric tools such as fingerprinting and retinal scans are now being widely installed at airports and other transit points. Biometrics experts in the United States and Europe are trying to develop standards that can help unify a fast-changing industry.
Some of the older tools have been found to be relatively easily bypassed, however. Researchers at Clarkson University have found that fingerprint scanners could be fooled with images lifted from Play-Doh, for example, or a model of a finger made with dental plaster.
Reproducing a three-dimensional model of a human vein system, complete with blood, could be more difficult, however.
Source: Borland, John. "Mapping veins as a human 'bar code'." cNet News.com. Published: February 1, 2006, 6:32 PM PST. 2-2-2006. http://news.com.com/Mapping+veins+as+a+human+bar+code/2100-1008_3-6034134.html?tag=st_lh
The initiative, sponsored by Smart Communications, provides selected public high schools with a computer laboratory connected to the Internet. The PCs are donated by Smart but the Internet connection is provided for free for only a year.
OCNHS, situated in the heart of Olongapo City, has been cited for formulating an ICT curriculum that is unique throughout the country. Aside from the basic education class and special science class, the school has an ICT class that enjoys extra computer subjects not taught in the other classes.
The special program was first implemented in 2002 with an initial 40 computer units used by 65 students divided into two classes. It was then named Special Program for Computer Education but was later changed to ICT Curriculum in 2004.
The first ICT batch is now on its fourth year and is set to graduate this year, while the first year batch has grown to three classes with 40 students comprising each class, said school’s principal, Helen Aggabao.
Aggabao said she picked up the idea of creating an ICT class after undergoing training in Singapore where she was exposed to students being given extensive training in ICT-related subjects.
"When I proposed this, the regional office of DepEd (Department of Education) did not object. They just told us that as long as we don’t lessen the basic education subjects, we’re free to add special subjects for special classes," she said.
Under the program, first year ICT class are given with the additional subject on how to use productivity applications such as MS Office. On their second year, they are taught basic Web developments tools. Upon reaching third year, they are given lessons on programming such as Visual Basic. Finally, on their last year, they are taught basic networking and PC assembly.
But Aggabao said the facilities that the ICT students had to use were very limited. "The PCs would conk out and we don’t have money to replace them. The students also have to share the cable connection we had to the Internet."
The school’s inclusion in the Smart Schools Program was indeed a "blessing," Aggabao said. Now¸ the school is poised to reach greater heights with its Internet connection through Smart WiFi, the carrier’s wireless broadband service.
OCNHS joins 32 other schools nationwide that are now part of the Smart Schools Program. These include schools from as far north in Basco, Batanes (Basco National High School), and down south in Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi (Tawi-Tawi School of Arts and Trade.
Source: "RP’s only high school with ICT curriculum gets ‘smart’" ManilaBulletin.com Mon Jan 30,20061-30-2006. http://www.mb.com.ph/INFO2006013055048.html#
Mini-box announced what it calls the world’s smallest power supply on Thursday, the picoPSU-120. There are no fans and it runs completely silent. Roughly the size of two AA batteries, it actually plugs directly into the motherboard’s ATX power connector. It can power the ATX motherboard connection, peripherals and hard drive. It is said that this can power up to 3GHz P4 machines, but it was obviously designed for low-power CPUs. This could serve a great purpose for the modder extraordinaires and at $49.95 it isn’t too bad of a deal.
World’s Smallest PC Power Supply Introduced [Extremetech]
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
26 Jan 2006
Jan 26, 2006 -- Search engine giant Yahoo! today announce that Manny Pacquiao has cracked into the top five most searched name in sports on the Yahoo! search engine.
Yahoo! prominently reported on its main page and with a picture of the Filipino boxing icon, that searches on the "Manny Pacquiao" keyword jumped 452% after he knocked out Mexican legend Erik "El Terrible" Morales in last Saturday's heavily hyped rematch for the WBC International Super Featherweight title at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Yahoo!, which is one of the top Internet search engines triumvirate that includes Google and MSN, regulary reports changes and movements of the most searched keywords on its search engines. Recent sports personalities who had topped the Yahoo! search engine searches include, among others, LA Laker's Kobe Bryant, Cleveland Cavalier's LeBron James, NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain and England's 16-year-old football phenom Theo Walcott
Source: Secuya, Dong. "Manny Pacquiao breaks into the world's most searched name on the Internet!" PhilBoxing.com. 26 Jan 2006. 1-27-2006. http://philboxing.com/news/story-4999.html
Here's more on this news from Google News Search:
 EastsideBoxing.com | In Boxing News: Searching For Manny Pacquiao The Sweet Science - ... No kidding, Dong Secuya writes that Yahoo! today reported “Manny Pacquiao”cracked the top 5 sports searches in the Yahoo! search engine. ... Planet Pac-Man: Pacquiao most searched internet name ATE: Hail Pac-Man, Morales future, Barrera, Judah joke Well this should p*** off the Pac fans |
 The Sweet Science | Everybody is 'searching' for Manny Journal Online, Philippines - ... The keyword 'Manny Pacquiao' in the Yahoo search engine jumped to 452 percent in the aftermath of the 27-year old Filipino boxing icon's 10th round demolition ... Manny, don’t! |
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| ‘Science Culture’ Needed in Philippine Science Education | |||||
| By Rexcel John Sorza** | Jun. 25, 2006 | ||||
In 2003, senior high school students Dyann Dolour Libo-on and Jillian Marie Ong Oh came up with a calculator specifically for calculations and equations related to chemistry. Two other classmates made a miniature house whose burglar alarm system can send alerts through short messaging system (sms) and appliances inside the house can also be turned on and off through sms. Proud of these exceptional achievements, Dr. Josette Biyo, the teenagers’ Science Research teacher at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Western Visayas, laments that Libo-on, Oh, and their classmates were an exception rather than the rule. Science culture is all too important in science education, Biyo said, because “science education is not education at all unless we develop among our students the basic skills and attitudes such as observing, gathering correct information, interpreting data, curiosity, open-mindedness, and resourcefulness among others.” Biyo believes “no country will move forward until it develops a scientific culture”, she argued that basic information is needed in planning, developing, and managing resources, and that “only through accurate research we can generate accurate data.” The Philippines: Where to? Biyo’s diagnosis of science education in the Philippines is unenthusiastic. “The Philippines does not have a research culture,” Biyo, the first Asian awarded with the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award in 2002, was blunt in telling IslamOnline.net. “Thus, it does not have a scientific culture.” “Very little quality research outputs” are churned out by Philippine universities compared with that of other Southeast Asian learning institutions. Research is not a prerequisite for many undergraduate degrees; even undergraduate and graduate teachers are “not actively doing research themselves, making them give importance to form instead of substance,” topped the list of factors Biyo said to be behind the problem. The lack of connection between industries and universities in terms of the use of research outputs for product development, and very few centers for research in this developing country are also to blame, she added. She further said, “At the basic education level, science is taught in a passive or inactive manner inhibiting creativity, active participation, and decision making in students. Inquiry-approach or project-based learning is seldom used. These approaches require mastery of skills and concepts on the part of the teacher.” Biyo is not alone in saying so. Dr. Ester Ogena, the current head of the Science Education Institute, and Dr. Milagros Ibe, both in the University of the Philippines, concluded in their 1998 pioneering study of Philippine science education in the same light blaming “the absence of a science culture” for its state. “A number of our cultural characteristics as a people are inconsistent with the nurturing of a science culture. Curiosity and observation, which are important precursors of scientific discovery, are not encouraged in homes and schools. In general, children are not encouraged to ask about or pose non-traditional ideas. Teachers prefer ‘well-behaved’ pupils, not nonconformists who seek out things for themselves,” the duo said in a paper published in the “UP-CIDS Chronicle.” They further tracked down the problem in the poor quality and lack of science and technology teachers. Ibe and Ogena observed that one out of every three college students in the Philippines is studying to be a teacher, but less than one in a hundred has opted to go into science teaching, given the low pay associated with science careers in the Philippines. Brain Drain
Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, a world renowned marine scientist, offers another reason, the flight of gifted Filipino teachers to foreign shores. “Many Filipino professionals and workers go to the Middle East, North America, and almost every corner of the globe” but “this outflow constitutes a brain drain,” she tells IslamOnline.net. “For how much does it cost to produce a teacher, a doctor, and a nurse and yet it is the developed countries in the United States and Europe that benefit from the educational investment made by our poor country to produce these highly trained professionals,” she quipped in an interview with IslamOnline.net. If the ‘Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study’ (TIMSS) is any reliable indication, then the Philippines indeed needs some improvement. While neighboring Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were topping the list in 1995 and 2003 TIMSS surveys, the Philippines is near bottom, although thankfully increasing the average science scale scores of eighth-grade students by 32 points in 2003 over 1995. Despite this, Biyo, in whose honor a minor planet was named, after she won the Intel Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award in 2002, believes it is not a hopeless situation. “While our society may not have a scientific culture at present, we can start to develop this culture among our young people by integrating research in our basic education curriculum.” Teaching science research for almost 10 years now at the Philippine Science High School she said, “is quite difficult because it requires a lot of dedication, commitment, perseverance, and open-mindedness on the part of the teacher.” On top of that, the teacher “should also know a little about everything—biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, computer science, math, etc.” and that she or he “should also be a mentor, a friend, and a confidante.” Biyo is ever optimistic. When she started teaching science research in 1995, no colleague wanted to partner with her to handle the subject offered to junior and senior high school students. “The primary reason is that they have not done research themselves,” she said. Today, Philippine Science High School (PSHS) in Western Visayas has a pool of teachers who could effectively and efficiently handle science research. “We continue to learn and share our knowledge, expertise, and skills with our students, and with one another. We meet every week to discuss how we can further improve our methods and techniques.” Science research is introduced to PSHS students in their junior year, where they are exposed to the different types of researches and taught the research process, tools, identifying research topics, proposal writing, and research design testing. In their senior year, the students do the experimentation, data analysis, research paper writing, oral defense, and submission of final paper. The students further learn from science forums where researchers, scientists, and experts speak about research trends and more, helping the students generate more ideas for their researches. Workshops are also held along with one-on-one or per group consultation with advisers. To further strengthen the science research curriculum, PSHS established linkages with research and academic institutions around the Philippines, allowing their students to spend summer internships with these private and public institutions. Biyo said through science research, PSHS hopes to develop its students’ research skills, team work, social and communication skills, along with character traits of diligence, resourcefulness, intellectual honesty, personal integrity, initiative, independence, humility and teachability. Biyo is positive that their students, like what was shown by Libo-on and Oh, would produce more relevant studies and that students of other schools would be able to follow suit, as she leads the training of more science teachers, in churning out outputs in computer science, robotics, microbiology, medicine, physics and more. Biyo’s antidote seems not only to be working well but is also in line with what was suggested by Ogena and Ibe in their 1998 study. Ogena and Ibe have a long list of prescriptions for the government, which come down to “cohesive action and shared goals.” This means more and better faculty development programs, science labs, and curriculum and instruction materials development; apart from the awareness of the importance of science and technology to our future, and the will to implement the reforms and to spend the money needed for us to catch up with our neighbors. Primavera, world renowned marine scientist, is not cynical either. “In the end, this Diaspora or immigration or outflowing, shows that Filipinos have what it takes to build a scientific culture. We have the mental capacity, also seen in our resourcefulness—many of our backyard shops are excellent in repairing Japanese-designed appliances.” “So the bottom line,” Primavera remarked, “is that we can have a scientific culture, but we need support systems such as libraries and supply houses. Libraries must be user-friendly retrieval systems for published information so researchers do not re-invent the wheel, so to speak. Unfortunately, most Philippine libraries are like museums—you can see but you cannot touch. Education administrators also need to purchase a minimum of equipment and install infrastructure or scientific supply houses to provide test tubes, air and seawater supply, and so on.” She tells the teachers that “as mentors, in your hands lie the future of the hope of our country. Teachers must teach all subjects, including mathematics, well. With a minimum of equipment, a few test tubes and microscopes—you can go a long way in imparting basic concepts and principles to the youth.” “As a biologist, I can only draw from my own experiences at Mindanao State University and more recently with students from University of the Philippines in the Visayas and Philippine Science High School. It is always a joy to have young people join me on field trips and marvel at the diversity of creatures they see in the mangroves and among sea grasses, and at the beauty of our tropical ecosystems. In the end, for students to love learning, teachers must love teaching.” ** Rexcel John B. Sorza is a journalist from the Philippines and a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication and Management. He was recently the runner up in the Water Media Network Journalists’ Competition and received his award at the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan.Your emails will be forwarded to him by contacting the editor at: ScienceTech@islam-online.net. Source: Sorza, Rexcel John B. "‘Science Culture’ Needed in Philippine Science Education. IslamOnline.Net. Jun. 25, 2006 | |||||
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Cristina Bugayong, the Grade 6 student who returned lost cash and checks worth P300,000, is now the official poster girl for honesty and integrity of the Department of Education.
Acting Secretary Fe Hidalgo told The Manila Times that they have decided to enlist Bugayong as DepEd’s national model for honesty and integrity so that all students can emulate her.
Hidalgo said she will issue a memorandum to all regional DepEd offices informing them of Bugayong’s new role.
She led officials in the recognition ceremony for Bugayong during the flag ceremony at Tomas Morato Elementary School in Quezon City Monday morning.
Bugayong also received a plaque of appreciation, five sacks of rice, five boxes of noodles and medical and dental health program for her family. She also got her new dentures.
Hidalgo said they are pooling seed money for Bugayong’s bank account.
Bugayong became a national sensation when she returned the cash and checks, which were dropped by messenger Lito Mora on T. Gener Street in Kamuning. Mora said the money belonged to Techpoint Computer Corp.
Bugayong has been receiving all kinds of help. Techpoint gave her a computer set while STI College awarded her a two-year college scholarship.
The Quezon City government offered her educational aid while Quezon City Councilor Ariel Inton gave her P5,000.
Cristina was also personally received by President Arroyo in Malacañan, who gave Bugayong’s father, Cesar, a former seaman, a job.
"I’m very proud of you," the President told Christina.
Source: Jonathan Hicap. "Honest student is poster girl." ABS-CBN News. 1-18-2006. 1-18-2006. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=27439.
While looking at referrals to this journal, I came across one that is surpising. According to BlogShares, we are fifth in the Top 100 Blogs in Cagayan de Oro! Wow!
"BlogShares is a fantasy stock market where weblogs are the companies. Players invest fictional dollars on shares in blogs. Blogs are valued by their incoming links and add value to other blogs by linking to them. Prices can go up or down based on trading and the underlying value of the blog." (http://blogshares.com/index.php)
Here's the list: http://blogshares.com/industries.php?id=2194
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