Friday, July 18, 2008

More Homework Help: Skoool.ph

Intel and the Department of Education have launched www.skoool.ph, a site that provides interactive math and science lessons for students and teachers.

You can browse it according to year level or subject. It requires that you have Javascript installed, which shouldn't be a problem if you watch Youtube on that computer anyway.

HOWEVER, some feedback for the people behind skoool.ph, based on my "surface scan" of the site:

1. Please get rid of the "concept paper" language! And with bad grammar too. For example:
The learner shall developed the following competencies:
The site is online now; talk to your audience directly, instead of referring to them in the third person. Right now it looks like a site targeted to your donor rather than the Pinoy student. And do a grammar check!!!

2. The math lesson I tried out was too UK-centric. Is there an effort to localize this? Not to dumb down the content, but only because it's not generally in a Pinoy high school student's experience to pay "2.50" for a sandwich and eat "bonbons."

Friday, July 11, 2008

Frog anatomy

The dissection of frogs is still happening in high schools all over the country, apparently. Poor frogs!

Here are some links so you can study their anatomy without actually poking through their guts.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Home Economics: Cross-stitching

My worst subject was Home Economics. I don't know how this is being taught today, but when I was in my co-ed high school (in the '90s) they at least didn't have "boy" and "girl" subjects. Everyone, regardless of gender, had to learn how to sew clothes, cook dinner, and wire series and parallel circuits.

We also had to learn how to cross-stitch. I don't know, maybe high school kids in the Philippines don't have to do this anymore, but just in case...