Student dies while running laps as punishment for being late

A 14-year-old student died after collapsing while running around his school’s field, as punishment for coming to class late.

The boy, identified as Fanly Lahingide, arrived in his school in Indonesia 25 minutes late last Tuesday, Oct. 1, as per Tribun News via AsiaOne last Friday, Oct. 4.


Lahingide, along with five other friends who also came to class late, were allegedly made by their teacher to run laps around their school’s field. Lahingide collapsed mid-run during his second lap.

Following his collapse, Lahingide’s mother (unnamed in the report), 46, received a call saying that he fell unconscious.

Lahingide was immediately brought to a hospital. The boy was declared dead at 8:40 a.m. after attempts to resuscitate him turned unsuccessful.

The boy was not known to have any history of medical conditions, leaving authorities still unable to identify cause of death. As per report, an autopsy is set to be carried out at Bhayangkara Hospital.

Recalling how Lahingide had breakfast at their home earlier that day, his mother said in the report, “I never thought this morning would be the last time I get to see my son.”

“I hope no other child has to experience this,” she added. “The police must investigate this incident and punish the teacher accordingly.”

Police told the news outlet that the victim’s family will file a case against the teacher who allegedly made the boy run laps. As per report, the family expressed that they disagree with the teacher’s actions. Ryan Arcadio/JB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

School Is Not Always About Grades

MANILA, Philippines — Thirty-one year old Zamboanga del Sur high school teacher Shateen Seraña had a dream — to educate her students beyond the classroom, hone their skills in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and eventually encourage them to use what they have learned to give back to the community.

Armed with the desire to make a difference, Serana came up with a mangrove tree-planting project for her fourth year high school students.

“I did some research on what the students could do to help the community and I thought mangrove planting could be feasible because it would protect our coastal area from erosion. Since none of the students has ever experienced tree-planting before or used the Internet for school projects, this could be an interesting experiential project for them,” shared Seraña.

Taking a page from what she learned from the Global Filipino Teacher (GFT) program of Globe Telecom, Seraña adapted the project-based learning (PBL) approach in teaching both Filipino and ICT skills via the mangrove tree-planting project. Seraña was selected by Globe Telecom and the Coalition for Better Education (CBE) to take part in GFT last year in Zamboanga City. GFT is an intensive 54-hour, six-day teacher training program that promotes the use of ICT via online collaboration and PBL approaches across different subject matters and teachers.

STUDENTS DISCOVER

WONDERS OF TECHNOLOGY

For the project, Seraña asked her students to write proposal letters to their local Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and even to their local community leaders. “The best-written letter was translated to English and was used as a template for the letter we sent to the barangay, urging them to donate for the project and to join the students.”

Seraña also taught the students the best way to utilize the Internet for the project.

“We created Facebook groups where they updated each other on the progress of the tree-planting project and the tasks they had to do. One group was assigned to document the project online using Multiply. My students became more excited, less passive. Since resources were limited, the team who learned how to use the Internet taught their other classmates what they know. They also asked for donations to purchase a modem and they borrowed laptops from the school to work on the project,” she said.

The mangrove tree-planting project was recently hailed by Microsoft Philippines as the best project which used IT innovation for 2011 in their 7th Innovation in Teaching Leadership Awards (ITLA). Seraña is representing the Philippines in the regional Microsoft ITLA competition in New Zealand.

“I am glad my project was recognized. My students also became more confident because of their newly acquired skills. School is not always about grades but of new experiences and memories,” she said.

Seraña, who has been with Taluksangay National High School in Zamboanga del Sur for only two years, is not the only GFT graduate who was recognized by Microsoft Philippines ITLA. Eight out of the 10 finalists of Microsoft Philippines ITLA are products of GFT.

“This speaks a lot about the impact of the GFT program and the training they receive on project-based learning and ICT integration. It demonstrates how ICT can provide teachers and students with more accurate and quicker access to information, tools for easier and faster learning, and a chance to collaborate with the rest of the world. It was proven that by using ICT, there is increased teacher motivation and improved student memory retention and comprehension of various subjects,” said Rob I. Nazal, head of Globe corporate social responsibility.

source: mb.com.ph

Facebooking, texting may lead to lower grades —study

The new school year is still three months away, but students may want to heed this advice: Facebooking or texting during study time will likely lead to lower grades.

A study by Reynol Junco and Shelia Cotten suggested the human brain may not be able to simultaneously combine studying and information and communication technologies (ICTs).

"Engaging in Facebook use or texting while trying to complete schoolwork may tax students’ capacity for cognitive processing and preclude deeper learning. Our research indicates that the type and purpose of ICT use matters in terms of the educational impacts of multitasking," they said.

ICTs include social networking like Facebook, text messaging, and instant messaging.

They noted advances in technology had resulted in ICT users - including students - being presented with more real-time data streams.

However, they said this has also resulted in individuals increasingly engaging in multitasking as an information management strategy.

In their web survey from 1,839 college students at one university, they found students reported spending a large amount of time using ICTs on a daily basis.

"Students reported frequently searching for content not related to courses, using Facebook, emailing, talking on their cell phones, and texting while doing schoolwork. Hierarchical (blocked) linear regression analyses revealed that using Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork were negatively associated with overall college GPA," they said.

A separate article on Mashable said the study included questions about how often students IM, email, search and talk during study time, but only Facebook and texting ultimately correlated with a lower GPA.

It added there was no relationship between grades and using other technologies while studying.

“Human information processing is insufficient for attending to multiple input streams and for performing simultaneous tasks,” Mashable quoted Junco and Cotten as saying.

Junco also told Mashable suggests the difference might have something to do with how students are using different technologies.

Students may be more likely to email professors and search out of academic curiosity than to socialize through email or search, while they’re unlikely to text message their teaching assistants for homework help.

“It could be that students with lower grades just happen to do more Facebook and texting. But I think this study in the context of other research does seem to show that it is about what they’re doing while they study and not the other way around,” Junco told Mashable.

Study findings

The study showed that, on average, students in the study sent 97 text messages and spent 101 minutes on Facebook every day.

Mashable said that while Junco does not think students will leave either technology behind, in his own classes at Lock Haven University he encourages students to think about how they use them.

“What I tell them is, ‘look, you’re going to sit down to study anyway,” he says. “You might as well make it the most efficient use of your time.’” — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com