The iSchools Project in Caraga

CICT and the iSchools Project in Caraga
The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) iSchools Project aims to integrate information and communications technology (ICT) in education to strengthen classroom learning and instruction by expanding access to various sources of information. The government’s initiative of integrating ICT in education hopes to enable our public high school graduates to be at par or globally competitive with their peers in all parts of the world. Further, the project aims to:

• Build the ICT literacy and competency of Public High School (PHS) Teachers such that they can integrate ICT in teaching and learning
• Build the capability of DepEd regional and division ICT coordinators such that they can handle similar undertakings in the future
• Facilitate the cooperation between various educational institutions in the local area, State University and Colleges (SUC) – PHS partnership.

This project will help enhance classroom learning of the PHS students and develop instruction strategies for the teachers utilizing various sources of information. The project hopes to produce students who are adept to emerging technologies, and aims to make the mentors more updated to some learning techniques and utilize the information highway that the internet brings.

This year, a total of 320 public high schools were selected as recipients of the iSchools Project all over the Philippines. Seven (7) out of 320 public high schools were identified as beneficiaries from the different municipalities and cities here in CARAGA Region.

Twenty-one (21) computers, one multimedia projector, 2 air-conditioning systems, 1-year free internet service and a 3-in-1 printer, scanner and copier will be provided to the recipient schools.

By the year 2010, the project aims to deploy internet-connected computer laboratories to over 5000 public high schools nationwide.

The Implementing Team
This project is implemented and governed by the SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) as the local partners in every region. Here in Caraga, the Northern Mindanao State Institute of Science and Technology (NORMISIST) is the implementing arm of the CICT - HCDG’s program.

Faculties in the College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT) lead the implementation of the project for the recipient schools with the strong support by the President, Dr. Edgar W. Ignacio.

The NORMISIST campus is located at Barangay Ampayon, Butuan City.

MSU-IIT tops 4^th Mindanao-wide ECE Quiz Show
Sept. 4, 2007, Jeffrey T. Dellosa

MSU-IIT BSECE team deposed host Mindanao Polytechnic State College (MPSC) team in the third tie-break question to bag 1^st place in the recently concluded 4^th Mindanao-wide ECE Quiz Show dubbed as the “Cerebrum Extreme” held in MPSC Gym last September 2, 2007.
It was a “do-or-die” situation for both teams to earn a free trip to Manila for the National Quiz Show after tying the score in the 3^rd and final round in the elimination. MSU-IIT should have booked the top seat earlier on after failing to provide correctly the first letter of what SCADA stands for (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). During the 2^nd question, both teams got the right answer from a communication objective type question. A robotic question thereafter finally broke the tie.

MSU-IIT team took home Php5000 in cash and a plaque, 1^st runner-up MPSC team also received Php3000 and plaque while 2^nd runner-up Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan claimed Php2000 and a plaque courtesy of the sponsor of the quiz show - STEAG State Power, Inc.

The three teams will represent the Northern Mindanao region in the National Finals to be held on November 23-24 this year in Manila. Stiffer competition is expected as the three teams will face top universities from the National Capital Region.

There were fifteen ECE teams from different universities and colleges from all over northern Mindanao who joined the competition. They are the Northern Mindanao State Institute of Science and Technology (NORMISIST), De La Salle University of Ozamis, Liceo de Cagayan, St. Peter’s College of Iligan, Central Mindanao University, St. Joseph Institute of Technology (SJIT) Butuan City, Capitol University, and MSU Marawi among other schools.

NORMISIST wins 5th Over-all in Mindanao ICT Quiz Show (Jeffrey Dellosa)

CEIT, NORMISIST - In its first occasion to join the competition, the NORMISIST Team made its presence felt and performed a strong finish to win 5th place over-all in the 2nd Mindanao-wide Tertiary ICT Quiz Show held in SM City Mall, Cagayan de Oro City last July 14, 2007.

Fifteen top universities and colleges coming from all over Mindanao, as far as Zamboanga City to down south Davao City, battled all out in the elimination round composing of easy, average, and difficult questions to secure one of the five seats for the Clincher round. Ten questions were asked each from the easy, intermediate, and difficult level in the elimination round with equivalent points for each correct answer totaling to 30 questions to determine the top five finalists.

NORMISIST Team finished 3rd in the heart-pounding elimination round with 370 points. Defending champion MSU-IIT topped the elimination round with 430 points and the Liceo de Cagayan University coming as second place with 415 points. University of Immaculate Concepcion (UIC from Davao) and Ateneo de Zamboanga landed 4th and 5th place respectively, with 360 and 355 points respectively. The NORMISIST Team is the only non-university that made it to the top five.

In the clincher round, the top five teams started with 100 points each, but an equivalent points will be deducted for each wrong answer any team will provide (right minus wrong). Ateneo de Zamboanga stole the heat from MSU-IIT by answering fast several easy, average and difficult questions to win 1st place in the competition with 135 points. MSU-IIT and UIC draw to an equal second place and went for the tie-breaker questions but MSU-IIT gain control and won second place. The NORMISIST Team attempted to answer one difficult question hoping to gain 30 points to top the race but failed to advance and lost 15 points instead to settle for the 5th place behind Liceo de Cagayan University in fourth place. [Note: 30 points were given for a correct answer and 15 points will be deducted if the team answered wrong for difficult questions]

NORMISIST Team was composed of Raquel Dumadag (4th year BSCS), Silhouette Adobas (4th year BSIT) and Ralph Carlsan Palen (5th year BSECE). They were coached by Mr. Jaymer Jayoma, Engr. Jeffrey Dellosa and Engr. Alex Demetillo, all from the CEIT. The other universities and colleges who joined the competition were Xavier University, Misamis University, Bukidnon State University (BSU), Capitol University, La Salle University Ozamis, AMA CLC, Informatics, Misamis Oriental State College of Art and Technology (MOSCAT), Iligan Computer Institute, and St. Peter Iligan.

The event was sponsored by the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sticky Media Solutions and STI Cagayan de Oro. Other sponsors were multinational IT firm Accenture Philippines.
Heidi Grace P. Mendoza, secretary general of the Oro Chamber whom the advisers met disclosed that the IT quiz tournament aims to challenge and highlight the knowledge and skills of Mindanao IT students by providing an avenue for them to engage in a friendly competition. Mendoza said that with the ICT quiz tournament, the Oro Chamber hopes to motivate IT students to build fulfilling careers in the ICT industry and at the same time, promote Mindanao as a rich human resource pool of technologically-adept highly skilled graduates.

At the end of the competition, the advisers established a link with Sticky Media solutions that encouraged graduates and students of NORMISIST to join their organization as full time programmers and or as an OJT. Accenture Philippines will explore possibilities of extending programs with NORMISIST as their extension program.

A day in Duka Bay

March 25, 2007

In the laid-back town of Medina, Misamis Oriental, north of Mindanao is a tranquil, pleasant place called Duka Bay Resort. Occupying a sandy shore and part of a hill, Duka is soothingly shaded by a cluster of large ancestral trees.
Duka means "sleepy" in dialect, it means unspoiled and serene. Duka Bay Resort, an eagle's view captures the beauty of 7 beautiful spacious villas in a mixture of Japanese & Muslim style architecture, the glass like clear blue Bohol Sea at a far distance with it's therapeutic sounds, and the expansive surrounding mountains. The rim of the Bay is edged with jett black volcanic boulders, having landing there like bullets following Camiguin Island's, Mt. Hibok Hibok's eruption in 1921. The Villas have glass sliding doors that open up to a 9 by 20 foot deck where you can just lay back & enjoy the sea breeze and the most splended view of the beautiful blue Bohol Sea and the awesome sun rises & sunsets! You will dive in the pristine waters enjoying the underwater journey of the beautiful corals, caves & marine life!

The families' (three big families - Bolivar, Abao, and Dellosa) took the opportunity to spend one summer day in Duka after the classes closed this March. Tito Danny (who came from Singapore to attend the graduation of his son) made sure everyone gets relaxed and enjoys the cold breeze and sumptuous food which the Duka Bay resort offers. After all, he was the sponsor of this trip.

There the extended family (including me) met Mr. Eddie Yap who is the manager of the resort. He is the godchild of my father-in-law Tony Abao who is connected in NPC. Eddie previously worked in NPC in his 'younger' years and made dad as ninong in his wedding - so the old acquaintance. Eddie was generous to show the beauty of Duka and at the same time provided a house to sleep overnight. The dinner was served along the shoreline with just candles in the table lighting the food that has been served after an afternoon of adventures in the beach. The young have been into snorkelling - exploring the shallow areas of the sea...

Feel the soothing breeze of the beach at Duka Bay this Summer!