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IBM Web Application Development Training

2012-05-28T10:26:00.003+08:00

The Institute of Computing through its extension office with IBM and the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators-Region X1 chapter held a teacher’s training in Web Application Development last May 21-25, 2012 at the Laboratory Room of the Institute of Computing. The training was conducted as a supplementary activity to help teachers deliver the course effectively.

Joint PSITE Board and Regional President’s Planning Workshop, May 7-9, 2012, UPITDC, Quezon City

2012-05-15T09:01:00.000+08:00

Pictures taken during the Joint PSITE Board and Regional President’s Planning Workshop. ICTO Deputy Executive Director Alejandro Melchor was our guest speaker while Dr. Paulino Y. Tan, TPITE chair, inducted the newly elected PSITE national board for AY 2012-13.

Ilocos Norte-Dagupan Visit

2012-04-25T09:24:00.000+08:00

Pictures taken during my short visit to Laoag, Ilocos Norte and Dagupan City...

PCSC 2012

2012-03-09T19:55:00.000+08:00

I attended the 12th Philippine Computing Science Congress (PCSC2012) at De La Salle Canlubang (at Binan, Laguna) last March 1-3, 2012. This was organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP), where I am a national board member. The CSP organizes this conference to enable local and neighboring computing educators, researchers, and ICT professionals and students to interact and to share their work in computing, computer science, computer engineering, computational science, and information and communications technology (ICT). De La Salle Canlubang (at Binan, Laguna) hosts the conference this year. PCSC2012 starts with a workshop on Natural Language Processing (NLP). It also features four talks on the contributions of Alan Mathison Turing in various fields in Computing.

The conference also features special lectures by prominent researchers and educators in the field of information and communications technology (including computing, computer science, computer engineering, computational science, and related disciplines). It also features contributed research papers on computing and ICT.

14th PSITE National Convention (feb 23-25, 2012, Country Homes and Convention Center, General Santos City)

2012-02-28T09:38:00.000+08:00

PSITE AS A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Thank you for that kind introduction. Magandang GENSAN!.

Ladies and gentlemen, before anything else, I would like to enjoin everybody for a minute of silent prayer for our PSITE members and all those who were affected by typhoon Sendong. May those who have lost homes and properties find shelter, enough food and clean water. May the Lord comfort those who are traumatized and those who are grieving for the loss of their families, neighbors and friends. May our great Healer bless those who are sick and injured that their health may be restored.

Let me start by saying thank you to the PSITE National Board for having been very supportive and active these past years. We couldn’t have achieved what we achieved now if not for their willingness to serve the organization. As you may have already known, our thrust for this year was OD or organizational development. So, this is a presentation and presidents report-rolled into one.

PSITE, as a national organization, is a growing organization. Winston Churchill once said “the farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see”. So let me bring you to memory lane when PSITE was conceptualized up to the present. Therefore the outline of my presentation is as follows.

History of PSITE

PSITE was born out of the prodding of the Technical Panel for Information Technology Education (TPITE) headed by Dr. Paulino Y. Tan to organize a professional group of Information Technology Educators (ITE) in 1996.

Bounded by a common dream for quality IT education in the country, the group had enduring series of planning workshops and meetings. Finally, PSITE became a formal organization of IT Educators in 1997. Ms. Fe Ferriols became the President of the pioneering PSITE group. Monthly Seminars and workshops were offered to IT Educators through the generosity of donors and sponsors. Recognizing the difficulty of many higher education institutions to sponsor quality trainings in IT education, the organization offers free if not highly subsidized workshop and training. With the overwhelming response of educators in the country and able to benefit more educators in the different parts of the country, chaptering was inevitable. Guidelines on chaptering were formulated in year 2000. Davao was the first recognized regional chapter in the same year.

Years after, several chapters were formed. Monthly seminars and workshops were held by the regional chapters. National conventions were then organized every year. These were mostly the activities of PSITE. The PSITE family has grown, as now it has its presence in almost all regions in the country, thereby making PSITE as the biggest IT organization in the country today.

2009 – Setting a Direction

Having been elected as President in 2009, I accepted the big responsibility because I know it will be such a challenging role that I will play. In my own little way, I was hoping to contribute to PSITE’s goal of furthering IT education in the country. Education is not an easy task, especially in these modern times when rapid changes happen at the blink of an eye. I saw that PSITE will face many more and bigger challenges. It is for this reason that I said we should all PReParE. According to American author H. Jackson Brown Jr., the best preparation for tomorrow is doing the best today.

By the word PReParE, I did not only mean getting ready for something. I coined this as an acronym which will reflect the thrust and framework of PSITE. Prepare is P-Re-Par-E. P stands for Professionalism. Re for Research.Par stands for Partnership. And E for the very purpose of our organization, which is Education. So PReParE means Professionalism, Research, Partnership and Education.

2010 – Setting a Direction

In 2010. I was re-elected as President. Now that we are PReParEd, PSITE went Peer-to- PEER. 2010 was anchored on a Peer-to- PEER principle. It is like a small brother – big brother concept. Like the PReParE agenda, the second PEER is a mnemonic. It stands for Partnership, Education, Extension and Research. The Peer-to- PEER agenda addresses our triad function of Research, Curriculum and Instruction, and Extension and Linkages.

So PReParE and Peer-to- PEER became PSITE’s thrust for 2009 and 2010, respectively, in which the regional chapters also adopted. This developed a culture change in PSITE and paradigm shift in the thrusts and activities.

There were several “firsts” in those times. Let me line up some of those:

1. In 2009, during the 11^th National Convention held in Dipolog, it was the first time that we had plenary session with reactors.
2. It was also the first time that best practices from all over the Philippines were presented in the fields of research, extension and instruction.

3. We also increased the duration of the sessions to take up organizational matters in order for the national PSITE to further touch base with the different regions.

4. In the 2009 convention, there were tarpaulins prepared by different regions to showcase their activities for the past five years. The Jedi night was held outside the convention area, and that was in Dakak, with all the fireworks and festivity.

5. For the first time that we had a pre-NCITE conference in 2009 which is related to our research agenda. Presented were model research frameworks, advising and manuscript templates for BSCS, BSIT and BSIS, coupled with best practices in those fields. The NCR research capability building framework was also presented.

6. It was also the first time that there was a student presenter during the NCITE conference.

7. In October 2010, the first time that NCITE is held outside the school and still hosted by a school, the Aklan Catholic College.

8. Awarding of honorary membership to Naveen Asrani in recognition for his exceptional and unselfish services and support to the PSITE’s vision and mission.

9. Singapore Benchmarking Activity last January 2011 with the national board and some regional presidents and members. We were particularly interested in pursuing a “close range” understanding of the Singapore Academic Ecosystems with emphasis in institutions offering computing course and how they established linkage with industries both local and global. Schools visited were Nanyang Polytechnic and National University of Singapore. We also meet with Adobe-Singapore executives for a possible cooperation and partnership.

10. During the national convention in 2011, we subsidized the registration fee (P300,000.00)

11. We had the President’s night, were we acknowledged the contribution of the former PSITE national presidents (Ms. Fe Ferriols, Sir Glenn Sipin, Sir Leo Querubin, Sir Ben Teehankee, Sir Boogie Boydon, Sir Jimmy Caro, Sir Dio Calumpit, Sir Alex Ybasco and Ms. Nancy Flores)

12. First automated election of the PSITE national board

13. And more significantly, it was the first time that a member outside of Luzon got to be elected as President of PSITE National. The first Garden induction of the PSITE national board was held in UP-Hotel.

As Bill Gates said, “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others”.

With these thrusts as the direction of PSITE, we were able to do the following

ITE Undergraduate Research and Capstone Project Manual

We had series of meetings and workshops toward coming up with a framework for the ITE Undergraduate Thesis and Capstone Project. Our project of coming up with a Framework for practicum was finally finished. In this convention, institutional members who are present will receive a complimentary copy of the ITE Undergraduate Research and Capstone Project Manual.

PSITE Constitution and By-Laws (CBL)/PSITE Logo and Website

In line with Professionalism is proper documentation. One of the documents that needed to be reviewed is the PSITE CBL. Series of meetings were held and at one point, invited Peach Tinio, one of the original framers of the CBL. The CBL was then ratified in 2010. We also revived our website with a new url(www.psite.ph) and a new face. I encourage you to visit our website. We also made our new logo, customized to depict our coverage.

PSITE as recognized by CHED

PSITE was again recognized as a professional organization and was invited by CHED to endorse IT educators as TPITE members in the pursuit of strengthening the role in assisting them to formulate policies and standards. It is with great pride that our members will be part of TPITE. Also, most, if not all of our conventions and conferences were endorsed by CHED.

PSITE Partners

PSITE wouldn’t accomplish much without collaborating efforts with partners. Our partners are the following:

Sun Microsystems, Inc - We had an OpenJive Challenge last July, 2009. The objective of the challenge is to drive students’ passion and enthusiasm for innovation through the use of Open Source technologies such as Java Technology, JavaFX, NetBeans IDE, OpenSolaris, MySQL, GlassFish, Project Wonderland, Zembly and many others to develop cutting-edge applications for desktop, web or mobile, that will address key issues that organizations face today, while fostering interactivity between communities on the Internet.

UP-ITTC - We actively participated and shared our expertise and human resources during Y4IT, were some of the PSITE Board Members and Regional Presidents served as Speakers.

DeVcon - We signed a memorandum of agreement with DeVcon. With the goal of increasing the quality and quantity of the supply of software development engineering talent for the Philippines, Developers Connect (DEVCON) and PSITE agreed to cooperate in conducting nationwide DEVCON activities within the constituents covered by PSITE and its local affiliations.

ADOBE – We also partnered with ADOBE. With this partnership, members of PSITE are given marked down prices of their products and services. Many of our members benefitted from this partnership.

A MOA Signing was held again with IBM, DEVCON, ADOBE, UP-ITTC, Microsoft during the 13^th national convention in Antipolo last year.

Seminars/Workshops

We held a Faculty Development workshops at the Crowne Regency Hotel and Enverga university last October and December of 2009 with Mr. Oliver Malabanan as resource speaker. This is a training workshop on IT course design and teaching strategies. Other seminar workshops were organized and conducted by the regional chapters. Others might find it very trivial to have this kind of trainings. However, we noted that more or less 80% of the not so matured schools need this kind of trainings. And this is the essence of Peer-to- PEER, taking cognizance of the concerns of our peers.

PSITE and NCITE Conventions

The conventions that we held for the past three years are:

· 11^th PSITE National Convention, Febraury 26-28, 2009,Dipolog City

· 12^th PSITE National Convention, February 24-27, 2010, Bohol

· 13^th PSITE National Convention, February 16-19, 2010, MMLDC, Antipolo

· NCITE 2009, October 21-23, 2009, Cagayan de Oro City

· NCITE 2010, October 20-22, 2010 in Boracay,Malay, Aklan

· NCITE 2011, October 27-29, 2011, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

·
On top of these, we were able to visit other regional chapters (NCR, Regions 1,2,3,4,7 and 12)

PSITE Social Responsibility

PSITE has not been only very technical. We also took care of the social needs of our members. A very noble act by PSITE was the donation of more than sixty thousand pesos (P60,000.00) for the typhoon victims of Ondoy and Pepeng in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, CAR and NCR. This is the first time that PSITE extended this kind of help to its members. In December last year, we extended fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) for the victims of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities. PSITE –NCR and PSITE- XII also did share 10 thousand each. This is the first time that PSITE regional chapters extended this kind of help to its fellow regional members. On December 11, 2011, we had our Joint PSITE National Board and Regional Presidents meeting and Christmas party coupled with an Outreach program at the Munting Tahanan ng Nazareth (Home for the Poor, Abandoned, Handicapped and Special Children) were we donated fifteen thousand pesos (P15,000.00) aside from food and supplies.

With these PReParE and Peer-to- PEER agenda, at the back of my mind were the PSITE objectives which are found in our constitution and by-laws. Section 2.1 provides that “the general objective of this Society shall be the promotion of quality information technology (IT) education. The specific objective is found in Section 2.2 which states that “this Society shall serve as a venue for the optimization and development of faculty members, curricula, projects, research, resources, linkages, and assistance in policy formulation related to IT education.”

After implementing something new, several firsts, several changes in the organization, we went away from status quo. We embarked into programs and projects which were not done before. We implemented systems and policies, and changed the mindset of the regional chapters in the formulation of the programs and activities. We reviewed and amended our very constitution and by-laws. After analyzing and looking at it on a macro level, the process of change that we did was not systematic. Though we attained a high level of attainment to most of our projects, we could have done more. And many could have participated in the process.

With this in mind, we thought of holding an organizational development process or commonly known as OD. OD is a process of improving our organization and a systematic process of change. According to Killion and Harrison, organizational development requires a planned approach to change based on meeting the needs of both the people and the organization. So, we underwent an organizational development process facilitated by our interval Vice President, Ms. Grace F. Tyler. There was a presentation by Ms. Tyler about Organization Development. This was followed by revisiting what PSITE now has. Then we did SWOT analysis, did fish bone analysis, and other OD tools. With the OD meetings and workshops, we took a look at our mandate, came up with our vision, mission, values and goals. We went to the level of identifying the activities, and other details such as the timeframe, responsible persons, etc.)

Hence, the following are the part of the results of the workshop:

Vision

The premier national information technology professional organization transforming the academic community that enables and sustains the growth of a knowledge-driven Philippine economy

Mission

We are committed in providing opportunities for the development of our members through:

· Strong community and Partnership involvement with the education providers, industry, government, non-government agencies and international counterparts.

· Dynamic and responsive Educational initiatives for an enhanced academic standard.

· Relevant community Extension and immersion programs

· Aggressive building of Research Capability and effective mentoring system.

With OD in mind, we tried to look at the status of the regional chapters and took note of Regions 1 and 2 who has not been active for years now. Hence, in August and September we revived these regional chapters.

The time horizon of our plans and programs is three years. And I hope the leadership of PSITE in the coming three years will align itself to the three-year plan that the group started.

Again, I would like to emphasize that PSITE is here to further IT education in the Philippines. We strive to be a medium for development and growth of the IT Educators in the country. With great passion for the formation of the young and updating the not-so-young, PSITE members take the challenge to produce competent and skilful IT professionals who are endowed with social and corporate responsibility at par with other IT graduates in the global world. The challenge maybe great, but PSITE will take it in stride.

We have done much, and, together, with our concerted efforts, we, PSITE as a national organization, can do much more, bring our organization to the highest level of service as possible to achieve our mission and vision, and succeed. As Henry Ford said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

And finally, GenSan is such a wonderful place to live, to have a vacation and also hold convention. Let us make the most of our stay in this beautiful City of GenSan, also known as the home of the best Tuna in the Philippines where residents are proud to say that seafoods are fresher when it comes from their beloved city, so let us pamper ourselves with fresh tuna and other seafoods delight.

Good afternoon.

Cyber Summit 2012

2012-01-17T14:54:00.002+08:00

(Delivered by Dr. Randy S. Gamboa, PSITE President, during the Cyber Summit 2012 held at St. Paul University Learning Resource Center, Tuguegarao City)

Thank you very much for that kind introduction.

Sr. Remy Angelia Junio, SPC-University President, Dr. Evelyn Pascua,-Regional Director -Commission on Higher Education, Sr. Cherryve Dagairag, SPC, Dean, School of Information Technology and Engineering, Dr. Jaime D.L. CARO, Director, UPITCC

Other distinguished speakers, our dear Fellow IT educators and IT Students, sponsors, friends, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning.

I am honored to be given this opportunity to address you this morning on the opening session of the Cyber Summit 2012. The theme which is “Enriching Young Minds Through the 21st Century Railways of ITE Innovations” is very appropriate and it reflects the eagerness of the new generation, the young minds to get updated and to advance information technology and engineering innovations to a greater extent. A lot of questions may be in our mind. How are we going to do this? Who is our target market? Will we do it for service? or profit or just satisfy ourselves? What should we be working on? How do we move forward?

The late Steve Jobs, Apple’s legendary co-founder and CEO, once said “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

When I learned about these words, the first thing that came to my mind was a question? Is Steve Jobs a yogi, or someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment? I haven’t gone to the point of knowing the answer to that. Maybe you can do it for me.

But whether he is a yogi or not, there is one thing for sure … he moved mountains. He touched our lives to some extent without many people knowing it until he passed away.

In our era when people are flooded with information, simplicity is principally important. Take for example the social media. While social media gives every opportunity to reach a large audience easily, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they should overload their viewers with status updates. It is better to post interesting and significant content than getting caught up with posting a certain number of times per day or week. Social media marketing should be kept simple.

In innovation, there can be two different ways to approach it. It can be that you focus on a specific target market by doing simple market research, know what the consumers want and then manufacture and do innovations. Or it could be that you do what you want and then see if it gets into the market.

Steve Jobs was asked what market research went into iPAd. He responded, “None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want … we figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it too”.

For Apple, their team of highly skilled designers and innovators is the target market for Apple’s products. If they create a product that they themselves would use, then there’s a good chance that the rest of the consumers will like it too. Eventually, their focus on innovating to satisfy what they want creates a new market. Well, sometimes it is useful to be your own target market. This means that you put yourself in the shoes of the consumers you are trying to reach and think about how you would use the product or service that you or your company is designing and manufacturing. Consumers might not be passionate about what you are designing, manufacturing and selling if you yourself are not passionate about it.

What caught my attention about that response of Jobs was when he mentioned about having the right discipline. When he mentioned that, he meant having the right knowledge, the right attitude and the right skills.

As manufacturing and computerized processes become increasingly complex and sophisticated, well-trained professionals are in demand. Designers and innovators are sought after. This is an exciting challenge in IT education. How to produce graduates who will be equipped with the technical knowledge and social communication and critical thinking skills that are essential to succeed in today’s fast-paced workplace.

The 21st century poses big challenges to IT innovators. Among these are having the right discipline to work in all areas of production from research and design, to manufacturing, sales, customer service application, computer networking, programming, and digital media design. In coping with these challenges come opportunities for growth and eventual success. But Jobs said that sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving other innovations. I can also say that it is best to interrelate and intermingle with people of the same field to broaden your perspective and knowledge.

We, at PSITE, provide a venue for networking and sharing of ideas, primarily for IT educators. PSITE is the nation’s largest professional IT organization. From time to time, we hold education technology conventions and conferences. It is an organization with great diversity that supports members and affiliates with information and networking opportunities as they face the challenge of innovation and transforming education.

In the recent years, PSITE’s thrust is geared towards Professionalism, Research, Partnership, Education and Extension. This year, we focused on organizational development of PSITE. For 2011, PSITE organized the annual national convention last February 16-19 at the Meralco Management and Leadership Development Center Foundation in Antipolo City, the National Conference of IT Education last October 27-29 at the Palawan State University in Puerto Princesa and co-organized other regional conferences, meetings and forums.

These activities provided a venue for presentation of research papers and active interaction of practitioners, educators, administrators and even contractors, service providers and consultants in the profession. New ideas and innovations are being conceptualized and presented in these events.

This year’s national convention will be on February 23-25 at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Center in Lagao, General Santos City. The theme is “Strengthening Information Technology Education Through Organizational Development”. You are most welcome to attend and participate in the convention.

Attending conferences like the PSITE conventions and conferences and also this Cyber Summit 2012 provides an opportunity to widen our knowledge on information technology and engineering, and likewise encourages networking and exchange of ideas with the hope of contributing to give the members and participants the right discipline and inspiring innovators. As Steve Jobs said “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

I wish you all a fruitful summit ahead. Knowing the organizers, I am confident that this gathering will be a great success. Be focused. Keep things simple. Have the right discipline. And you can move mountains. Good morning.

14th PSITE National Convention

2012-01-17T14:28:00.000+08:00

Greetings from the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators Foundation, Inc. (PSITE).

PSITE, being the nation’s largest professional IT organization, hosts from time to time, several educational technology conventions and conferences. It is an organization with great diversity that supports members and affiliates with information and networking opportunities as they face the challenge of innovation and transforming education.

In this premise, PSITE cordially invites participants from your school to attend the 14th PSITE National Convention which will be held on February 23-25, 2012 at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Centre in General Santos City with the theme “Strengthening IT Education Paradigm Through Organizational Development”.

Below are the convention fees:

Live-in Participants P 5,500.00

(includes convention materials and hotel accommodation, lunch & snacks for 2 days)

Live-out Participants P 4,500.00

(includes convention materials, lunch & snacks for 2 days)

Discount: P200.00 for payments made on or before January 25, 2012.

You may deposit early payments to any Allied Bank branch. Accomplish the deposit slip in triplicate credited to PSITE using the following details:

Account Name : PSITE

Account Number : 3131-02238-4

Branch: Allied Bank, Recto Branch, Manila

Please email a scanned copy of the validated deposit slip and/or confirm your attendance and early reservations to Martina Tagacay (natconsecretariat@psite12.org) or Edwin V. Marañon (evmaranon@gmail.com). Alternatively, you may present the deposit slip to the convention secretariat on February 23, 2012. Official receipts will be issued during the convention.

We hope to see you and your colleagues during the convention.

ARIGATO GOZAIMAS

2011-11-21T13:28:00.001+08:00

Konnichiwa ,

On behalf of the participants both from the Philippines and from other countries, I would like to thank the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship or AOTS especially GM Kawakami-San, Suzuki-San and the entire AOTS community, the Ministry of Economic, Trade and Industry or METI, the Information Technology Promotion Agency or IT-PA for giving us a wonderful opportunity attending this training Program on Instructors for ITSS/ITEE in Asian Countries or ENIT.

The training outline was very comprehensive. Together, we have learned and have better understanding of ITSS, improvement in ITEE instructional methods and its future developments. Tsuru-San presented a case study that was very informative and challenging. Our knowledge on ITSS and ITEE were broaden by the well-prepared presentations of Ogawa-San, Amino-San, Tsuru-San, Kawabata-San, Tomita-San, Tanaka-San and Ichimura-San. Our company visits in Digital Hollywood University, Legend Applications Inc, Cyber Government Square, Tokyo Denki University provided us a clearer picture of implementing ITSS and ITEE models. We learned about the actual situation in Japan as well as have seen for ourselves the most advanced educational technology in Japan.

This training program is a very educational one. Our problems and situations are sometimes similar and at times varied and very diverse in nature. But we can learn from each other and help each other to overcome our problems. From our short casual conversations with the co-participants and the host, lecturers and organizers, we already picked up some bits of information about their experiences, both successes and failures, how each understands ITSS and ITEE.

Thank you to our course coordinator, Furuya-San and our interpreters Nozawa-San, Nakayama-San and Fujita-San who have prepared and have been running this training. It was very well-organized and all are systematic.

And last but not the least, thank you to our co-participants from Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and also my new friends from the Philippines. Your active participation and the information exchange that we had was indeed commendable. We learned from each other in the session room as well as outside this room.

Not many people from foreign countries will get to visit this beautiful country of Japan, particularly here in Tokyo. And we are very lucky to have been given this chance to appreciate the beauty of Japan.

This one visit is not enough to see everything, but it is more than enough to say that Japan is a place worth visiting. I hope to see you again here in Japan, in the Philippines, your respective countries or in the other parts of the world.

Thank you and good afternoon. ARIGATO GOZAIMAS.

Japan Training

2011-11-11T07:18:00.005+08:00

I' m attending the AOTS training from Oct. 31-Nov18, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. The program aims to enhance participants’ teaching skills and abilities as ITEE instructors through acquisition of knowledge and methods essential to pass the ITEE exam. Also, this program features the significance of the ITSS, IT career skill framework, and their relevance to the ITEE. Through comprehensive understanding of these, this program aims to develop instructors which can contribute to the dissemination of the ITEE exam and the development of the skilled IT engineers in each country.

The contents of this training program are as follows:

Concept of the information technology engineers examination (ITEE), the IT engineers career skill framework, the IT skill standards (ITSS) and links between them.
Japanese IT industry-human resource Development Strategies in IT
How to apply the ITSS and ITEE in Japanese IT companies and education institutions
Necessary know-how and skills for teaching the applicants for ITEE (FE and AP) or curriculum development or improvement of teaching materials
Necessary know-how and skills for teaching the applicants for the IT examination, IT Passport (IP).
Action plan for promotion ITEE and HRD.

NCITE 2011

2011-10-31T07:25:00.005+08:00

PSITE, being the nation’s largest professional IT organization, hosts from time to time several educational technology conventions and conferences. It is an organization with great diversity that supports members and affiliates with information and networking opportunities as they face the challenge of innovation and transforming education.

This year's 9th National Conference on Information Technology Education (NCITE 2011) was held at Palawan State University, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan last October 27-29, 2011. NCITE provides a venue to present innovative ideas, approaches, developments and results of research projects in the areas of Information Technology and Technology-based Education. The conference also promotes the exchange of information between researchers, faculty, administrators, and I.T. practitioners. This year it was attended by more than 250 participants from all over the country.

Y4IT 2011

2011-09-26T11:10:00.005+08:00

This gathering was intended to give new perspective on the current trends, innovations and career opportunities in Information and Communications Technology. The congress is likewise a venue for discovering and evaluating the new technologies that will impact our lives. Latest topics in the world of communication and computing were lined up. Some of the topics discussed include Computer Vision, Learning Analytics, Affective Computing, Tools for Scientific Discovery, IT Education Benchmarking, Personalized Learning, and Reverse Engineering among others.

I would like to thank the organizers, the University of the Philippines Information Technology Training Center (UPITTC), UP System IT Foundation (UPSITF) and the Student Volunteer Corps (SVC), in cooperation with the Computing Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators Foundation Inc and others who invited me as one of the speakers and made this congress possible.

Best Practices on OJT Education and Organizational Development Seminar

2011-09-11T10:58:00.000+08:00

pix taken during the Seminar on Best Practices on OJT Education and Organizational Development where i was one of the invited speakers at the School of Information and Computing Sciences, Saint Louis University, Tuguegarao City. After my talk, I also visited Saint Paul University and met the University President, Sr. Remy Angela Junio, SPC.

PhilNITS invitation

2011-08-27T08:24:00.009+08:00

Last August 24, 2011, i was invited by PhilNITS to deliver the welcome remarks of their free seminar entitled "The Value of FE Certification". This is inline with the promotion of IT Human Resource in Asia with the Information Technology Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan in cooperation with PhilNITS. This was held at Royal Mandaya Hotel with Mr. Kenji Ogawa, Mr. Schinichiro Kato, Ms. Maricol Akol and Mr. Loy Torres as the main speakers.

Seminar on Recent Dev'ts in ICT Service

2011-08-14T10:30:00.003+08:00

I recently attended a lecture-forum at the CCA of Saint Louis University, Baguio City last August 2011 on the “Recent Developments in ICT Service Innovation: Theories, Practices, and Cases” facilitated by Professor Doctor Guido Dedene of the Catholic University of Leuven and the University of Amsterdam. According to him, today’s economy is largely driven by information and services. We are ‘drowning’ in information but are starved of knowledge. Dr. Dedene said that about 60-80 percent of our efforts should be focused on knowledge creation and 20-40 percent on knowledge use and access.

In the same forum, I spoke on the challenges and directions of PSITE, the largest and most active organization of IT educators in the country.

ITE Technical Assessors

2011-07-18T08:08:00.003+08:00

Last July 15, 2011, I attended the orientation meeting for the Technical Assessors in Information Technology Education (ITE) at the CHED Auditorium, C.P Garcia Ave., UP-Campus, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. The participants of the orientation meeting were the ITE Technical Assessors, Technical panel and Committee members, CHED Regional Office supervisors and CHED central office staffs who are involved in the assessment of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) offering Information Technology Education programs.

The objectives of the orientation were:

To provide insights and information on the CHEDs direction of determining the state of IT education in the country;
Streamline the offering of IT programs to make it responsive to the demands of the industry and attuned to global standards; and
Harmonize all evlauation tools and instruments used in gauging, calibrating and assessing capabilities of HEIs offering IT programs.

The orientation meeting was attended by the the CHED-OPS executive director Dr. Sinforoso M. Birung, who also handed our appointed papers as member of National Pool of Technical Assessors for a term of two(2) years. The appointment paper takes effect May 1, 2011 to April 30, 30, 2013.

FIT4E: my reaction, conflict between TRANSPARENCY and SECURITY

2011-06-17T08:10:00.010+08:00

We had our first automated national election last year. The clamor has always been that the entire process should be observable, both from the technology and human standpoint. Dr. Jones presented specific areas where a need for transparency is evident as well as threats to security.

The voting system uses specific software. This is the one that the winning bidder promised to use. For purposes of transparency, how can one make sure that this promised software is in actuality the software used in the system?

All of our technical solutions to the problems described here rest on use of specific software in the voting system, at the tabulating center, or in portable devices. This raises the question, how can an observer assure himself or herself that the software that is actually in use is indeed the very same software that has been approved for use.

As long as it was declared that the software used is in accordance to what is in the bidding document, then, there seems to be no way for the public to determine its veracity. If there is already dishonesty in the software used, would you not expect dishonesty if the numbers that will be produced?

To be transparent, the voting system may be run using that software but only on a read-only access. This is because it may be possible that the contractor would like to protect the proprietary software. The next question that arises is that how can we be sure that the same processor as promised is being used? This process requires careful design of channels where transparency come into play. And there is a overwhelming interest from the public on the integrity of the election machinery. The interest is not only on the voting system acquired, but also in detail how this is tested. For purposes of transparency though, vendors usually show the public that it is being tested and that to prove that they are using the correct software, they physically produce the numbers that the public wants to see.

On the aspect of security, it was presented that there are flaws as far as this is concerned. But again, even the assessment of the voting system security may contain flaws. At the very instant that the software is acquired, security is not the biggest issue. It all starts with transparency. However, security issues are being emphasized when there are names seemingly lost, the voters cannot all vote, when numbers produce or printed are questionable and so on. Security does not only include the software security but most especially the data security. Even securing the data between locations upon transmission is a security issue. Hence, attempts have been done to ensure that the public sees the numbers from the ballot layout, to the totals in the precinct level. But the question again arises whether this is authentic. The authenticity now covers both transparency and security issue.

Too much transparency may compromise security. Does too much security compromise transparency? From the presentation, this is not always the case. Evaluating security strategies may be done by third party evaluators or assessors. Security system requirements are always included in the vendors’ proposals because this I presume is always required by the country. This should be clear and evaluating and verifying it should be easy for the evaluators or the assessing public.

Dr. Jones presentation gave us broad and specific areas where transparency and security come in conflict and personally, I agree with the points raised.

mabuhay ang organizers ng FIT4E ...

PSITE Induction of Officers, AY 2011-12

2011-05-04T10:58:00.016+08:00

(Delivered by Dr. Randy S. Gamboa, PSITE President, during the Joint PSITE National Board and Regional Presidents Strategic Planning, Systems Plus College Foundation, SPCF English Camp, Don Bonifacio Subd., Angeles City, April 28, 2011) and
induction of PSITE national officers with mayor "boking morales" of mabalacat, pampanga as our inducting officer.

Good evening once again.

First of all, I would like to thank our good mayor, Hon. Marino "Boking" P. Morales , for gracing this affair despite his hectic schedule. We are very privilege and indeed grateful, thank you mayor. Thank you also to our dear sponsors, Systems Plus Foundation College, Mabalacat Colleges, Angeles University Foundation, Holy Angel University and St. Nicholas Colleges.

I am likewise honored for being re-elected as President of PSITE National. As president for the past years, I have set the direction and thrust for every year. And the regional chapters in turn aligned their programs and activities towards these thrusts. If you remember, we have the mnemonic PReParE which means Professionalism, Research, Partnership and Education.Following that was our Peer-to-PEER which adopts the small brother-big brother concept. We address not only the concerns raised by big or matured schools but most specially the small schools. The first Peer refers to us, colleagues, peers, not only individuals but also institutions, helping one another to achieve a common goal. We know as an organization, there are more schools needing our help and we know that the bigger and more matured schools are more than willing to extend a hand. And the other mnemonic PEER means Partnership, Education , Extension and Research. When I announced these thrusts or shall I say, key result areas, at the back of my mind were the PSITE objectives which are found in our constitution and by-laws. Section 2.1 provides that “the general objective of this Society shall be the promotion of quality information technology (IT) education. The specific objective is found in Section 2.2 which states that “this Society shall serve as a venue for the optimization and development of faculty members, curricula, projects, research, resources, linkages, and assistance in policy formulation related to IT education.”

From the time that I became vice-president of PSITE up to this time that I am the president, we implemented something new, several firsts, several changes in the organization. We went away from status quo. We embarked into programs and projects which were not done before. We implemented systems and policies, and changed the mindset of the regional chapters in the formulation of the programs and activities. We even came to a point of reviewing and amending our very own constitution and by-laws. Admittedly, however, the process of change that we did was not systematic. Though we attained a high level of attainment to most of our projects, we could have done more. And many could have participated in the process.

With this in mind, I thought of having an organizational development or commonly known as OD. OD is a process of improving our organization and a systematic process of change. According to Killion and Harrison, organizational development requires a planned approach to change based on meeting the needs of both the people and the organization. What are the needs of the people and the organization? I know a few but not all. Will these be met by the organization? Is it part of the mandate of the organization to meet those needs? If so, how would these needs be met? What are the details in meeting those needs?

On a broader sense, if meeting these needs, will we attain our mission statement, the purpose of our organization? Does this define our vision or the way we want to look at the future? To all these questions, my answer for now is “I don’t know”. The main reason why I say this is that we do not have our vision and mission statements. The goals, strategies will follow after that. Then we can have our own strategic plan, say, for three years, which shall be updated every year.

Plans are important. But what is more important is the planning process, wherein you and I will be given the opportunity to be involved and be part of, today. Hence, let us grab this chance to actively participate in the process of organizational development and strategic planning.

The process will be facilitated by our very own PSITE Board member, Grace Tyler. I hope that you will all cooperate in this endeavor and make this day a great success.

So to all of you, my colleagues, my peers, let us PReParE for OD.

Good evening.

International Education Leadership Forum

2011-03-28T10:28:00.007+08:00

pix taken during the international education leadership forum last march 23-24, 2011 at Langham Place Hotel with the theme "Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Digital Experiences". It brings insights into the global digital media education and it was great to gain a wider vision of IT issues relating to education and to share experiences. Focus of discussions included preparing student for technology-driven workforce with the implementation of various digital media education programs and preparing educators to transform teaching and learning experiences. I was one of the country representatives to attend this international education leadership forum.

CSP (Computing Society of the Philippines) national board

2011-03-07T13:15:00.013+08:00

PCSC 2011 (11th Philippine Computing Science Congress) organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines(CSP) and Ateneo de Naga University had a very successful conference last March 4-5, 2011. CSP organizes this conference to enable local and neighboring computing educators, researchers, ICT professionals and students to interact and to share their work in computing, computer science, computer engineering, computational science, and information and communications technology (ICT). The conference features special lectures by prominent researchers and educators in the field of information and communications technology (including computing, computer science, computer engineering, computational science, and related disciplines). It also features contributed research papers on computing and ICT. This year, the conference was hosted by the Ateneo de Naga University.

As a newly elected CSP national board, i will serve for 3 academic years.

THANK You

2011-02-27T21:23:00.005+08:00

Dear All,

Thank you for attending and participating in the 13th PSITE National Convention held at the Meralco Management and Leadership Development Center, Antipolo, Rizal last February 16 to 19, 2011. I deeply appreciate your support. Special thanks to the convention chair, Sir Bart Tanguilig III and the local organizer, the NCR Chapter led by Mam Lorena Rabago for hosting the convention.

I would consider that the highlight of the convention was the signing of agreements. These were with IBM, DEVCON, ADOBE, UP-ITTC and Microsoft. It is also worth mentioning that the second draft of the research manual was presented. We hope that this will be finalized this year.

Our guiding Peer-to- PEER agenda led us to more partnerships, developed our members, and encouraged more research works. Much is yet to be done. But with the usual support of the officers and members, I’m sure we can achieve more. Congratulations to the new set of officers.

PSITE PEER! PReParE for OD.

Cheers!

President's Report

2011-02-24T08:32:00.018+08:00

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

(Delivered by Dr. Randy S. Gamboa, PSITE President, during the 13^th PSITE National Convention held at Meralco Management and Leadership Development Center Foundation, Inc. (MMLDC), February 19, 2011)

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.

At the onset, let me personally thank the members of the PSITE National Board for their solid support to achieve our thrust, coined as Peer-to- PEER.

Let me take off my report from theprevious convention that we had. This was held last February 24-27, 2010 at Panglao Island, Dayo Hill, Mayacabac, Daius, Bohol. Among the highlights of that convention were presentation of the research framework and the amendments of the PSITE constitution and by-laws.

We had our Joint PSITE National Board and Regional Presidents Planning Session last April 28-30, 2010 at the UP-Hotel, Diliman, Quezon City. It was also a venue for the induction of national officers with the former CICT chair Hon. Sec. Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua as the inducting officer. During that planning session the national board set the Peer-to- PEER agenda or direction. As I mentioned in my openingremarks the other day, it is like a big brother – small brother concept. The first Peer refers to us, colleagues, peers, not only individuals but also institutions, helping one another to achieve a common goal. The second PEER stands for Partnership, Education, Extension and Research.

My succeeding report now will be arranged by agenda.

First is on Partnership.

With DevCon:

On June 25, 2010, VP for Internal sir Farley Abrigo, VP for External sir Gregg Gabison, VP for Mindanao sir Edwin Marañon, and myself attended the Developers Connect or DevCon1^stAnniversary celebration in Cebu City. We met the DevCon founder Winston Damarillo as well as the DevCon President Jerry Rapes. We did some exploratory talks and possibility of partnership. We witnessed how they did the lightning talks, birds of a feather and hackathon. That stirred our interest to have a cooperation with them so that our members too can experience such activities. As I mentioned the other day, lightning talksis a fast-paced presentation of the newest technology by experts. Birds of a feather is a discussion or intensedebate on a mutual topic of interest. Hackathon is a codingmarathon where real programmers shine through hands-on demonstration and/or joint coding onsite. After series of communications, we were able to forge an agreement withthem. And this was signed during our pre-conference three days ago.

With Ng Khai Development Corporation:

In August 2010, we were able to collaborate withNg Khai Development Corporation, an Autodesk authorized reseller in the Philippines. We were given a very low low price for licensed Autodesk software.Purchasing 10 units of Autodesk Education Suite for Entertainment Creation 2011 at regular prices cost P 1,859,000.00. But for PSITE members, this was only given at P 298,700.00. For 10 units of Autodesk Education Master Suite 2011, regular price is P 7,931,000.00. But for PSITE members, this was only given at P 415,000.00. Note that these low prices were only offered exclusively for PSITEmembers only. Also, since one packagemay be used in Engineering Education, the Engineering departments of member schools were also given the opportunity to avail of such discounts. Many of our member schools were able to purchase and avail of the discounted prices.

With UP-ITTC:

Our partnership with UP-ITTC was more of sharing of expertise and human resources. During the 8^th Philippine Youth Congress on Information Technology or Y4IT heldon September 14-17, 2010 at UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City, some of our PSITE board members and regional presidents served as resource speakers.

With Google:

We assisted in the organization of the Googleevent which was held on November 16, 2010 at the De La Salle University.

With IBM:

In December, 2010, we had an initial talkwith IBM. This was another partnership opportunity for PSITE. After some exchange of emails and communications, wewere able to come up with an agreement which we just signed last night.

With ADOBE:

During the Singapore Benchmarking Activity that PSITE had last January 5-9 this year, a group of 12 board members together with some regional presidents talked to ADOBE executives for a cooperation and partnership. After follow-up communications, we were able to have a ceremonial signing of a letter of cooperation with ADOBE three days ago. The other activities on this benchmarking activity will be reported later.

For the Education agenda, for the first time we conducted parallel sessions during the NCITE 2010 or the National Conference of IT Educators 2010. This was held last October 20-23, 2010 at the La Carmela de Boracay. That was the first time that NCITE was held outside the school and yet hosted by a school, the Aklan Catholic College. The topics for the parallel sessions were Software Engineering, Database Systems and Data Structures and Algorithms.

Another highlight of the conference was the awarding of honorary membership to Naveen Asrani in recognition for his exceptional and unselfish services and support to the PSITE’s vision and mission.

As I mentioned earlier, we had a Singapore benchmarking activity last January. We were particularly interested in pursuing a “close range” understanding of the Singapore Academic Ecosystem with emphasis in institutions offering computing courses and how they established linkage with industries both local and global. Though here in the Philippines, several undertakings have been made in establishing an ecosystem where there is an existence of a close collaboration with industry, academe and government, however, seeing and touching base with real life personalities and champions in Singapore, gave us more clarity and realization how for instance Singapore has created an ecosystem where industry, academe, and government collude positively, bringing out economic advantage to the country. Hence, we visited the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Polytechnic.

The topics revolved around three major components namely: (1) The creation of a successful research and development system; (2) The provision of a critical mass of quality professionals; and (3) the promotion of a culture for technology advocates.

For the thrust on Extension and Linkages, we were able to launched the Information Technology Education or ITE Reference Guide and Practicum Manual. This was launched last November 23, 2010 during the PSITE XI gathering in Davao City.

Also, DevCon and PSITE had instituted the faculty immersion program wherein selected PSITE members undergo technical research and development and exposure/training at various locations as part of the effort to strengthen academe-industry linkage.

Research was also one of the focus areas of PSITE. During the NCITE in Boracay, the first draft of the research manual was presented. The second draft of the research manual will be presented by Dr. Allan Sioson after my report. During NCITE, there were 325 attendees with 32 paper presenters and 16 poster presentations. We were encouraged to accept poster presentations because there was a lot of interest for research presentations received.

On top of all these accomplishments, I was able to take time to visit other regional chapters and served as resource or keynote speaker. The regions visited were as follows:

1) Region 3 – last July 23-24, 2010 at Dormus Mariae Internation Center, University of Assumption, Unisite Subdivision, Del Pilar, City of San Fernando Pampanga.

(2) Region 12 - held last January 27-29, 2011 at Notre Dame of Marbel.

(3) Region 7 – last February 9-10 of this year at Silliman University, Dumaguete during the Silliman University of Computer Studies (SU CCS) 3^rd Negros Oriental ICT Student Congress (NICTSC)

While we have done quite a lot, there are still more that can be done to benefit the members, member institutions in your respective regions and in the whole country as well. We can further our agenda and benefit from it as well through additional knowledge and experience, as well as create a linkage and network among IT educators and professionals.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, PSITE PEER! PReParE for OD.

Good morning.

13th PSITE National Convention, Feb 16-19, 2011 (Antipolo City)

2011-02-22T19:44:00.008+08:00

OPENING REMARKS

Our Keynote Speaker, who will be properly introduced later, Hon. Governor Casimiro Yñares, Hon. Mayor Danilo Leyble, Sir Bartolome Tanguilig III, our convention chair, my colleagues in the national board, regional presidents, my fellow IT educators and members of PSITE, our dear sponsors, my peers, ladies and gentlemen, magandang umaga sa inyong lahat, good morning to all.

This 13^th PSITE National Convention is dedicated to the theme “Making Great Partnership, Education, Extension and Research Happen”.

The PSITE tagline this academic year is Peer-to- PEER. This thrust is anchored on a peer-to-peer principle. It is like a big brother – small brother concept. The first Peer refers to us, colleagues, peers, not only individuals but also institutions, helping one another to achieve a common goal.

The second PEER is a mnemonic. It stands for Partnership, Education, Extension and Research. And the theme for this national convention conveys our thrust.

This year’s convention marks the start of a new partnership between PSITE and ADOBE. With this partnership, members of PSITE are given marked down prices of their products and services. The signing of the memorandum of agreement was held during the pre-convention yesterday here at the Meralco Foundation.

Further, with the goal of increasing the quality and quantity of the supply of software development engineering talent for the Philippines, PSITE also partnered with the Developers Connect or DevCon to cooperate in conducting DevCon activities within the constituents covered by PSITE and its local affiliations. DevCon activities include lightning talks, birds of a feather and hackathon. Lightning Talks is a fast-paced presentation of the newest technology by experts. Birds of a Feather is a discussion or intense debate on a mutual topic of interest. Hackathon is a coding marathon where real programmers shine through hands-on demonstration and/or joint coding onsite. The agreement was also signed yesterday.

During these three days, we will have a number of expert speakers presenting on national, regional and international initiatives and partnerships, as well as tools and practical ways to move forward to IT education. The second draft of the research manual which we, in PSITE, started developing last year will be presented. We will be honoring former PSITE national presidents during the president’s night. The organizers also included a team building activity in the schedule. Furthermore, we will witness the MOA signing between PSITE and IBM. This is in relation to the delivery of IBM academic initiatives similar to the JEDI program.

We hope that the presentations and activities, and more importantly, the deliberations and sharing experiences that will take place, will provide useful information for further discussions of the IT educators in the country.

This gathering today could not have been pushed through if not for the work done by the organizers headed by the convention chair, Sir Bartolome Tanguilig III, Mam Lorena Rabago, chapter president of NCR and local organizing chair and the support given by the PSITE Board in many ways including the financial subsidy of PSITE National for the convention thereby reducing our registration fee. The presence of our Hon. Gov. Yñares and Hon. Mayor Leyble, indicates the all out support of the local governance to gatherings like this.

Before I end, I am encouraging you all to experience Antipolo City after the convention or during our free times. I can’t forget the song “Tayo na sa Antipolo” which was taught to us when we were still in the primary grades, and that was few decades ago. The song features the famous Hinulugan Taktak. Let us also feel the essence of why Antipolo is called the Pilgrimage Capital of the Philippines. And of course, don’t forget to taste and take home its delicacies such as the mangga, casuy and suman.

To conclude my opening remarks, I want to thank you all in advance for your participation. Special thanks also goes to our sponsors for their unselfish contribution and support, thus, making this 13^th PSITE National Convention happen. It is my hope that the members of PSITE will take advantage of this opportunity to build strong linkages with their colleagues, forge greater unity and, together, continue to make IT Education dynamic and responsive to the changing times.

Thank you and my best wishes for a successful convention.

Good morning.

SU CCS 3rd Negros Oriental ICT Student Congress (NICTSC), February 9-10, 2011, Silliman Hall, Silliman Univer

2011-02-12T19:07:00.007+08:00

Thank you very much for that kind introduction.

Dean Dave Marcial, my fellow IT educators, our dear students, friends, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

I am very happy to be given this opportunity to address you this morning on the opening session of this very important congress. This is officially the last function that I am attending before the next PSITE election next week.

When I accepted your invitation, I took note of the ingredients present in today’s congress. It is noteworthy to emphasize the theme, the presentations and the presenters. This congress indeed creates opportunities for quality and excellence. These are the same ingredients that we will also be discussing in the next PSITE National Convention.

Information technology, computer science, information systems --- all of these take part in what will make us succeed or fail as we confront the challenges that are upon us. IT, CS and IS is a great area of promise for all of us to be able to address the very same challenges or be it in a different battlefield. Challenges of finding income, the challenges of providing people opportunity, jobs, challenges of being able to alleviate the lives of the Filipinos, or even just bring it to a little higher level as it is now. And now it is in a different battlefield. A different battlefield -- principally because of the very nature of the internet, the very nature of e-commerce, the very nature of the technology.

We all know that what is the only constant here on earth is change. However, in IT, change is not so much as the challenge that we are confronted with. But rather it is the pace of change. And it is the fact that no one can really say in what direction or in what way all of these changes will come about. We are faced with a situation where we need to cope up with the changes of the times so that we will be competitive and will be key players in this new age.

Filipinos look upon the electronic age with great deal of hope and eagerness --- with a great deal of, a sense of, challenge. I am very confident that we are very much suited to be able to participate very well in this new age. We have a competitive advantage so that we will be able to find the way and take the helm through this period. The principal tools that we have are our education, our english facility, our multi-national, multi-ethnic and sophisticated outlook and our ability to adapt to different ways of doing business, particularly the western ways.

Therefore, globally, we can be competitive. I should say, we are competitive. I know a lot of successful people, some of them were my former students. They are employed abroad, occupying high positions. Some do not have high positions but are very well paid because of their talent and ingenuity. While others are company owners themselves -- entrepreneurs. These successful people, at some point in time, were given the opportunity to be exposed to presentations and researches presented in congress like this. One of those successful filipinos in our field is Dado Banatao. As a venture capitalist, he is considered as the Bill Gates of the Philippines. We are going to meet with him next week.

Hence, this is a great opportunity for all of us that we should not miss the boat. Certainly, let us strive to be active participants in this congress.

We in PSITE would like to contribute in our own way to prepare IT professionals and those would be professionals to enter into this battlefield. Holding student congresses like this open the opportunities for students to present their researches. It will encourage students and even faculty members to make more researches because there is a venue for presentation. And with proper guidance these research work will be put into application and used by private, government and non-government organizations as well.

PSITE’s thrust for the year 2010-2011 is coined as Peer-to-PEER. Peer-to-peer not only refers to peer relationship but more importantly, an acronym which is P for Professionalism, E for Education, E for Extension and Linkages and R for Research. I notice from the program that the congress focuses more on research presentations. And I am glad to inform you that for 2010, we noted increasing number of paper and research submissions. Last year, we conducted the NCITE 2010 or the National Conference of IT Education. During the NCITE 2010, there were too many submissions for oral presentation that we cannot accommodate all. So for the first time in the history of PSITE that we had poster presentations of the research works. This is to accommodate as many researches as possible. Interestingly, the convention chair at that time was no less than your very own dean, Dean Dave E. Marcial.

Also, one of the highlights of NCITE is the presentation of the first draft of the research manual. The research manual basically distinguishes researches for IT, CS and IS. The research framework was already adopted by CHED. Anytime this year, we will be able to complete the manual and be circularized all over the country.

In the next PSITE convention in Manila on February 16-19 this year, there will be sessions on research presentations, academic contributions as well as new product promotions. This is again a venue for exchange of ideas, sharing of experiences wherein informal learning takes place.

We in the academe recognize that, as many as we are, certainly we are not of substantial size to be able to determine much, or in much way influence the course of events particularly as it relates to information technology. So indeed, it is important that we will be able to work together.

Again, I would like to thank the organizers for having invited me. Rest assured that the PSITE National will always support the efforts of the PSITE regional chapters as well as its member organizations and institutions like the Silliman University.

I wish you a fruitful and an enjoyable congress ahead.

Good morning.

SINGAPORE Benchmarking Trip

2011-01-13T07:26:00.005+08:00

Singapore Benchmarking Trip

January 05-09, 2011

NUS-National University of Singapore / NANYANG Polytechnic International / ADOBE

Rationalization and Specific Objectives

The Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE) is particularly interested in pursuing a “close range” understanding of the Singapore Academic Ecosystem with emphasis in institutions offering Computing courses and how they established linkage with industries both local and global. Though here in the Philippines, several undertakings have been made in establishing an ecosystem where there is an existence of a close collaboration with Industry, Academe and Government, however, seeing and touching base with real life personalities and champions in Singapore, would give us more clarity and realization how for instance Singapore has created an ecosystem where Industry, Academe, and Government collude positively, bringing out economic advantage to the country. In undertaking this visit, the PSITE delegation will observe, and engage in serious discussions with the different personalities of Singapore in the identified institutions, specifically revolving around three(3) major components:

1st The creation on a Successful Research and Development (RnD) Ecosystem. Research being a major driving force behind the leveling up of Academic institution, discussion will focus on the creation and establishment of strategies and also sustainability directions on this matter.

2nd The provision of a Critical Mass of Quality Professionals. Singapore is able to maintain an identity of being an Information Technology Hub because it has the critical mass of competent IT professionals– from programmers, to professors with aligned postgraduate degrees, highly skilled IT professionals, etc., sustaining the manpower needs of the different computing related companies.

3rd The promotion of a Culture for Technology Advocates. Technologies need much encouragement in order to be fused and accepted both in the industry and academe. To get a grasp of the different concepts and strategies in establishing advocacies to Technology, the “incubation” of their ideas, mentorship from experts, and partnership from technology champions, is within “real” in Singapore.

Methodology

Through visits to Academic Institutions, NGO’s and Gov’t, IT companies and those having R & D initiatives, we hope to :

1. Observe how related initiatives evolved – history and development; and how things are currently done.

2. Ask critical questions and study pertinent documents, and,

3. Evaluate, analyze, and learn from our findings in the context of the experiences and practices of the different Computing HEI’s in the Philippines.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION (ITE) : Reference Guide and Practium Manual ..isbn 971-94826-0

2010-11-24T11:04:00.003+08:00

Front and back cover of the INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION (ITE) : Reference Guide and Practium Manual ..isbn 971-94826-0