On Virtual Socialization

Socialization in my own perspective is a process by which how a person sensitively or how the way he will handle  a situation that is happening in his or her society with dignity in manner. It  is also a process by which an individual can acquire value of  respect and giving  proper concern to a person,  a group or community. 

Presently, the term socialization is now just a colloquial word probably because this term has been coined to social networking  which is now the mode of dealing or communication. However,   I personally believe that the primary purpose of the person who created the social network is to develop someones personality and honestly reach out friends and relatives who are in a miles away. But sometime this was also used by not so kind people to attack and destroy someone's identity, life or even family.

The first social network I used was the Yahoo Messenger, next is Friendster and latest is the Facebook. So far, I haven't encountered serious problems in using those networks. My only intention in using these is merely to stay updated and connected with the persons special to me and to my family. Seeing different beautiful places around the world is secondary.

I am in my 30's when I started using this and now even grade schoolers have their own account(s). Kids do this out of curiosity. They are hearing their parents and some elders talking about it. This is not bad for as long as parents are closely monitoring their children while online and the parents have  instructed their children the do's and dont's in chatting.

In using social network and dealing with different persons especially with long lost acquaintances is exciting. But always  bear in mind that you have a private life that is sacred and a family that needs protection. Many people had already been fooled by their own friends or fooled by persons impersonating their friends identity so stay vigilant.

Missing the Snail Mail?

I do. We write letters for several reasons. Received letters affect our emotion it can make our day, complete  it will ruin our day till the sun goes down. 

I still remember the telegram which was used by the elders then (30 years ago) where the words are limitted because the charge is based on the number of letters written. This type of  service is expensive because it will be received by the recipient in a very short of time or a day after that is why it is only used for urgent notices. So, the common way of exchanging ideas and stories between friends decades ago was thru what we called now the snail mail, which normally takes 3-5 days before you receive it.

It's funny to recall the times after I graduated in college and my friends returned to their hometown and some try their luck abroad for greener pasture. A letter from a friend who resides in Isabela  takes a week for me to wait while letter from Saudi Arabia takes 2 weeks to sail for a considered "registered mail".

But with that experience, I should say that I am lucky enough to witness this remote communication between people. Reading a letter written in a sweet scented paper is amazing. I can't remember the last time I recieved one, huh! Maybe I have to tell my husband after this critical period in academe :-) and maybe I have to make one for my daughter Im sure she will love it.

But now, text messaging and social network are replacing this traditional way of correspondence. It is more faster easier and cheaper. It will not make you wait but sometimes it will also make us feel restless for we are automatically assume sometimes that we must reply ASAP for the received messages. Unlike in snail mail, every reader is given a chance to think and conceptualized first the idea before doing a reply. In snail mail we can   apply creative writing and critical thinking :-)

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Education and Technology

While starting this topic the first thing instantly came to my mind is my concern about my daughter's education. She is seven years old, just recieved her medal being at the top three of her class in Grade 1 level. But don't judge me that I'm just posting this only to show off. Please let me finish my script.

We have been in the country for a year now. We stayed in Japan for almost four years to support and cheer my husband while taking his Ph.D. degree in Iwate University at north of Japan. At the same time my daughter also took up her preschool for three years. 

In Japan, I served as a preschool teacher of my daughter following my teachers in Kindergarten  of instruction. \preschool activities in Japan are mostly art related such as dancing, theatre and music. Far more different in the way of teaching in our country. In short, for my daughter not to be far behind of her class to be here i taught her basic math, reading and writing. As far as I remembered, this are the subjects only taken for preschool during my time.

In Math, I taught her how to count and write from 1 -100, where I feel sorry for my daughter when she got confuse in recognizing the difference between number 6 and 9 (but we are so surprised when she represented her school in  Math Quiz Bee last January and qualified for the final round). In reading, I taught her phonetic sound before introducing the word, (thanks to my teacher in Teaching Strategies where I appreciate the importance of  using the Visual Aids in teaching specially for kids). And in writing, I taught her to write in proper, meaning heating the first line to  start and touch the line by her pencil in ending upon writing the alphabet. I want her to follow religiously the same way I followed the rule of my teacher in Kindergarten. While teaching her, I realized I am not only teaching her to write but also I am teaching her to discipline by following simple rule which I guessed very important to be practiced at a very young age.

However, I know that those introductory learning I shared to my daughter will not make my daughter competitive enough when she will be in Grade 1 because in preschool here in the country they are  also now teaching basic Science and Mathematical Operations. 

June of last year, we entered her in a Montessori school where her cousins are also enrolled and her Uncle works. We believe, that school will be a good place to acclimatize her on first year of her formal education because of familiar faces that  surrounds her. But unfortunately, I have   noticed some shortcomings from the part of teachers. I taught if I am concern with the little things to be followed in writing (like not forgetting to put period in writing the letter i). I was surprised that the disciplines I learned when I was in Kindergarten are now not given due importance. I remembered when I had a short conversation with the Directress of the said that "the school  are following the latest trends and strategies in teaching to adopt in our world which is getting high-tech".

In closing I would like to leave a question which I hope everyone of us  will think of.

Today's advances in technology is pioneered by most personalities not attended a schools influenced by technology. What matter most? Our education be based in gadgets that surrounds us or our education be based with the principles in formulating those gadgets, what do you think?