ELEC 102 CREATIVE WRITING

Welcome to the Creative Writing category. This section will be focusing more on the outputs and assessments in ELEC 102.

(credits to the rightful owner of the abstract photo)

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ASSESSMENT #1

Task: Create a digital poster slogan on creativity as a 21st century skill.

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Assessment:

Write a Reflection Essay on the importance of pre-writing. A reflection essay should be between 300-500 words long. Post your work on your blog.

Reflection Essay:

The hands are the instrument of man’s intelligence. Pre- writing is a fundamental thing for all versatile writers because they need to consider the three main factors such as the topic, the audience, and the purpose. In writing an article, it is very common for people that the introduction must be well-constructed and is very meaningful and accurate. Similarly, pre-writing facilitates the process of writing because it allows us to think more concretely about our subject or topic. I reckoned that a good introduction should identify the topic, provide essential context, and indicate the particular focus in the essay/writing; however, it should always need to engage the readers' interest.

Writing is not a ubiquitous process. It doesn’t follow a certain format for everyone, but often we are taught we have a prompt and then we must complete the assignment following those guidelines. However, sometimes we struggle with certain assignments because we have no idea where to begin. The question then becomes, “how do I start this assignment and how can this process be improved upon?” The short answer is pre-writing. When writing an article, it is very important to know your readers. Why? It is because if you know your readers, you know how to make them question their prior idea about a certain topic. On another note, it guides the intent of their writing and determines how complex or how simple the piece should be. It helps them determine what perspective is appropriate to write from, and it provides them with a comprehension of what is going to either appeal to or deter their audience. Consequently, the main intention why pre-writing is significant because it helps writers develop a clear reasoning; it also helps writers find weak points in an argument; it helps a writer organize their thoughts; and it helps a writer process the order of those thoughts so they can properly organize them effectively to their audience.

In general, a good writer is a good reader, and a good reader is a good writer. Pre-writing is very crucial and writers should always instill to their minds that before they attempt to write a draft, they should comprehend what the subject is all about; thus, they need to spare enough time to think critically and theoretically about their specific approach, and they should always consider the side of the readers. I just want to leave this common notion of an expert, he said “The importance of writing in the break down of the bicameral voices is tremendously important. What had to be spoken is now silent and carved upon stone to be taken in visually.” – Julian Jaynes.

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Assessment #5

Write a short narrative essay about a memorable experience you had with me. Then, post it in your blog. Limit your answers in 500-600 words only. Your output will be evaluated through a rubric.

“You’re One in a Million”

The best things in life are unexpected because there were no expectations at all. In life, we seemed to make a lot of friends along the way but not many of them would probably stayed in our lives. It takes me a lot of time, courage, and observation before I consider a person as my friend or closest friend. This is, however, very crucial because people changed and at some point, our friends would probably moved or we had different classes next year or what not. Venus Eyas is probably so grateful that she knew me personally way back then when we were still in Senior High School; hence, we met in eleventh grade and we were connected at times because we were a fan of Korean dramas. Let me share you some moments I had with her from the previous years.

As the years passed by, I consider Venus as my closest friend. Way back when it was not the stage of the pandemic, together with the English majors, we spent a lot of time chatting with one another, and we spent all day long staying at Mentors Division Office if we don’t have classes. The most memorable moment I had with her was the unanticipated loud fights we had when we were in Senior High School and to be honest I could consider it as immaturity (immature in a sense that I am still developing, pardon for that HAHA). It was not that a big deal, and I think it serves as a lesson for me because being a class officer was an arduous job. I was elected as a class treasurer, and I thought I’ve already reached the highest level of patience but I wasn’t right, I lost my temper and I became mismanaged. But it doesn’t affect our friendship though. Venus, and I are already in good terms now. Similarly, Venus and I created our own jokes and code words for everything. We spent a lot of time laughing at one another together with Chinie (this was happened at Station Grill) *insert photos here* HAHA. I missed those normal days wherein we have the freedom and time to choose a good place to eat, to choose a good place to stay or whatsoever. On another note, we’re newly appreciative of the things we’ve happily jettisoned along with our routines, the things we miss, and the ways we’ve adapted to keep joy, connection and fresh possibility in our lives. To be honest, I really miss those opportunities to commiserate over how we hadn’t had enough classes in a day, or to go over our upcoming weekend plans. At times, we were just hopping at the library, staring at the clock, scrolling on our news feeds, desperately waiting for lunch to come, and a lot more.

In general, beyond that, as someone who’s always tried to believe in the best of humanity and give everyone the benefit of doubt, I also miss being able to wander around the world striking up conversations and friendships with strangers I might encounter in everyday life. I am also grateful for Venus because she taught me how to write a proper citation format when it comes to referencing. These were just the few things I could say by now; thus, I am so thankful that I know her and always been proud of her own achievements. Venus, if you are reading this, then I hope something good happens to you today.

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Online Education and Its Effective Practice

By: Michael A. Motas

Online education has been the new and very convenient educational strategy for people to learn and educate themselves despite of the global crisis. This is, however, very evident because of the prevailing COVID-19 we have experience way back last year and up until now. At formal institutions like colleges and universities, online learning is delivered via a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows instructors to make and add content, assignments, and school activities that students can access with an Internet connection on a computer or mobile device. Similarly, the students are flowing into the virtual classes seeking opportunity to learn more from anywhere at any time.

Online education is an effective way for students to learn better and become proficient in their different authentic tasks. I reckon that through online education, the main purpose of this is to educate people while utilizing the different technological tools available on the Internet like the widespread use of Google meet, Zoom meetings, Google slides, Google forms, PowerPoint Presentations, blogs, online journal writings, and a lot more. Through this, the online education makes it easier for teachers to impart the topics and concepts to the learners. In online education, teachers are also incorporating different teaching strategies, methods, and styles for student’s development. Most of us know that students are different, they possessed one or even more than two types of intelligences; so, as the role of the teacher, he/she must be intellect and is pliable to any adaptations of the changes in the curriculum.

In online education, there are also different types of learning strategies and let me share at least one of the most efficient idea and that is the collaborative learning. Collaborative learning is an educational approach involving joint intellectual effort by students, and teachers together. Usually, students are working in groups of two or more, mutually searching for comprehension, solutions, or creating a particular product. Through collaborative learning process like group discussions, students actively exchange, debate and negotiate their ideas within their groups, and this results in increase of students’ interest in learning. Moreover, by engaging in discussion and taking responsibility for their learning, students are encouraged to become critical thinkers. Many researches showed that students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is being taught. Hence, they retain the information longer and also appear more satisfied with their classes.

According to an international study conducted by Tuan Nguyen (2015), “One reason why there is so much discussion around online learning is that there are many purported benefits and uses of online education. Some of the most important ones are: its effectiveness in educating students, its use as professional development, its cost-effectiveness to combat the rising cost of postsecondary education, credit equivalency at the postsecondary level, and the possibility of providing a world class education to anyone with a broadband connection. Indeed, there is the hope that online learning will be able to provide a world class education to anyone, anywhere, and anytime as long as they have access to the Internet; however, online learning is a story that is still being written, and how it progresses will likely depend on the present.

In the Philippine context of education, according to Ronnie E. Baticulon MD, Jinno Jenkin Sy, et.al. (2021), medical students in the Philippines confronted several interrelated barriers as they tried to adapt to online learning. Most frequently encountered were difficulty adjusting learning styles, having to perform responsibilities at home, and poor communication between educators and learners. By implementing student-centered interventions, medical schools and educators play a significant role in addressing these challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.” Consequently, online education is not substantial due to the low performance of the Internet providers and their services aren’t seen as effective. At some point, it affects the educational performance of the students and it is very an awful experience for them because they need to adjust and they just tend to accept the unhappy scenario they face today.

In general, online education is effective to some developing countries, but if we compare the performance of online learning here in the Philippines, there are a ton of things that need to be addressed like the low performance of the internet connection. Though, some other countries are still on the verge of adjustments, I believe that someday, they can adapt to the new educational set-up we have today. I discerned that, through having a good access of the Internet, it can improve the quality of education in many ways. In the era of digitalization, the scope of online education increases even more and will be beneficial for students, for professionals and for the different educational institutions.