Angel's Blog

     I’ve chosen to review Google Maps and Google Earth. Both of these tools are similar in that they are geospatial tools (GST). One can access Google Maps using a web browser with internet access. Google Earth also has a web browser plugin function (Fairey, 2022). However, Google Earth can also be downloaded and saved on the computer. In my class, I have requested for IT support to push the app onto my students’ ipads. It can also be used on android devices through downloading them on the Play Store.      Picture a globe on the Geography teacher’s desk - that’s old. These days, we have the globe literally in our hands. Google Maps and Google Earth shows a “digital globe”, a form of geospatial tool (GST), among other tools such as  geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and global positioning system (GPS) that allows one to visualize and also make analyses spatially (Avila, et. al., 2021).      I use Google Maps everyd...

          The most recent tool that has taken the internet by the storm in the education and professional world is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology such as ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2023). This tool allows husbands to write a Valentine's Day poem to their wives in the style of Langston Hughes (from my personal experience). ChatGPT is also capable to writing lyrics that is a parody of the style of Jay Chou, a Taiwanese mandopop star, followed by a prompt entered by a Malaysian band who then added melody to the AI-generated lyrics (SteadyGang, 2023). As rightly pointed out by the book titled Ready Player One written by Earnest Cline, "I know the future is scary at times. But there's just no escaping it." (Gonzalez, 2022).          In my school, my administrator has started a group chat as a form of ongoing professional development for educators to discuss the ramifications of ChatGPT, what we think about the tool, and h...

     Creating a professional learning network (PLN) is connecting with individuals or groups of people in order to learn from or contribute to others. While professional learning used to be done face-to-face in workshops, conferences, and collaboration at the workplace, the affordance of technology through social media now allows educators and other professionals to connect with others online. Building a PLN is important especially when the world is ever changing and different kinds of skills are required.       The process of building a PLN recognises  that we are part of a larger system and that people are each fearfully and wonderfully made by God ( English Standard Version Bible , 2016,  Ps. 139:14b). Thus, we seek to learn from one another because each person has a unique experiences, expertise, knowledge, ideas, insights and skills to contribute to the discussion.  In order to stay relevant, we need to learn from other people....