Explore the use of technology in education through Ititser!

The Ititser is an online journal about the efficient use of technology in education and learning.

The author and webmaster of this website is yours truly, Greten Vicke S. Estella. I have more than five years professional experience as instructional designer both in K-12 education setting and in professonal training.

In its earlier years, Ititser focused on the use of free and open source software (FOSS) programs. The upcoming changes in 2019 will focus on programs that are often used in industry as well as on learning theories. You will notice that I already changed the categories significantly. In the next few months, I will expand the posts to include other programs regardless of their copyright status.

What's new in Ititser?

Should we resort to academic freeze during the pandemic?

No to academic freeze. Our society cannot afford a halt in education. Teachers and students can change the way education works using technology. There is inequality in online education but even without the pandemic, there’s always inequality in education.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 07 Aug 2020 under Thoughts

Snow flake with a book and a graduation cap inside.

Prevent the spread of coronaviruses through printed self-learning modules

During these times of COVID-19 pandemic, schools are avoiding traditional classrooms in favor of distance education to prevent the spread of coronaviruses. For areas without electricity or internet access, distance education means printed self-learning modules to be delivered to their homes. To prevent these modules from becoming conduits of virus transmission, disinfect them.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 20 Jul 2020 under Tips

A brown spherical coronavirus with several orange funnel-like structures evenly distributed on its surface,

Point-and-click interaction in Captivate using shapes

In Adobe Captivate, a checkbox allows you to transform a shape into a button. This shape can function in exactly the same manner as buttons and click boxes, while you can still customize its appearance like any other shape.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 09 Jul 2020 under Tools

Point-and-click interaction in Captivate using click boxes

Click boxes provide a button-like interaction between the learners and the learning module without it being visible. You can overlay it on top of a static image to make it appear that the learner is clicking a part of that image.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 21 Jun 2020 under Tools

Point-and-click interaction in Captivate using buttons

Buttons provide a simple point-and-click interaction between the learners and the learning module. You can configure the appearance of the buttons including how they appear normally, when the mouse pointer hover on them, and when the learner click them.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 19 Jun 2020 under Tools

What is distance education?

Distance education is an educational process in which the learning process and the teaching process happen in two different locations. A medium of communication, such as the postal system or the internet, must connect the two processes to make distance education work.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 06 Jun 2020 under Terms

Metaphor of distance education: teacher and three students standing on different planets.

What is LMS server latency, and how it affects your elearning?

The LMS server latency is the amount of time it takes to transmit data between the elearning module and the LMS server. The longer is the LMS server latency, the more lag the learners encounter as they learn through the elearning module.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 25 May 2020 under Terms, Tips

LMS server latency icon: a laptop, a server, and two arrows circling on their back. There's also a clock in the middle of the circling arrows.

Formatting cell data in spreadsheet part III: decimal digits and thousand separators

Configure the decimal digit settings and thousand separator symbols in Calc, Excel, and Sheets using a combination of hash and zeroes in the custom number format.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 17 May 2020 under Tools

A very long number written along a spiral.

What is scaffolding?

Scaffolding is a teaching method that helps learners to work on certain exercises that they otherwise cannot complete without it. Scaffolding is meant to be remove eventually as the learner gains mastery of the lesson. In elearning, some of the common scaffolding techniques are hints, tips, and clues that are accessible through hint buttons, characters, and other user interface elements.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 09 May 2020 under Terms, Theories

A child studing on a laptop, with an adult watching on his back. On their background are three concentric circles: the smallest and innermost is labeled know / can do, the middle circle is labeled know / can do with guidance, and the outermost circle is doesn't know / can't do. The innermost circle surrounds the child's head. The adult is outside the innermost circle but falls in front of the middle circle.

Formatting cell data in spreadsheet part II: number of digits

Part II of serial post about formatting cell data in spreadsheet programs Calc, Excel, and Sheets. This entry is about formatting numerical data to restrict the number of digits in both sides of the decimal separator leading to the occasional use of leading and trailing zeroes.

[ No Comments ] Posted by Greten on 25 Apr 2020 under Tools