Great Expectations

Technology has changed the way education is brought to us. Now there is easier access to information, and with the internet, it is almost inexhaustible. Students and teachers are no longer confined to classroom discussions and read-or-write assignments on paper; they now resort to other means such as the blog entries required for us in this class. Possibilities are almost limitless and I, as a student myself, am grateful for it seems like I am having it much easier than my parents did during their time.

Years ago, in grade school, my brother and I asked our parents for a personal computer, at a time when it has become quite common already and some (although not all) of our classmates' families have theirs. We said we need it for the numerous papers required in class. My mother replied, in a matter-of-factly tone that she, too, was required to submit papers when she was a student but she never had a computer; why would we need one now?

Because there are greater expectations imposed on us. Education tends to push us to our limits, to extract from us the most and best that we can give. That, I believe, is when the learning comes in: when we do not stay on the same level that we are already comfortable in because we know that there is something greater, higher, more.

I was part of our school choir in grade school and in high school. Back then, for us to learn a piece (“piyesa”), we would need to attend our regular practices since that is the time when the moderator teach each voice group their parts. It is tedious, yes, because there are four voice groups and each individual has to stay and wait for each other group to finish learning their parts. Since I was never really active in the chorale-singing scene in college, I was amazed with how technology changed the way songs were taught now to the UP Law choir. We have midis! Midis of the songs per voice groups (or the whole song) are created through Noteworthy (www.noteworthy.software.com). These midis are sent to the members through email or uploaded to our egroup. One can play the midi through the computer or cell phone and, with a copy of the piece at hand, one can learn his respective part by himself. Being the busy law students that we are, and with this given technology, we are required to come to practices prepared and learned.

Cliché as it may sound, with great power comes great responsibility. Thanks to technology, we have much greater of both.