By Nary Chun
On Sunday 4th November 2012, my media class went to the ASEAN BlogFest2012 conference at Build Bright University in Siem Reap. There are six students in my class and our ages range from 16 to 18. The BlogFest ran from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Teacher Diana Gross had arranged for us to leave from the Seven Candles guesthouse by bus at 8:30am. To get to the guesthouse, I had to get up at six o’clock and ride my bike for 1 hour.
When we arrived at the university the first thing we did was to register. We ticked our name off a list and got an I.D. tags and a password to access the internet. After we registered we went to the first session which was how to connect to the internet and we logged onto wi-fi which was the first time we did this.
My media class went to the BlogFest because we wanted to know more about Facebook, websites, blogging and how to use them. This is because we really like to study media and want to be able to write a blogpost. In the future, media can help us to have a good job. All the students in the media class want to connect tothe Internet, because we want the people around the world to know us.
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The presenters were from all around Asia such as from Hong Kong, Cambodia,Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. We were able to meet and talk to a Cambodian web designer. We liked to hear from him because we want to know how to build a website and after that we can use this skill to build our own. It’s important for us to have a good job and perhaps even begin our own business.
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Another session was about Wikipedia, a website where you can learn almost anything. The presenter’s name was Van Thearith. Wikipedia can help you to do homework and read history about temples in Cambodia. You find the answers easily and Wikipedia has many languages. Mr Van Ttearith spent one hour with us to show us Wikipedia Khmer. We learned about Wikipedia Khmer which will help us to research information as English is hard for us. Wikipedia Khmer is created by a group of 11 volunteers who are translating theinformation from English to Khmer. We all enjoyed the Blog-Fest very much. We learned many things. The ASEAN BlogFest 2012 was also a great opportunity to see so many technologies in one place. We learnt a lot at the Blog-Fest that will help us in the future so that we can freedom to learn. So although we cannot predict the future and we have no control over it, what we can control is now and learning media skills.
So proud of your writing, Nary! Your hard work is really showing! Also, thank you to PLF volunteer teacher Glynis Jones for her work with Nary on the writing of this post!
Very proud of you all.
Technology is truly a learning tool. Coupled with excitement and commitment to learning, lives, including yours, become fulfilled. Education is the most wonderful gift! Congrats and lovely article! Thank you for keeping the world informed of your progress!
This is an excellent blog! It is important to learn about what others are doing and to use that knowledge to increase your own. I am impressed by your dedication. I hope to learn a lot from you when I come to visit your class next week!
I am speechless! Thank you for your excellent report Nary. Your excitement makes me wish I went with you to BlogFest~! You must have learned a lot because this is a very informative post. Thank you! 🙂
Lori
🙂 Awesome! The Internet is a very powerful tool, abundant with valuable resources and information. However, Cambodia has a long way to go. Many Khmer locals do not have access to the Internet, and the ones that do, I feel, do not use it effectively.
But there’s still hope! Students such as yourselves, learning how to productively use technology, will improve Cambodia as a whole.
Keep it up!
Wonderful! The internet is such an important tool for today’s world. It causes us to be global citizens giving everyone of a voice that can be heard around the world. Your dedication in learning this new tool should be commended!
Now that you have learned about these new ways to communicate, what will you do with it?
Great job! As a teacher, I love to hear that young people are creating change not only for themselves but for their village, country, and world!
Greetings from California, USA. Thank you for your well-written blog post – I really enjoy hearing what you are learning and doing. Keep it up!
What you are doing is wonderful. I’m old so I complain when my coffee isn’t hot enough. I forget how hard it is to be young. How hard someone like you has to work to secure a good future for your self, your family, your country. Thank you for sharing with us. I’m gonna go look up temples in Cambodia on Wikipedia now.
Thank you for sharing your experience! The BlogFest sounds interesting. I am impressed you woke up at six o’clock to ride your bike before a day full of learning.
Thank you, especially, from across the world. We love learning about you!
Hello from Toronto, Canada! Thanks for your very well-written blog post. Your English writing is excellent! I was interested to hear about Wikipedia Khmer and the 11 volunteers who do all the translating. Those 11 people must know a lot of things now! Keep up the great work. From Patti.
Very well done and interesting. Your experiences and lifestyle are new to us here in the west and we appreciate it that you share them with us. Thank you and keep up the very good work. I hope to hear more from you.
Stephen in New York City.