About Ititser
Ititser is a weblog or blog that aims to help instructional designers, teachers, and other education professionals by providing information about the internet, desktop and online applications, theories and concepts of learning, online learning standards, and best practices on the use of technology for teaching and learning.
History of Ititser
During the first few years of Ititser's existence, the focus is to promote free and open-source software (FOSS) programs, freeware, internet, and free content websites and their use in education. However, later expanded to an e-learning blog that includes learning theories and proprietary applications that teachers and instructional designers use.
I started Ititser at around January 2012 to catalog what I learned during my tenure as an Elearning Specialist for Science and Mathematics in one of the largest textbook publishing companies in the Philippines. I get to know how technologies like interactive games and tablet computer applications can aid in students' learning experience.
I had Ubuntu OS installed on my computer as I'm foreseeing that it would be best to use FOSS programs in the future. The Ubuntu Software Center includes options to install KAlgebra, Step Physics, and Stellarium, which I installed on my computer. With enough free software that can be used for educational purposes, I decided to focus on educational FOSS and web-based applications.
Subsequent changes in my career have allowed me access to proprietary e-learning software and online courses that would enable me to expand my knowledge to elearning development for employee training instead of K-12 education. I also aggressively broaden my knowledge by obtaining books about elearning, online learning, and distance education, as well as enrolling to free online courses. Hence, I decided to expand the scope of Ititser to cover what I learn.
The name Ititser
The word titser is a Filipino word which means "teacher". If you notice the similarity in pronunciation, the word titser is a direct loanword from English. It's simply the word "teacher" being forced to spell using the spelling rules of Filipino language. The Filipino language contains many loanwords from Sanskrit, Malay, Chinese, Spanish, Arab, and English languages, and titser happens to be one of those words borrowed from the English language.
The prefix "i" was taken from the common trend of adding "i" in new products or concepts to imply timeliness or being technology-related. Combining the two, we can think of the term as referring to a teacher who is updated to technology and its use in education, a.k.a. an Ititser. The name was initially spelled as iTitser, but I'm not too fond of the idea of big corporations bending the rules of grammar for marketing purposes and then have everyone else follow. Hence, I opted to use the traditional capitalization rule: proper nouns BEGIN with uppercase letters.
Who's the person behind Ititser
The author and webmaster of Ititser is yours truly, Greten Vicke S. Estella. I'm a graduate of De La Salle University with a Bachelor's Degree in Physics. Even though I didn't really practice teaching in actual school setup, I've been working in education-related industry for more than eight years.
- one year in conducting classes and one-on-one tutorial session in a tutorial center with branches in the cities of Manila and San Juan
- two years in developing courseware materials for science and mathematics in a well-known IT school with several branches all over the Philippines
- more than two years in developing e-learning modules and interactive games as a supplement to textbooks published by one of the largest textbook publishing companies in the Philippines
- more than three years of experience in elearning development for industrial and corporate training
I took-up 18 units of education subjects and passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers or LET last 2015. I also work as a freelance website developer/designer from time-to-time.
My hobbies include making websites, blogging, programming, reading stuff from the internet, watching Youtube videos on various topics, and reading novels.