TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
Module Outcomes:
Discuss some ICT policies and explained their implications to
teaching and learning.
Explain some issues that relate to ICT policies
Identify safety concerns on Internet including digital safety
rules.
Lesson 1: Policies and Issues on Internet and
Implications to Teaching and Learning
Lesson Outcomes:
Name examples of ICT Policies which are applicable to
teaching and learning.
Discuss some issues that relate to the ICT policy.
Definition of ICT Policy
The Oxford English Dictionary has defined “policy” as a
course of action, adopted and pursued by a government, party,
ruler, statesman. It is any course of action adopted as expedient
or advantageous. Its operational definition of policy is a plan of
action to guide decisions and achieve outcomes.
Thus, ICT Policies are needed to put a roadmap or course of
actions to be pursued and adopted by various governments,
TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
organizations, entities involving ICT. These include principles and
guidelines in the use of ICT which cover three main areas:
telecommunications (telephone), broadcasting (radio and
television) and Internet.
The New ICT Technologies
Three categories:
1. Information Technology – includes the use of computers,
which has become indispensable in modern societies to
process data and save time and effort. What are needed will
be computer hardware and peripherals, software and for the
user, computer literacy.
2. Telecommunication technologies – include telephones (with
fax) and the broadcasting of radio and television often
through satellites. Telephone system, radio and TV
broadcasting are needed in this category.
3. Networking technologies – the best known of networking
technologies is Internet, but has extended to mobile phone
technology, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) satellite
communications and other forms of communications are still
in their infancy. In addition, this category also includes
mobile telephone, cable, DSL, satellite and other broadband
connectivity.
The DICT
Roadmap
In our country, the Department of Information and
Communication Technology (DICT) has formulated a roadmap to
guide all agencies in the utilization, regulation and enhancement
of ICT. Each project has corresponding policy statements and
guidelines.
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The ICT for Education (ICT4E) is a program under the DICT
that supports all the efforts of the education sector in
incorporating the use of ICT as well as in determining and gaining
access to the infrastructure (hardware, software,
telecommunications facilities and others) which are necessary to
use and deploy learning technologies at all levels of education.
Among the policy recommended programs that have applications
to education teaching-learning are:
1. ICT in Education Masterplan for all levels, including a
National Roadmap for Faculty Development in ICT in
Education. A National Framework Plan for ICTs in Basic
Education was developed.
2. Content and application development through the Open
Content in Education Initiative (OCET) which converts DepEd
materials into interactive multi-media content, develop
applications used in schools, and conduct students and
teachers competitions to promote the development of
education-related web content.
3. PheDNET, is a “walled” garden that hosts educational
learning and teaching materials and applications for use by
Filipino students, their parents and teachers. All public high
schools will be part of this network with only DepEd-
approved multi-media applications, materials and mirrored
internet sites accessible from school’s PCs.
4. Established Community eLearning Centers called eSkwela for
out-of-school youth (OSY) providing them with ICT-enhanced
alternative education opportunities.
5. eQuality Program for tertiary education through partnerships
with state universities and colleges (SUCs) to improve
quality of IT education and the use of ICT in education in the
country, particularly outside of Metro Manila.
6. Digital Media Arts Program which builds digital media skills
for government using Open Source technologies. Particular
beneficiary agencies include the Philippine Information
Agency and the other government media organizations, the
Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Commission for
Culture and Arts and other government art agencies, State
Universities and Colleges and local government units.
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7. ICT skills strategic plan which develops an inter-agency
approach to identifying strategic and policy and program
recommendations to address ICT skills demand-supply type.
All the seven programs were guided by the roadmap that
embeds policy statements that relate to education specially in
the enhancement of human development for teaching and
learning.
Some Issues on ICT and Internet Policy and Regulations
Global Issues
Access and Civil Liberties are two sets of issues in ICT Policy
which are crucial to the modern society. The other concern is
civil liberties which refer to human rights and freedom. These
include freedom of expression, the right to privacy, the right to
communicate and intellectual property rights.
Access to the Use of Internet and ICT. Access means the
possibility for everyone to use the Internet and other media. In
richer countries, basic access to internet is almost available to
all with faster broadband connections. There are still
countries where access to internet is still a challenge.
Infringement to Civil Liberties or Human Rights. What are
specific internet issues on internet policy that have relationship
to civil liberties or human rights? Let’s study the examples that
follow.
Issue No. 1: Freedom of Expression and Censorship
Under international human rights conventions, all people are
guaranteed the rights for free expression. However, with the
shift from communicating through letter, newspapers and
public meetings to electronic communications and online
networking, a need to look into how these new means modifies
the understanding of freedom of expression and censorship.
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TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that
everyone has the right to right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion, likewise the right to freedom of
opinion and expression. However, there are practices that
violate these provisions in the use of internet.
Some examples are the following:
1. Individual rights are given up in order to have access to
electronic networks. Microsoft Network’s (MSN’s contracts
provide protection of individuals like “upload, or otherwise
make available files that contain images, photographs or
other materials protected by intellectual property laws,
including but not limiting to copyright or trademark laws,
unless your own or control the rights thereto or have
received all necessary consents to do the same.”
However, Microsoft reserves the rights, in its sole
discretion, to terminate access to any or all MSN sites or
services.
2. Censorship restricts the transmission of information by
blocking it or filtering the information. Blocking is
preventing access to whole areas of internet based upon
the ‘blacklist” of certain Internet address, location or
email addresses while filtering is sifting the packets of
data or messages as they move across computer
networks and eliminating those considered “undesirable”
materials. The selection of sites that are blocked or
filtered has been considered as an issue.
3. Defamation actions may be used to silence critics. This
action deters the freedom of expression.
Issue No. 2: Privacy and Security
Privacy policies are an issue. Most commercial sites have a
privacy policy. When someone uses a site and click “I agree”
button, it is as if you have turned over private information to any
authority that may access it.
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There are several types of privacy as shown by the following
examples:
1. For most, privacy means “personal privacy” the right of
individuals not to have their home, private life or personal
life interfered with.
2. Privacy of communication refers to the protection from
interference with communication over the phone or
internet. Respect for privacy of communications is an
essential prerequisite for the maintenance of human
relationship via technological communications media.
3. Information privacy is related to the use of computers and
communications system which are able to hold and
process information about large numbers of people at a
high speed. It is important to ensure that information will
only be used for purposes for which it was gathered and
will not be disclosed to others without consent of the
individuals.
Issue No. 3: Surveillance and Data Retention
The use of electronic communications has enhanced the
development of indirect surveillance. In the indirect surveillance,
there is no direct contact between the agent and the subject of
surveillance but evidence of activities can be traced. The new
and powerful form of indirect surveillance is dataveillance.
Dataveillance is the use of personal information to monitor a
person’s activities while data retention is the storage and use of
information from communication systems.
There is very little that can be done to prevent surveillance.
What can be done is to change the methods of working to make
surveillance difficult. This is called “counter surveillance” or
“information security” if it refers to computers and electronic
communication.
Issue No. 4: E-pollutants from E-waste
Large amount of e-waste is generated by ICT. These are in
particular, terminal equipment used for computing (PCs, laptops),
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broadcasting (television and radiosets), telephony (fixed and
mobile phones), and peripherals (fax machines, printers and
scanners).
The accumulated e-waste is due to rapid turnover of
equipment due to rapid improvement of software. While material
waste can be destroyed by crushing, toxic material brought about
by the different equipment requires utmost management. The
quantities of e-waste are increasing in both developed and
developing countries. A very dismal state is that there is a
significant amount of electronic waste that has been shipped from
industrial countries to developing countries, using less
environmentally-responsible procedure.
Remedies include standardization and regulatory measures
to increase the life cycle of equipment before they become
obsolete. Efficient extraction of toxic components and requiring
the recycling by both consumers and equipment vendors are
selling must be required.
If not controlled then, e-waste will tremendously affect
climate change, damage human lives, and overload the capacity
of the earth in carrying solid waste.
Implications to Teaching and Learning
There are great implications of this lesson to both the
teachers who are teaching and the learners who are learning. A
few of these are as follows:
For the Teachers and Teaching
1. Guide the teachers on what they should teach that relate to
ICT, and how to teach it. Since ICT development comes so
rapid and fast, teachers might be overwhelmed by its rapid
speed. Temperance in its use is a caution that should be
looked at.
2. Technology should never replace any human teacher. The
tools are support instructional materials for the teachers
which are available for use. The teacher should learn how to
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appropriately use them. The human touch of teacher is still
a vital component in teaching. Teachers should always be
reminded that there are always limitations in the use of the
different gadget and tools.
3. There are rules and regulations that govern the use of
technology. Caution should be observed to protect
individual privacy. As teachers, you must be aware that the
use of technology may jeopardize your privacy and security.
Exercise 7.
Assume yourself as an investigator who would like to inform your
learners and co-teachers about the current issues on technology
use.
In a group of three students, search the web and find out articles
or cases about:
A. Freedom of expression and censorship
B. Privacy and Security
C. Surveillance and data retention
D. E-pollutants from e-waste
Choose one article from the above topics and write a report using
the following template.
Title of the Issue: __________________________ (Choose from A to
D.)
Title of the Article: __________________________
Source: ___________________________________
Author: ___________________________________
Summary Narrative:
What lessons have you learned?
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What suggestions can you offer?
Submitted by: Names (Maximum of three students only)
Exercises 8.
From the articles gathered pertaining the following, choose one
article excluding the one you selected from your group and
answer the following:
A. Freedom of expression and censorship
B. Privacy and Security
C. Surveillance and data retention
D. E-pollutants from e-waste
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As a future teacher,
1. I learned that _________________________________________
2. I realized that _________________________________________
3. I plan to _________________________________________
Lesson 2: Safety Issues on the Use of ICT including e-
Safety Rules
Lesson Outcomes:
Identify and explain safety issues on the use of ICT
List and apply e-safety rules in the use of ICT
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Excite:
Using technology is not a risk by itself, but how it is used
will be vulnerable to risks. When improperly used, it will pose
danger to the users in school and at home. What are the
safety issues that are needed to be addressed by safety
policy and guideline? As future teachers, do you need to know
all of these?
Explore:
Some Risk in the Use of ICT and e-Networking
Technology is a phenomenon that seems to be
uncontrollable. Despite the so many benefits for teaching and
learning, there are also negative effects or influence on the
learners. Hence as future teachers you have to be aware of
how to safeguard learners in the school communities where
they spend most of their there waking hours and also in their
homes or facilities that provide opportunities to use digital
technologies like Internet Cafes. Safeguard and protection
should be the primordial role of parents, teachers and
schools. There are so many risks that we have to be aware of
in the use of digital technologies. These may include the
following:
1. Exposure to inappropriate content, including on-line
pornography, extremism (exposure to violence
associated with racist language);
2. Lifestyle websites like self-harms and suicide sites,
and hate sites;
3. Cyber-bullying in all forms, receiving sexually explicit
images or messages;
4. Privacy issues including disclosure of personal
information;
5. Health and wellbeing (amount of time spent on-line,
internet gaming and many more;
6. Prolonged exposure to on-line technologies,
particularly at an early age;
7. Addition to gambling and gaming;
8. Theft and fraud from activities such as phishing;
9. Viruses, Trojans, spyware and other malware; and
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10. Social pressure to maintain online networking’s via
texting and social networking sites.
Minor Misuse of ICT
In schools, some minor misuse made by learners include
the following:
Copying information into assignment and
failing to acknowledge the source (plagiarism
and copyright infringement)
Downloading materials not relevant to their
studies
Misconduct associated with subject logins,
such as using someone else’s password
Leaving ah mobile phone turned on during
class period
Unauthorized taking of pictures or images with
mobile phone camera, still or moving
e-Safety
With all of the above concerns and many more, how do
we confront all of these so as to protect our future
generations?
e-safety takes care not only of internet technologies but
also of electronic communications via mobile phones,
games consoles and wireless technology. It highlights the
need to educate children and young people about the
benefits, risk and responsibilities of using information
technology. Here are some issues of e-safety;
E-safety helps safeguard children and young people
in the digital world;
E-safety emphasizes learning to understand and
new technologies in a positive way;
E-safety educates children about the risk as well as
the benefits so we can feel confident online; and
E-safety supports young learners and adults to
develop safer online behaviors, both in and out of
school.
Networking Management
1. Safety in the Use of Network in Schools
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1.1. Make clear that no one should log on as
another user.
1.2. Require all users to always log off when have
finished working.
1.3. Maintain equipment to ensure health and
safety.
1.4. Provide students with access to content and
resources through guided e-learning.
1.5. Set up a clear disaster recovery system in
place for critical data that include secure, remote
back up of critical data.
1.6. Secure wireless network to appropriate
standards suitable for educational use.
1.7. Install all computer equipment professionally
and meet health and safety standards.
1.8. Review the school ICT system regularly with
regard to health and safety and security.
2. Password Policy
2.1 Only authorized users will have individual
password. Users are not permitted to disclose their
passwords unless they got permission from the owner
or from the management. The equipment that keeps
the personal information shall be locked when
unattended to prevent unauthorized access.
3. Personal mobile phones and mobile device
3.1 All mobile phones shall be kept away I a box away
from the children or learners and access is only
allowed at break time or at the end of classes or when
needed during the class period.
4. Cameras
1.1 Tracking pictures only from parents or
caregivers and not from any other family member
or friend while the child attends class.
1.2 Any picture taken of children shall be on
cameras solely for the purpose.
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Setting Up an Educational Technology Room
Schools that plan to dedicate a room where the students
can access technologies for learning should include the
following basic safety rules:
1. Provide tiltable tables: These tables can be titled and
adjusted to the height of the users.
2. Provide anti-glare screen filters.
3. Provide adjustable chairs.
4. Provide foot support.
5. Make sure lighting is suitable.
6. Make sure work stations are not cramped.
7. Plan work at a computer so that there are frequent
breaks.
More specifically safety rules that can reduce risk of
accidents in the working
Stations should include:
1. No trailing wires across or around the room which
people can trip on.
2. Electrical sockets should not be overloaded.
3. Electrical equipment should be safety-tested at least
once a year.
4. There should be adequate space around desk for
people to move.
5. Bags and obstacles should be stored out of the way.
6. Food and drinks should not be placed near machines.
7. Heating and ventilation should be suitable for the
working environment.
8. Fire extinguishers should be available.
9. Fire exist should be clearly marked and free from
clutter.
There are more issues, policies and rules. What have
been presented in the lesson may be the minimum that
you should learn. As you explore some more and engage
in the different aspects of Technology for Teaching and
Learning, you will find more details.
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