EMPOWERMENT TECHNOLOGIES

LESSON 1 – THE POWER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Lessons Objectives:
 Compare and contrast the nuances of varied online platforms, sites, and content to best achieve
specific class objective or address situational challenges (CS_ICT11/12-ICTPT-la-b-1);
 Share plans on how to use your knowledge on the different trends in ICT; and
 Independently compose an insightful reflection on the nature of ICT in the context of your life,
society, and professional tracks (Arts, TechVoc, Sports, and Academic).

Activity – Name the Thumbnail

Direction: Identify the icon and write the name in the space provided.
Lesson Proper

As countries around the

world put up their best fight
against the
coronavirus pandemic, the
Information and
Communication Technology
(ICT) industry is playing a
key role in this journey. In
the article of Mint
(2020) entitled ―The power
of ICT: Using technology to
combat the
pandemic‖, several examples
to showcase the role and
contribution of ICT
were mentioned —from
keeping in touch with friends,
family members, and
acquaintances to fulfilling basic
needs such as health and
education. Others
are as follows.
 5G telemedicine is proving
especially instrumental in the
protection of
medical personnel and
quarantine ward automation,
among others.
For instance, remote gene
sequencing, which is a 5G
application, is
helping improve the detection
rates of Covid-19.
 Unmanned or self-driving
vehicles that spray
disinfectants on their
own are helping reduce the
risk of infection of those
working in
quarantined areas.
 Infrared temperature
measurement tools and mobile
trolleys for
quarantine ward consultations
are other examples of how
the
healthcare sector is currently
benefitting from using ICT.
 The advent of 5G is also
making it possible to provide
telemedicine
facilities in rural areas, with
lesser transmission lag.
Patients can
communicate with their
family members or
counselors, and receive
24*7 medical interventions.
 Governments across the
world, meanwhile, are using
ICT to collect
information about the
epidemic and facilitate
collaboration among
different stakeholders.
 When it comes to the online
education space, 5G technology
is proving
to be of paramount
importance. Students can
enjoy better download
and upload speeds, and can
connect with educators
seamlessly from
the comfort of their homes.
As countries around the world put up their best fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is playing a key role in this journey. In
the article of Mint (2020) entitled ―The power of ICT: Using technology to combat the
pandemic‖, several examples to showcase the role and contribution of ICT were mentioned —from
keeping in touch with friends, family members, and acquaintances to fulfilling basic needs such as health
and education. Others are as follows.

 5G telemedicine is proving especially instrumental in the protection of medical personnel and

quarantine ward automation, among others. For instance, remote gene sequencing, which is
a 5G application, is helping improve the detection rates of Covid-19.
 Unmanned or self-driving vehicles that spray disinfectants on their own are helping
reduce the risk of infection of those working in quarantined areas.
 Infrared temperature measurement tools and mobile trolleys for quarantine ward
consultations are other examples of how the healthcare sector is currently benefitting from
using ICT.
 The advent of 5G is also making it possible to provide telemedicine facilities in rural
areas, with lesser transmission lag. Patients can communicate with their family members or
counselors, and receive 24*7 medical interventions.
 Governments across the world, meanwhile, are using ICT to collect information about the
epidemic and facilitate collaboration among different stakeholders.
 When it comes to the online education space, 5G technology is proving to be of paramount
importance. Students can enjoy better download and upload speeds, and can connect with
educators seamlessly from the comfort of their homes.
What is ICT?

Stands for "Information and Communication Technologies." ICT, in a very simplified sense,
refers to technologies associated with the transmission and exchange of data in the form of sound,
text, visual images, signals or any other form or any combination of those forms through the use of
digital technology. It encompasses such services as telecommunications, posts, multimedia, electronic
commerce, broadcasting, and information technology (TESDA). It focuses primarily on communication
technologies which include the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other communication
mediums (Christensson, 2010). Today information and communication technologies are the one
thing and so the repertoire of technologies expands further to encompass computers and
computer-related products, email, MMS, and other forms of communication (ICTE Solutions
Australia, 2020).

What is the state of ICT in the Philippines?

MEC Network Corporation (2019) presented the history and the current state of ICT in the
Philippines.

Philippines ICT Throwback

Before Before ICT in the PH

1928 Telecommunications in the Philippines was segmented. You could only call people
within your own small city.
1928 Telecoms in the Philippines
American-owned PLDT was incorporated and given the franchise to establish and
operate telephone services in the Philippines. Small phone companies in the
provinces were acquired to speed up the rollout process.
1968 Filipinos Connecting Filipinos to the World
PLDT became a Filipino-controlled corporation bought by Ramon Cojuangco

ellular Telephone
1987

Network
PLDT established the
country’s first cellular
telephone network.
 Birth of the Philippine
Internet
With the support of the
Department of Science
and Technology
and the Industrial
Research Foundation, the
Philnet project
(now PHNET) was born.
Cellular Telephone Network
PLDT established the country’s first cellular telephone network.
1993 Birth of the Philippine Internet
With the support of the Department of Science and Technology and the Industrial
Research Foundation, the Philnet project (now PHNET) was born.
1994 Our First Internet Connection
Benjie Tan, who was working for ComNet, established Philippines’ first connection to
the Internet at a PLDT network center in Makati City.
2013 The Massive Growth of the Country’s Mobile Networks
Our mobile cellular subscriptions reached 102 million.

Internet Connection
2014

Population Penetration
119M mobile phone
 subscriptions in the
country (117%
Penetration Rate)
95% Prepaid
Greater 10% broadband
subscription
55% mobile broadband
subscription
80% subscribed to the
Lowest Speed Plans (1-3
MBPS)
Fastest Growing Connections
The Philippines was named the fastest growing internet population in the last five
years with a growth of 531%. The number of Philippine Internet users is 38 million out
of a population of 100 million.
2017 Internet Connection Population Penetration
119M mobile phone subscriptions in the country (117% Penetration Rate) 95%
Prepaid Greater 10% broadband subscription 55% mobile broadband subscription
80% subscribed to the Lowest Speed Plans (1-3 MBPS)

Philippines ICT My Day

Philippines ICT My Day The number of hours Filipino spent online

What is World Wide Web?

The world wide web, or web for short, are the pages you see when you're at a device
and you're online. But the internet is the network of connected computers that the web works
on, as well as what emails and files travel across (BBC, 2019). The internet could be likened to
the roads that connect towns and cities together while the world wide web are the things you
see on the roads like houses and shops. And the vehicles are the data moving around - some go
between websites and others will be transferring your emails or files across the internet, separately
from the web. Additionally, Lumsden (2012) describes the internet as a series of huge computer
networks that allows many computers to connect and communicate with each other globally. Upon
the internet reside a series of 7 languages which allow information to travel between computers.
These are known as protocols. For instance, some common protocols for transferring emails are IMAP,
POP3 and SMTP. Just as email is a layer on the internet, the World Wide Web is another layer which
uses different protocols.

The World Wide Web uses three protocols:

 HTML (Hypertext markup language) - The language that we write our web pages in.
 HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - Although other protocols can be used such as FTP,
this is the most common protocol. It was developed specifically for the World Wide Web and
favored for its simplicity and speed. This protocol requests the 'HTML' document from the
server and serves it to the browser.
 URLS (Uniform resource locator) - The last part of the puzzle required to allow the web to work
is a URL. This is the address which indicates where any given document lives on the web. It can
be defined as <protocol>://<node>/<location>

The different online platforms of World Wide Web:

Web  the first-generation web

1.0  static and monodirectional
 read-only web and also as a system of cognition  began as an information place
for businesses to broadcast their information to people.
  limited user interactions or content contributions and only allowed to search the
information and read it.
 main goal was to publish the information for anyone at any time and establish an
online presence.
 web users simply surfed the web looking for information, and did not interact with
the sites themselves in terms of returning user-generated data.
 just a brochure-ware
Web  dynamic and bi-directional  wisdom web, people-centric web, participative web,
2.0 and read-write web
 allow assembling and managing large global crowds with common interests in
social interactions
 users of web 2.0 have more interaction with less control
 flexible web design, creative reuse, updates, collaborative content creation and
modification
 support collaboration and to help gather collective intelligence
 Examples: social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services
and web applications
Web  semantic web
3.0  desires to decrease human’s tasks and decisions and leave them to machines by
providing machine-readable contents on the web
 is included two main platforms, semantic technologies and social computing
environment
 make the web readable by machines and not only by humans
 improve data management, support accessibility of mobile internet, simulate
creativity and innovation, encourage factor of globalization phenomena, enhance
customers’ satisfaction and help to organize collaboration in social web.
 internet is able to predict the best possible answers to user’s question by learning
Web from his/her previous choices. Web 4.0
4.0  symbiotic web in which human mind and machines can interact in symbiosis
 will be as a read-write-execution-concurrency web with intelligent interactions
 no exact definition of it yet
 an underground idea in progress

Features of Web 2.0

 Folksonomy - It allows users to categorize and classify/arrange information using freely chosen
keywords (e.g., tagging). Popular social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,
etc. Use tags that start with the pound sign (#). This is also referred to as hash tag.
 Rich User Experience - Content is dynamic and is responsive to user’s input. An example would
be a website that shows local content. In the case of social networking sites, when logged on,
your account is used to modify what you see in their website.
 User Participation - The owner of the website is not the only one who is able to put
content. Others are able to place a content of their own by means of comment, reviews,
and evaluation. Some websites allow readers to comment on an article, participate in a
poll, or review a specific product (e.g., Amazon.com, online stores).
  Software as a Service - Users will subscribe to a software only when needed rather than
purchasing them. This is a cheaper option if you do not always need to use software. For
instance, Google Docs is a free web-based application that allows the user to create and edit
word processing and spreadsheet documents online. When you need a software, like a
Word Processor, you can purchase it for a one-time huge amount and install it in your
computer and it is yours forever. Software as a service allows you to ―rent‖ a software for
a minimal fee.
 Mass Participation - It is diverse information sharing through universal web access. Since most
users can use the Internet, Web 2.0’s content is based on people from various cultures.

What is the difference between webpage, website, web browser, web server, and search engine?

Webpage

A web page or webpage is a document, commonly written in HTML, that is viewed in an

Internet browser. This can be accessed by entering a URL address into a browser’s address bar. Also, it
may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to other web pages and files. A web page is often used to
provide information to viewers, including pictures or videos to help illustrate important topics. It
may also be used as a method to sell products or services to viewers. Multiple web pages make up a
website (Computer Hope, 2020).

Website

A website is a collection of linked web pages (plus their associated resources) that share
a unique domain name. Each web page of a given website provides explicit links—most of the time in
the form of clickable portion of text—that allow the user to move from one page of the website to
another (Mozilla Developer Network, 2020). Illustration below shows examples of webpage and
website.
Web Browser

The web browser is an application program that displays a www document. It usually uses
other internet services to access the document (Tech Differences, 2021). Below are some of the
web browsers.

Web Server

A web server stores and delivers the content for a website – such as text, images,
video, and application data – to clients that request it. The most common type of client is a web
browser program, which requests data from your website when a user clicks on a link or downloads a
document on a page displayed in the browser. A web server communicates with a web browser using
the HTTP. The content of most web pages is encoded in HTML. The content can be static, for example,
text and images, or dynamic, for example, a computed price or the list of items a customer has marked
for purchase (NGINX).

The difference between the web browser and web server is that web browser requests the
server for the web documents and services while the web server accepts, approve and respond to
the request made by the web browser for a web document or services.
Search Engine

Search engines are answer machines. They are used to discover, understand, and organize
the internet's content in order to offer the most relevant results to the questions searchers are
asking. They work through three primary functions. One is crawling or scouring the Internet for
content, looking over the code/content for each URL they find. Another is indexing. They store and
organize the content found during the crawling process. Once a page is in the index, it’s in the
running to be displayed as a result to relevant queries. And lastly, ranking as they provide the pieces
of content that will best answer a searcher's query, which means that results are ordered by most
relevant to least relevant (Muller & Moz Staff, 2021).

What are the current trends in ICT?

As the world of ICT continues to grow, the industry has focused on several innovations.
These innovations cater to the needs of the people that benefit most out of ICT. Whether it is for
business or personal use, these trends are the current front runners in the innovation of ICT
(Innovative Training Works Inc., 2016).

Convergence

Technological convergence is the synergy of technological advancements to work on a similar

goal or task. For example, besides using your personal computer to create word documents, you can
now use your smartphone. It can also use cloud technologies to sync files from one device to another
while also using LTE technology which means you can access your files anytime, anywhere.
Convergence is using several technologies to accomplish a task conveniently.
Social Media

Social media is a website, application, or online channel that enables web users to create,
co-create, discuss, modify, and exchange SM.jpg user-generated content. According to Nielsen, a
global information and measurement company, Internet users spend more time in social media
sites than in any other type of site. With this, more and more advertisers use social media to
promote their product.

Six Types of Social Media

1. Social Networks - These are sites that allow you to connect with other people with the same
interests or background. Once a use creates his or her account, he or she can set up a profile,
add people, create groups, and share content. Examples: Facebook and Google+.
2. Bookmarking Sites - These are sites that allow you to store and manage links to various
websites and resources. Most of these sites allow you to create a tag that allows you and
others to easily search or share them. Examples: Stumble Upon and Pinterest.
3. Social News - These are sites that allow users to post their own news items or links to
other news sources. The users can also comment on the post and comments may also
be ranked. They are also capable of voting on these news articles of the website. Those who get
the greatest number of votes are shown most prominently. Examples: reddit and Digg.
4. Media Sharing - These are sites that allow you to upload and share media content like
images, music, and video. Most of these sites have additional social feature like liking,
commenting, and having user profiles. Examples: Flickr, YouTube, and Instagram
5. Microblogging - These are sites that focus on short updates from the user. Those subscribed to
the user will be able to receive these updates. Example: Twitter and Plurk.
6. Blogs and Forums - These websites allow users to post their content. Other users are able to
comment on the said topic. There are several free blogging platforms like Blogger, WordPress,
and Tumblr. On the other hand, forums are typically part of a certain website or web service.

Mobile Technologies

The popularity of smartphones and tablets has taken a major rise over the years. This is largely
because of the devices capability to do tasks that were originally found in personal computers. Several
of these devices are capable of using high-speed internet. Today, the latest mobile devices use 5G
Networking (LTE). Also, mobile devices use different operating systems:

Mobile Operating Systems

1. IOS – used in Apple devices such as the iPhone and IPad.

2. Android – an open-source operating system developed by Google. Being open source
means several mobile phone companies use this OS for free.
3. Blackberry OS – used in Blackberry devices
4. Windows Phone OS – a closed source and proprietary operating system developed by
Microsoft
 5. Symbian – the original smartphone OS; used by Nokia devices
6. Web OS – originally used for smartphones; now used for smart TVs
7. Windows Mobile – developed by Microsoft for smartphones and pocket PCs

Assistive Media

Assistive media is a nonprofit service designed to assist people who have visual and reading
impairments. A database of audio recordings is used to read to the user. You may visit
http://www.assistivemedia.org/ for several of their audio recordings.

What are the technology trends for 2021?

Duggal (2021) presented the top 9 technology trends for year 2021 which are as follows:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is already known for its superiority in image and
speech recognition, navigation apps, smartphone personal assistants, ride-sharing apps and
so much more. Other than that AI will be used further to analyze interactions to determine
underlying connections and insights, to help predict demand for services like hospitals
enabling authorities to make better decisions about resource utilization, and to detect the
changing patterns of customer behaviour by analyzing data in near real-time, driving
revenues and enhancing personalized experiences. Machine Learning the subset of AI, is
also being deployed in all kinds of industries, creating a huge demand for skilled
professionals.
2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is another technology that is automating
jobs. RPA is the use of software to automate business processes such as interpreting
applications, processing transactions, dealing with data, and even replying to emails. RPA
automates repetitive tasks that people used to do.
3. Edge Computing
Edge computing can be used to process time-sensitive data in remote locations
with limited or no connectivity to a centralized location. In those situations, edge computing
can act like mini datacenters.
4. Quantum Computing
Next remarkable technology trend is quantum computing, which is a form of
computing that takes advantage of quantum phenomena like superposition and quantum
entanglement. This amazing technology trend is also involved in preventing the spread of the
coronavirus, and to develop potential vaccines, thanks to its ability to easily query, monitor,
analyze and act on data, regardless of the source. Another field where quantum computing
is finding applications is banking and finance, to manage credit risk, for high frequency
trading and fraud detection.
5. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
 Virtual Reality (VR) immerses the user in an environment while Augmented Reality (AR)
enhances their environment. Although this technology trend has primarily been used for
gaming thus far, it has also been used for training, as with VirtualShip, simulation software used
to train U.S. Navy, Army and Coast Guard ship captains.
6. Blockchain
Although most people think of blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrencies
such as Bitcoin, blockchain offers security that is useful in many other ways. In the simplest of
terms, blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not take away from or
change. Hence the term ―chain‖ because you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to
change the previous blocks is what makes it so secure. In addition, blockchains are consensus-
driven, so no one entity can take control of the data. With blockchain, you don’t need a
trusted third-party to oversee or validate transactions.
7. Internet of Things (IoT)
Another promising new technology trend is IoT. Many ―things‖ are now being built
with Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning they can be connected to the Internet—and to each
other. Hence, the Internet of Things, or IoT. The Internet of Things is the future, and has
already enabled devices, home appliances, cars and much more to be connected to and
exchange data over the Internet.
8. 5G
Where 3G and 4G technologies have enabled us to browse the internet, use data
driven services, increased bandwidths for streaming on Spotify or YouTube and so much more,
5G services are expected to revolutionize our lives. by enabling services that rely on
advanced technologies like AR and VR, alongside cloud-based gaming services like Google
Stadia, NVidia GeForce Now and much more. It is expected to be used in factories, HD
cameras that help improve safety and traffic management, smart grid control and smart retail
too.
9. Cyber Security Cyber
security might not seem like an emerging technology, given that it has been
around for a while, but it is evolving just as other technologies are. That’s in part
because threats are constantly new. The malevolent hackers who are trying to illegally
access data are not going to give up any time soon, and they will continue to find ways to get
through even the toughest security measures. It’s also in part because new technology is being
adapted to enhance security. As long as we have hackers, cybersecurity will remain a
trending technology because it will constantly evolve to defend against those hackers.

ASSESSMENT/ QUIZ

True or False
Direction: Write T if the statement is correct; otherwise, write F on your answer sheets.
_________ 1. Information and communication technologies are repertoire of technologies expands
further to encompass computers and computer-related products, email, MMS, and other forms of
communication.
_________ 2. World Wide Web is a series of huge computer networks that allows many
computers to connect and communicate with each other globally.
_________ 3. Web 2.0 is the web of tomorrow.
_________ 4. In the web shown below, the webpage is Wikipedia.

_________ 5. URLS stands for Uniform Resource Locator.

_________ 6. Convergence is using several technologies to accomplish a task conveniently.
_________ 7. Flickr, YouTube, and Instagram allow you to like and comment on posts, and have
your user profile.
_________ 8. The birth of the Philippine Internet was on 1994.
_________ 9. Quantum Computing had helped in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, and in
developing potential vaccines because of ability to easily query, monitor, analyze and act on data,
regardless of the source.
_________ 10. Information and Communication Technologies have contributed big help in dealing with
global challenges including pandemics.