MODULE 2: ICT POLICIES AND

ISSUES: IMPLICATIONS TO
TEACHING AND
LEARNING

Module Outcomes
1. Discussed some ICT policies and explained their implications to teaching and
learning
2. Explained some issues that relate to ICT policies
3. Identified safety concerns on Internet including digital safety rules

Introduction

Globalization is a reality and ICT has become a fundamental part of the process.
A networked society is one in which the entire planet is organized around
telecommunicated networks of computers. The powerful use of network has broken
boundaries, provided opportunities for inclusion and collaboration. However, there will
also be a struggle for those who do not have access or those who are excluded,
marginalized and powerless. Thus a need to establish policies in the use of ICT is
imperative.

As the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) says:

"The future has arrived. Now we have to ensure that we have a place in it. "

Lesson 1 Policies and and Issues on Internet and Implications to Teaching and
Learning

Lesson Outcomes
1. Named examples of ICT Policies which are applicable to teaching and learning
2. Discussed some issues that relate to the ICT policy

New technologies have become central to the lives of every individual in this
planet. Whether you are talking on the phone, sending an electronic mail, going to the
bank, using the library, watching news on television, going to the doctor, catching a
flight, or seeing a movie, you are using ICT. Almost everything that we do in the modern
world is influenced by the new technologies.

Would your life as a teacher be also influenced by the new technologies?

Should we leave our lives to be controlled by technology or should we control the

utilization of technology in our lives? How?

One way of enhancing and regulating the use of ICT is to formulate and
implement policies to guide appropriate decisions.

Definition of ICT Policy

The Oxford English Dictionary has defined "policy" as a course of action, adopted
and pursued by a government, party, ruler, states man. 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, organizations, entities involving 1CT.

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

More recent technological innovations increased the reach and speed of

communications which can be grouped into 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 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.

The 1CT for Education (ICT4E) is a program under the DICT that supports all the
efforts of the education sector in incorporating the use of 1CI as well as 1n 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 (OCE) which converts DepEd materials into interactive multi-media content,
develop applications used in schools, and conduct students and teacher’s 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.

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 specifically 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 1CT 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 on-line networking,
a need to look into how these new means modifies the understanding of freedom of
expression and censorship.

The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone has the
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 you 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 c 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.

Warning!!!! when you are surfing the web, you may think you are anonymous, but
there are various ways that information about you or your activities can be collected
without your consent"

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 clicks "I agree" button, it is as if you have turned over private
information to any authority that may access it.

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 1s 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 15 generated by 1CT. These are in particular, terminal

equipment’s used for computing (PCs, laptops), 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 c-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

How do the policy guidelines, projects and issues relate to the 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 appropriately use them. The human touch of the 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.

4. All the issues and many more shall be part of the teaching content as each teacher
will be encouraged to use technology in teaching
For the Learners and Learning

The learners of the 21st Century are even more advanced than some of the
teachers. However, learners still need guidance on how to Use, regulate technology use,
As there are positive and negative effects of technology use earners should know the
difference. Learners should not only know the benefits of technology use, but they
should also know how they can be protected from the hazards that technology brings to
their lives.

Learners should take advantage of the potential of learning Support they can
derive such as the development of higher order thinking skills, the development OT
learning communities through collaboration, the enhancement of skills to manage the
vast resources as 21t century learners and many more

Both the teachers and learners should be mindful of the e-waste that are being
thrown away to the land and to the atmosphere. Thus, safety in the use of technology
shall be presented in the next lesson.

Experience

Assume yourself as an investigator who would like to inform your learners and
co-teachers about the current issues on technology use, 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 only one or two articles or cases that you will work on. Use the template
below to answer, submit your output to your teacher but be ready to share the same
with the whole class.

Title of the Issue: (Choose from A,B,C,D) Ex. Privacy and Security

Title of the Article:

Source:

Author:

Summary Narrative

What lesson have you learned?

What suggestions can you offer?

Submitted by: