AStudy Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 2

ICT POLICIES AND SAFETY ISSUES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

MODULE OVERVIEW

At the end of the module, you will be able to understand how policies and issues affect the teaching and learning
process. You will gain more knowledge on the e-safety issues that students and teachers must follow.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this Module, you should be able to:

1. Enumerate the national ICT policies affecting classroom practices
2. Describe the implementation of ICT policies in teaching-learning
3. Identify ICT policies that are incorporated to the design and implementation of teaching-learning
activities

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ICT POLICIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

Definition of ICT Policy

The Oxford English Dictionary has defined “policy” as a course of action, adopted and pursued by a
government, party, ruler, and statesman.
Thus, ICT Policies are needed to put a roadmap or course of actions to be pursued and adopted by various
governments, 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.
ICT “Information and Communication Technologies” refers to the technology that provides access to the
information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information Technology (IT) but focuses primarily on
communication technologies. This includes internet, wireless networks, cellphones, and other communication mediums.

ICT POLICY IN THE PHILIPPINES

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.

Republic Act No.10844, otherwise known as the “Department of Information and Communication
Technology Act of 2015” which was signed into law on 23 May 2016.

In accordance to the law, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall be
the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the
government that will plan, develop, and promote the national ICT development.

An IT roadmap is a type of technology roadmap that a business uses to develop and share a strategic level
plan for IT initiatives at the organization, such as migrating the company’s data to a new cloud system or upgrading
the organization to a new enterprise software platform.

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, telecommunication 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 is:

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Study Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

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 (OCEI) which converts
DepEd materials into interactive multi-media content, develop application 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 application for use by
Filipino students, their parents, and teachers. All public high schools will be part of this networks with only DepEd-
approved multi-media applications, materials, and mirrored internet sites accessible from school’s PCs.
4. Established Community eLearning Center called eSkwela for out of school youth (OSY) providing them with ICT-
enhance 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 Programs 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 developments for teaching and learning.

SAFETY ISSUES ON THE USE OF ICT

It’s probably not immediately obvious to the average child – or many adults for that matter – but moderate to
heavy computer use brings with it a number of areas of risk when it comes to health and safety. This lesson covers a wide
range of aspects of health and safety in the use of ICT – including ergonomic chairs, the positioning of furniture and
computer hardware, cables, use of keyboard and mouse, posture and the need for breaks, plus includes a range of
exercises designed to prevent injury.

Some Risks in the Use of ICT and e-networking

Technology is the phenomenon that seems to be uncontrollable. Despite the so many benefits of teaching in
learning, there are also negative effect 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 waking hours and also 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 school. There are so many risks that we must be aware of in the use of digital
technologies. These may include the following:

1. Exposure to inappropriate content, including online pornography, extremism (exposure to violence

associated with racist language).
2. Lifestyle websites including like self-harms and suicide sites and hate sites.
3. Cyberbullying in all forms, receiving sexually explicit images or messages.
4. Privacy issue including disclosure of personal information.
5. Health and well-being (amount of time spent online, internet gaming and many more);
6. Prolonged exposure to online technologies, particularly at an early age.
7. Addiction to gambling and gaming.
8. Theft and fraud from activities such as phishing.
9. Viruses, Trojans and spyware and other malware; and
10. Social pressure to maintain online networks via texting and social networking.

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
 Downloading material not relevant to their studies.
 Misconduct associated with subject logins, such as using someone the password.

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Study Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

 Leaving a mobile phone turned on during class period.

 Unauthorized taking of picture or image with mobile phone career still or moving.

. 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. This includes 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 most available to all with faster broadband connections.
There are still countries where access to the 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? 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, newspaper and public meetings to electronic
communications and on-line networking, a need to investigate how these new means modifies the understanding of
freedom of expressions and censorship.
Ex: Individual rights are given up having access to electronic networks.
Censorship restricts the transmission of information by blocking it or filtering the information.

Issue no. 2: Privacy and Security

Privacy policies are an issue. Most commercial sites have a privacy. When someone uses a site clicks “I
agree” button, it is as if you have turned over private information to any authority that may access it.
For most, privacy means “personal privacy” the right of individuals not to have their home, private
life or personal life interfered with.

Issue no. 3: Surveillance and Date Retention

The use of electronic communications has enhanced the development of indirect surveillance. 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 system.

Issue no. 4: E-pollutants from E-waste

Large amount of e-waste in generated by ICT. These are, terminal equipment used for computing (PC’s,
laptop), broadcasting (television and radio sets), telephony (fixed and mobile phones), and peripherals (fax
machines, printers and scanners).
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.
Both the teachers and learners should be mindful of the e waste that are being thrown away to the land and to
the atmosphere.

USES OF ICT POLICIES IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can impact student learning when teachers are digitally literate
and understand how to integrate it into curriculum.
Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information. In some
contexts, ICT has also become integral to the teaching-learning interaction, through such approaches as replacing
chalkboards with interactive digital whiteboards, using students’ own smartphones or other devices for learning during
class time, and the “flipped classroom” model where students watch lectures at home on the computer and use classroom
time for more interactive exercises.
When teachers are digitally literate and trained to use ICT, these approaches can lead to higher order thinking skills,
provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings, and leave students better
prepared to deal with ongoing technological change in society and the workplace.

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Study Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

ICT issues planners must consider include: considering the total cost-benefit equation, supplying and maintaining the
requisite infrastructure, and ensuring investments are matched with teacher support and other policies aimed at effective
ICT use.

Issues and Discussion

Digital culture and digital literacy: Computer technologies and other aspects of digital culture have changed the
ways people live, work, play, and learn, impacting the construction and distribution of knowledge and power around the
world. Graduates who are less familiar with digital culture are increasingly at a disadvantage in the national and global
economy. Digital literacy—the skills of searching for, discerning, and producing information, as well as the critical use
of new media for full participation in society—has thus become an important consideration for curriculum frameworks.
In many countries, digital literacy is being built through the incorporation of information and communication
technology (ICT) into schools. Some common educational applications of ICT include:
 One laptop per child: Less expensive laptops have been designed for use in school on a 1:1 basis with features
like lower power consumption, a low cost operating system, and special re-programming and mesh network
functions. Despite efforts to reduce costs, however, providing one laptop per child may be too costly for some
developing countries.
 Tablets: Tablets are small personal computers with a touch screen, allowing input without a keyboard or
mouse. Inexpensive learning software (“apps”) can be downloaded onto tablets, making them a versatile tool for
learning. The most effective apps develop higher order thinking skills and provide creative and individualized
options for students to express their understandings.
 Interactive White Boards or Smart Boards: Interactive white boards allow projected computer images to be
displayed, manipulated, dragged, clicked, or copied. Simultaneously, handwritten notes can be taken on the
board and saved for later use. Interactive white boards are associated with whole-class instruction rather than
student-centred activities. Student engagement is generally higher when ICT is available for student use
throughout the classroom.
 E-readers: E-readers are electronic devices that can hold hundreds of books in digital form, and they are
increasingly utilized in the delivery of reading material. Students—both skilled readers and reluctant readers—
have had positive responses to the use of e-readers for independent reading.Features of e- readers that can
contribute to positive use include their portability and long battery life, response to text, and the ability to define
unknown words.
 Flipped Classrooms: The flipped classroom model, involving lecture and practice at home via computer-
guided instruction and interactive learning activities in class, can allow for an expanded curriculum. There is
little investigation on the student learning outcomes of flipped classrooms. Student perceptions about flipped
classrooms are mixed, but generally positive, as they prefer the cooperative learning activities in class over
lecture.

ICT and Teacher Professional Development: Teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order
to increase their ability to use ICT for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online
resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration. Such training in ICT should positively impact teachers’
general attitudes towards ICT in the classroom, but it should also provide specific guidance on ICT teaching and learning
within each discipline. Without this support, teachers tend to use ICT for skill-based applications, limiting student
academic thinking. To support teachers as they change their teaching, it is also essential for education managers,
supervisors, teacher educators, and decision makers to be trained in ICT use.
Ensuring benefits of ICT investments: To ensure the investments made in ICT benefit students, additional conditions
must be met. School policies need to provide schools with the minimum acceptable infrastructure for ICT, including
stable and affordable internet connectivity and security measures such as filters and site blockers. Teacher policies need
to target basic ICT literacy skills, ICT use in pedagogical settings, and discipline-specific uses. Successful
implementation of ICT requires integration of ICT in the curriculum. Finally, digital content needs to be developed in
local languages and reflect local culture. Ongoing technical, human, and organizational supports on all of these issues are
needed to ensure access and effective use of ICT.
Resource Constrained Contexts: The total cost of ICT ownership is considerable: training of teachers and
administrators, connectivity, technical support, and software, amongst others. When bringing ICT into classrooms,
policies should use an incremental pathway, establishing infrastructure and bringing in sustainable and easily upgradable
ICT. Schools in some countries have begun allowing students to bring their own mobile technology (such as laptop,
tablet, or smartphone) into class rather than providing such tools to all students— an approach called Bring Your Own
Device. However, not all families can afford devices or service plans for their children. Schools must ensure all students
have equitable access to ICT devices for learning.

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Study Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

Inclusiveness Considerations
Digital Divide: The digital divide refers to disparities of digital media and internet access both within and across
countries, as well as the gap between people with and without the digital literacy and skills to utilize media and internet.
The digital divide both creates and reinforces socio-economic inequalities of the world’s poorest people. Policies need to
intentionally bridge this divide to bring media, internet, and digital literacy to all students, not just those who are easiest
to reach.
Minority language groups: Students whose mother tongue is different from the official language of instruction
are less likely to have computers and internet connections at home than students from the majority. There is also less
material available to them online in their own language, putting them at a disadvantage in comparison to their majority
peers who gather information, prepare talks and papers, and communicate more using ICT. Yet ICT tools can also help
improve the skills of minority language students—especially in learning the official language of instruction—through
features such as automatic speech recognition, the availability of authentic audio-visual materials, and chat functions.
Students with different styles of learning: ICT can provide diverse options for taking in and processing
information, making sense of ideas, and expressing learning. Over 87% of students learn best through visual and tactile
modalities, and ICT can help these students ‘experience’ the information instead of just reading and hearing it. Mobile
devices can also offer programmes (“apps”) that provide extra support to students with special needs, with features such
as simplified screens and instructions, consistent placement of menus and control features, graphics combined with text,
audio feedback, ability to set pace and level of difficulty, appropriate and unambiguous feedback, and easy error
correction.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Research further about different policies and safety issues of ICT. Ten create an infographic to illustrate the ICT Policies
and Safety Issues.

Rubrics for Infographic

Category 4 6 8 10
At least 1 accurate fact are At least 2 accurate facts At least 3 accurate facts At least 4 accurate facts
Content (40 %) displayed in the are displayed in the are displayed in the are displayed in the
infographic infographic infographic infographic
Selection, color, Selection, color, Selection, color, Selection, color,
shape, size and shape, size and shape, size and shape, size and
arrangement of arrangement of graphics arrangement of graphics arrangement of graphics
Graphics & Visuals
graphics are are present but do not are eye- catching and contribute meaning to
(40%) distracting or contribute to the overall
misleading the meaning contribute some message
meaning.
One or zero facts have 2 facts have sources 3 facts have sources 4 facts have sources
sources identified on the identified on the identified on the identified on the
References (20%) infographic. infographic. infographic. infographic.

SUMMARY

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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Study Guide in EGE 110- TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

Here are some pointers to remember:

 ICT Policies are needed to put a roadmap or course of actions to be pursued and adopted by various
governments, organizations, entities involving ICT.
 Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall be the primary policy, planning,
coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government that will plan,
develop, and promote the national ICT development.
 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, telecommunication facilities and others) which are necessary to use and deploy learning technologies
at all levels of education.
 Current issues on technology includes freedom of expression and censorship privacy and security surveillance
and data retention pollutants from e waste.
 The new ICT technologies are grouped into three categories namely information technology, telecommunication
technologies, and networking technologies.
 Technology should never replace any human teacher. Each teacher is encouraged to use technology in teaching.
 Learners should take advantage of the potential of learning support they can derive from technology.
 When technology is not properly use it will pose danger to the users in school and at home.
 Safety issues are needed to be addressed by safety policy and guidelines.

REFERENCES

Bilbao, et al. (2019). Technology for teaching and learning 1. Quezon City, PH: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Pages: 26-41

Anderson, J (2010) ICT Transforming Education A Regional Guide UNESCO, Bangkok Asia and the Pacific
Regional Bureau of Education

Lucido, P. & Corpuz B. (2012) Educational Technology 2, Quezon City, Lorimar Publishing

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264239555-11 en.pdf?
expires=1594263305&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=F52D93A50B32FC042B33379298 4E59D1

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/digital/Pages/safety.aspx

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