ICT Policies and Issues:

Implications to Teaching and

Learning
MODULE 2

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
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 definitions of policy
is a plan of action to guide decisions and achieve
outcomes.

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 and save
time and effort.

1. TELECOMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES

• Includes 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
communication and other forms of
communication are still in their
infacy.

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 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-
1.
learning are:
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 multimedia content, develop applications used in schools, and
conduct students and teachers competitions to promote the development
of education-related web content.

1. 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.
2. Established Community eLearning Centers called eSkewela for out-of-
school youth (OSY) providing them with ICT-enhanced alternative
education opportunities.
3. 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.
1. 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.
2. 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.

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.
• Access to the Use of Internet and ICT.
• 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, newspaper 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.
• 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.
2. Censorship restricts the transmission of information
by blocking it or filtering the information.
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.
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.
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 if activities
can be traced.
• Dataveillance- The new and powerful form of indirect surveillance. It is
the use of personal information to monitor a person’s activities.
• Data retention- It is the storage and use of information from
communication systems.

ISSUE NO. 4: E-POLLUTANTS FROM

E-WASTE
• Large amount of e-waste is generated by ICT.
These are in particular, terminal equipments used
for computing ( PCs, laptops), broadcasting (
television and radiosets), telephony ( fixed and
mobile phones), and peripherals ( fax machines,
printers and scanners).
 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.
2. Technology should never replace any human teacher.
3. There are rules and regulations that govern the use of technology. Caution should be
observed to protect individual privacy.
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, learners 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.