ICT Policies and

Safety Issues in
Teaching and
Learning
Objectives:
At the end of the unit, the pre-service teacher
(PST) can:
1. enumerate the national ICT policies affecting
classroom practices;
2.describe the implementation of ICT policies in
teaching-learning; and
3.identify ICT policies that are incorporated to
the design and implementation of teaching
Lesson 1: ICT National and
International Policies that
are Applicable to Teaching
and Learning
 As ICT becomes everyday tools in the lives of the
Southeast Asians, the governments of Southeast
Asian countries (SEAMEO Member Countries)
devout in bringing the ICT into schools. This will
give opportunities for learners to analyze
information, solve problems, communicate
collaboratively, and will eventually make them
competitive in the 21st century market.
 Based on the development of ICT in education, the SEAMEO reported in
2010 that the Philippines is placed under Group 2 countries. These countries
are still in the infused stage. This indicates that the majority of the nation's
ICT plans and policies for education are currently being incorporated into
the current practices and policies for teaching, learning, and administration.
Some rural communities, nevertheless, are still in the lowest step of the scale
—the emerging stage—and struggle on a daily basis. As a result, the
Philippines' schools, which are currently at the primary level, must advance
if they are to compete with Group 1 nations like Malaysia and Brunei
Darussalam, who have created national ICT in education plans and
strategies.
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. 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 ICT.
These include principles and guidelines in the use of ICT
which cover three main areas: telecommunications
(telephone), broadcasting (radio and television), and the
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 communications are still in their
infancy. In addition to Internet, 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.
 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 JCT 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 (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.
 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 multimedia
applications, materials and mirrored internet
 4. Established Community eLearning centers called
eSkwe1a for out-of-school youth (OSY) providing them
with ICT enhanced alternative education opportunities.
5. eQuality Program for tertiary education through
partnerships with 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 organizations, the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, National Commission for culture and Arts and other
government art agencies, state Universities

7. ICT skills strategic plan which develops an inter-agency

approach to identifying strategic and policy and program
recommendation to address ICT skills demand-supply type.
 All the seven programs were guided by the roadmap
that embeds policy statements that to relate 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 ICT
Policy which are crucial to 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.
 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 ready
the examples that follow.
Issue No. 1: Freedom of Expression and Censorship

Under international human rights conventions, all people are

guaranteed the right for free expression. However, with the shift from
communicating through leader, 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 the internet.
Some examples are the following:

l.Individual rights are given up in order to have

access to electronic networks.

2. Censorship restricts the transmission of

information by blocking it or filtering the
information.

3. Defamation actions be used to silence critics.

This action deters 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 relationships 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
the consent of the individuals.
Issue No. 3: Surveillance and Data Retention

The use of electronic communications has enhanced the

development of indirect surveillance. In 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.
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), broadcasting (television and radio sets), telephony
fixed and mobile phones), peripherals (fax machines, printers
and scanners).
Implications to Teaching and Learning

How do the policy guidelines, projects and issues relate 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 relates 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 gadgets 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, 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.

Learners should take advantage of the potential of learning support they can derive such as
the development of higher order thinking skills, the development of learning communities
through collaboration, the enhancement of skills to manage the vast resources as 21st
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.
Lesson 2. Safety Use of ICT
 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 well-being (amount of time spent on-line, internet
gaming and many more;
6. Prolonged exposure to on-line technologies,
particularly at an early age;
7. Addiction to gambling and gaming;
8. Theft and fraud from activities such as phishing;
9. Viruses, Trojans, spyware and other malware; and
10. Social pressure to maintain online networks via
texting and social networking sites
Minor Misuse of ICT
In school, 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 a mobile phone turned on during class period
 Unauthorized taking of pictures or images with mobile phone
camera, still or moving e-Safety
 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 risks 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.
Network Management

l. Safety in the Use of Network in Schools

1.1. Make clear that no one should log on as another user.

1.2. Require all users to always log off when they 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 backup 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

passwords. 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 devices

3.1 All mobile phones shall be kept away in 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

4.1. Taking pictures only from parents or

caregivers and not from any other family
member or friend while the child attends class.

4.2. Any picture taken of children shall be on

cameras solely for the purpose.
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 tilted 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 exits should be clearly marked and free from clutter.

There are some more issues, policies and rules. What have
been presented in the lesson may be the minimum that you
should learn. S you explore some more and engage in the
different aspects of Technology for Teaching and Learning, you
will find more details.
Lesson 3. Uses of ICT in the
Teaching and Learning
Environment
 As a teacher, you have to make sure that you
mold learners’ 21st century skills; and one of these
is teaching them how to utilize the ICT tools for
their economic and technical advantage. You have
to make sure that you utilize ICT in widening their
understand of your subject matter, and will help
them use ICT in deepening their knowledge.
Learning some of the best ways on how ICT tools
were utilized in previous classroom experiences is
one of the stepping stone in planning how you will
make an efficient ICT-enhanced classroom.
 Digital culture and digital literacy: Digital
literacy is the skill of searching for and
producing information through the use of media
for society. This resulted in a digital culture that
impacts the construction and distribution of
information and power around the world. With that,
the Philippine schools utilize ICT to foster
digital literacy among learners in order to
prepare them for their future work.
 One laptop per child Although less expensive
Laptop are advised to be used to attain the 1:1 basis,
developing countries, like the Philippines, still finds it
Hard provide one laptop per child. Instead, the
country just built a computer laboratory
to cater the needs of the learners for computer access
in the schools.
 Tablets: Tablets are small computers
that the learners can use by
themselves anytime at any place. It
allows learners to explore application that
they can use for learning. However, it is
still far from reality for the Philippine
public schools. Only some prestigious
private schools of the country require this
from their learners, like the De Salle
schools.
 Interactive White Boards or
Smart Boards: Interactive white
boards allow you and the
learners to display, manipulate,
drag, click or copy images.
Hand-writing, changes of
projected images and ideas, and
interactive activities are easily
facilitated using these boards.
However, only a few public
schools utilize this board for
class discussion.
 E-readers: E-readers are electronic
devices that contain numerous books
and other files in digital form, which
allows easy use, access, and sharing of
references. Although there are no e-
readers freely given to the learners, other
storage devices,
such as flash drives, are
utilized by the learners
in the class.
 Flipped Classrooms: In this model, classroom is
transformed by allowing you to discuss and practice
concepts at home for the learners to continue
enhancing the idea in the school. This interaction is
facilitated by computer- guided instructions and
interactive learning activities. In the Philippine setting,
this is facilitated using social media sites in which you
introduce the lesson through giving your learners a
series of online resources to explore and be
enhanced in the classroom afterwards. However, it
is not used as a medium of instruction since not all
learners can access the Internet.
ICT and Teacher Professional Development: The success of
integrating ICT in the learning assessments and in facilitating
instructions, resources and learners’ interaction depends on the
ability of the teacher, like you, to incorporate ICT along the
process. Fortunately, the DepEd has been conducting
training, seminars and workshops about using ICT in
your field of specialization. Moreover, training for
supervisors, educators and decision makers are
constantly done in order to help their schools foster an
ICT - enhanced environment.
Ensuring Benefits of ICT investments: To ensure the
infrastructure in
investments in ICT benefit the learners,
ICT, stable and affordable Internet connectivity
and security measures must be provided to the
schools. With your advancement in ICT aspects, such as
your ICT literacy skills, pedagogical settings and the uses of
ICT in your discipline, you can effectively implement the
curriculum and reflect local culture that supports learning for
your learners. This is what the DepEd has been doing
especially in building Internet sites in the barrios and
contextualizing the content of the lessons.
Resource Constrained Contexts: As a developing country,
the Philippine public schools find it difficult to require
learners to bring their own laptop, smartphones or tablets to
be used in the teaching-learning process. With that, the
department has conducted several updates to improve the
technical support for ICT infrastructures. Monitoring the
software of each computer, building additional infrastructures
to cater slow Internet speed, and solving electrical
connections were some of the problems that addressed by the
DepEd to maximize the use of ICT.
 By improving these aspects of ICT in
education, the increase of performance among
learners and teachers are likely manifested. A
report of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education
Organization (SEAMEO) in 2010 entitled Report: Status of
ICT Integration in Education in Southeast Asian Countries
highlighted one best feature of technology- enhanced
lesson in the Philippines.
 Through the partnership of the Intel
Teach
Programme of the Intel Philippines and
the Department of Education, learning is
enhanced using technological media apart from
the information presented in the textbooks and
other printed materials. The report of SEAMEO
even highlighted a few examples of how a
class PC tools and application
enhanced lessons today.
 Instead of copying and writing data from the references,
lessons were focused more on analyzing and thinking
critically.
 Activities are enhanced using a fast Internet research and
communication.
 Creativity is encouraged from the learners as they are
asked to make multimedia presentations, rather than
written documents.
 Difficult lessons, like Math problems, can be presented
using a game-like software.
 Assessment tasks will be administered
efficiently using computers.

 Monitoring, communicating, and

collaborating with the learners, grouped or
individually, make classroom management
easier and fast as you strive to keep them
focused and engaged.
References:
• Bilbao, P. P., Dequilla, M. A., Rosano, D. A., & Boholano, H. B. (2019). Technology for teaching and learning I. Quezon City: LORIMAR
Publishing.

• Constructivism and CALL: Evaluating some interactive features of network-based authoring tools. ReCALL: The Journal of EUROCALL, 13(1), 32-
46.

• Tuazon, Normi.TLL1 Complete Module Lecture Notes 1. (2022). Isabela State University Retrieved from
https://www.studocu.com/enus/n/14719673?sid=209668231673310979