ICT Policies and Issues: Implications to Teaching and Learning PDF

ICT Policies and Issues: Implications to Teaching and Learning Lesson3 (Part 1 of 2) Policies and Issues on Internet and Implications to Teaching and Learning Lesson Outcomes: 1\. Discussed some ICT policies and explained their implications to teaching and learning 2\. Explained some issues tha...

ICT Policies and Issues: Implications to Teaching and Learning Lesson3 (Part 1 of 2) Policies and Issues on Internet and Implications to Teaching and Learning Lesson 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.\" 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 andimplement 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, 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 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 in 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 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-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 multi-media 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 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 ICT 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 is 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 consent 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 or filtering the information. Blocking is preventing access to whole areas of internet based upon the \"blacklist of certain Internet address, location email addresses while filtering is sifting the packets of data or message 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. 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 communication is an essential prerequisite for the maintenance of human relationship 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 consent of the individuals. 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.\" 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 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), 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 e-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 and 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, 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. Lesson3 (Part 2 of 2) Safety Issues on the Use of ICT including e-Safety Rules Lesson Outcomes: Using technology is not a risk by itself, but how it is used will be vulnerable to risks. When improperly used, it will pose danger to the users in school and at home. What are the safety issues that are needed to be addressed by safety policy and guidelines? As future teachers, do you need to know all of these? Some Risks in the Use of ICT and e-Networking Technology is a phenomenon that seems to be uncontrollable. Despite the so many benefits for teaching and learning, there are also negative effects 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 in 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 schools. 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; 1\. Identified and explained safety issues on the use of ICT 2\. Listed and applied e-safety rules in the use of ICT 4\. Privacy issues including disclosure of personal information: 5\. Health and wellbeing (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 With all of the above concerns and many more, how do we confront all of these so as to protect our future generation? e-safety takes care not only of internet technologies but also of electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology. It highlights the need to educate children and young people about the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology. 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 1\. 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 back up 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. Computers should be set to a time out if they become unused for a certain period of time. 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 breaktime 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 more issues, policies and rules. What have been presented in the lesson may be the minimum that you should learn. As you explore some more and engage in the different aspects of Technology for Teaching and Learning, you will find more details.