Module 2

Module 2ICT Policies and Safety Issues in Teaching and

Learning
Module Overview

“There can be infinite uses of the computer and new-age technology,

but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the
classroom and make it work, then it fails.”

-Nancy Kassebaum-

ICT National or International Policies That Are Applicable to

Teaching and Learning
Safety Issues in ICT
Uses of ICT Policies in the Teaching and Learning Environment

Welcome to your journey for an exciting fact about Module 3!

Restrictions of distance have been broken by technology at present times. Now when we
live in a technology-based society, ICT learning is one of the best methods of teaching students
through virtual classrooms. The relationship between ICT and Education has been one of rapid
change from technology to learning. Schools increasingly determine new technologies and models
for teacher professional development in enhancing teaching and learning (Ndongfack, 2010). The
importance of national policies and programs for the realization of ICTs can be an essential tool
in education. According to Schmidt, et al., (2009), the way teachers use ICT tools for effective
teaching can be an important tool for information communication technology development for
learning and teaching.

At the completion of this module, you should be able to:

● enumerate the national ICT policies affecting classroom practices
● describe the implementation of ICT policies in teaching-learning
● identify ICT policies that are incorporated to the design and implementation of teaching-
learning activities
Are you ready? Then start the lessons now!
 Lesson 1

ICT National or International Policies That are

Applicable to Teaching and Learning

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

Understand ICT in Education
Define basic concepts in understanding ICT in
Education
Enumerate the national ICT policies affecting classroom
Time Frame 2 days practices

Introduction

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can impact student learning when
teachers are digitally literate and understand how to integrate it into the curriculum. When you
want every student to enumerate national ICT policies, each time you teach, understanding the
existing and planned national policies related to ICT, may help you achieve your goal. You will
find the answers to this question in this lesson.

Activity

1. Write down the policies and suggest what to do to implement the ICT in Education policy
first at the national level (all schools) and then how to implement the policy in our
classroom.
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2. Individuals prepare a presentation for class discussion.

Analysis

ICTs are not only an instructional means to provide prerequisite learning activities; they
offer an exploratory space where the learner is in charge. Write down a list of the international and
national ICTs as a learning tool you think can improve quality in education.
 Abstraction

The international policymakers join forces to successfully implement ICT in

educational practice to address the individual needs of students, the implications of
technology for student assessment, and teacher learning to successfully implement technology
(Voogt, 2013). A National ICT Policy is a policy put into place so that the government and
stakeholders can have access to information that is committed to bringing digital technology to all
individuals and communities.

The provision of ICT to academic staff and students is critical to recommend them to more
effective learning environments. By overcoming the needs and reinforcing the functional aspects,
it may help decision-makers to employ academic staff on an investigation of the status of the
developments of ICT in improving the teaching and learning environment in educational
institutions. (Alzahrani, 2017).

The ability of policymakers to innovate on related policy issues outperform technological

innovations because it changes and evolves. Different institutions in different countries formulated
and proposed policies in various forms. Lack of rigorous and significant evidence complicates the
attempts to outline impactful ICT/education policies.

The World Bank’s Systems Assessment for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative,
as part of their work, attempts to document national educational technology policies around the
world and their evolution over time. Policymakers try to benchmark their policies on ICT use in
education against international norms, so a related SABER-ICT policy framework has been
developed. Likewise, those of comparator countries around the world, identify key themes and
characteristics, draw on an analysis of their policy documents.

There are eight policy themes around the world that are commonly identified in educational
technology policies; (1) vision and planning; (2) ICT infrastructure; (3) teachers; (4) skills and
competencies; (5) learning resources; (6) EMIS; (7) monitoring and evaluation; and (8) equity,
inclusion, and safety. The framework only considers policy intent but not the extent to which
policies are realized in practice, nor the impact of such policies. The policymakers are challenged
to offer useful related policy guidance for rapid developments and innovations in the technology
sector (Trucano, 2016).

SABER-ICT policy framework may find useful by policymakers as a means to help their
country benchmark the current state of related policy development. It can look forward to potential
future policy directions and gain inspiration from other countries.

There are two official documents wherein Policy on the use of ICTs in the Philippine basic
education system is articulated. The Medium-Term Development Plan of the Philippines
(MTPDP) 2004-2010. The MTPDP states:
 “ICT will be harnessed as a powerful enabler of capacity development. It will, therefore,
be targeted directly towards specific development goals like ensuring basic education for all and
lifelong learning, among others” (National Economic Development Authority, 2004a, p. 2)

and the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC), that stipulates the following goal of Philippine
primary education:
“We must educate our Filipino learners to filter information critically, seek credible sources of
knowledge, and use data and facts creatively so that they can survive, overcome poverty, raise
their personal and national esteem, and realize a gracious life in our risky new world.” (p. i)

The Philippine government, especially the Department of Education and Department of

Science and Technology, has forwarded ICT educations through policies and projects. The
Restructured Basic Education Curriculum launched in 2002 aimed to implement an interactive
curriculum and to integrate technology in instruction and education, with computer literacy much
emphasis. The Act of 1998 (R.A. 8484) was passed to generate the participation of companies and
to engage the private sector. There are programs with DepEd through streamline data collection to
improve ICT education. To help schools to participate in ICT-related programs, the DepEd
Computerization Program (DCP) was implemented.

According to Arinto (2006), policy statements on ICT integration in Philippine primary

education reflect a human development perspective. However, critical ICTs for schools’ programs
tend to be informed by a human capital approach. The human development perspective joined the
mainstream of education and development in the 1990s, and it now reinforces the international
consensus on Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals, However, many
educational reform efforts. It continues to influence the human capital perspective (Avalos, 2003).

Application

As a whole class, you plan to organize a forum inviting a resource speaker to talk
on ICT on national and international policies applied to teaching and learning.

Well done! You have just finished Lesson 1 of this module. Should there be some parts of the
lesson which you need clarification, please ask your teacher during your online interactions.

Closure

Now if you are ready, please proceed to Lesson 2 of this module which will discuss
safety issues in ICT
 Lesson 2

Safety issues in ICT

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

Describe the implementation of ICT policies in
teaching-learning
Know and understand existing and planned national
policies related to ICTs in Education

Time Frame 3 days

Introduction

Understanding the safety issues in ICT would help students to understand why learners
there are issues of cyberbullying. This lesson will describe the implementation of ICT policies
this information in improving the delivery of teaching-learning.

Activity

1. Write a 3-5 page critique paper critically examining the implementation process of
technology integration about ICTs in education
2. Learners share knowledge with classmates.
3. In groups, discuss the policies and suggest what to do to implement the ICT in Education
policy first at the national level (all schools) and then how to implement the policy in your
classroom.
4. Once the group has an overview of the policy environment, they need to start thinking
about how to implement the ICT safety issues in cyberbullying.

Analysis

1. Organize small groups to interview and explain how existing and planned national policies
impact classroom practices and how their classroom practices correspond to and support
policies related to ICT.
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 2. What is the impact of ICT in Education Policy to teaching and learning?
________________________________________________________________________
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3. Interview a cyberbullied student and what are your suggestions to improve student
performance related to the discussion of safety issues in cyberbullying?
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Abstraction

“Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. New technology does not

merely add something; it changes everything.”
Originally, with the active participation of the learner instructor, the implementation of ICT
in education was to change the teaching and the learning process from the traditional instructional
teacher-centered endeavor to a learner-centered approach with the active participation of the
learner coach (Voogt et al., 2013).
The most natural part for the effective integration of ICT into the educational system is
given enough capital although the process of integration is complex and multifaceted, like in
curriculum and pedagogy, teacher competencies, institutional readiness, and long-term financing,
To improve the quality of education, policymakers and implementation managers must
have a clear vision in investments of ICTs that requires a vast amount of money. Such massive
investments require not only careful planning for skills enhancement of both teachers and learners
but also thoughtful implementation. Both policymakers and implementation managers at the
national and institutional levels need to plan for the introduction of high technology and understand
the contextual complexities of the educational ecosystem of the communities.
Youths acquire ICT skills faster than adults, according to the studies of the World Youth
Report (2003) and more likely to share these skills with their peers either intentionally or through
interaction. Hu & McGrath (2012) study reports on the implementation of the national reform in
Chinese secondary schools. The study focused on the use of ICT in teaching the English language.
Findings indicated that the majority of the teachers have a positive attitude towards ICT and happy
with the current ICT use in English. Moreover, results showed that some teachers find difficulties
in changing from the traditional pedagogical method of teaching to a technological based
pedagogy. Hu and McGrath (2012) suggested that continuous professional development programs
that can motivate the attitudes of teachers positively to equip them with new ICT skills
 After substantial worldwide implementation ICT in schools, studies have found out that
those teachers who are more proficient in using ICT focus on the internet search and word
processing instead of project-based teaching ()Phelps, Graham, & Watts, 2011). Mingaine (2013)
observed that despite the benefits of ICT, the school management had not fully implemented the
policies developed by the Ministry of Education in Kenya. They assert that some schools had
developed guidelines on how to implement ICT, but no attempt was made to achieve them. This
prompted an investigation of challenges that hindered the efficient implementation of ICT in public
secondary schools in Meru County.
Mooij and Smeets (2001) suggested five successive phases of ICT implementation
representing different levels of ICT transformation of the educational and learning processes.
These include:
(1) the incidental and isolated use of ICT by one or more teachers
(2) increasing awareness of ICT relevance at all levels
(3) emphasis on ICT co-ordination and hardware
(4) focus on didactic innovation and ICT support
(5) use of ICT-integrated teaching and learning that is independent of time and place
The study of Tondeur et al. (2008) entitled “ICT integration in the classroom: challenging
the potential of school policy. Findings showed that there is a potential impact of policy-related
factors on the actual integration of ICT in teaching-learning in daily classroom instruction. Results
suggested that success in ICT integration is related to activities at the school level, like, ICT
support, the development of an ICT plan, and ICT training. The results also suggest that principals
have a big role in facilitating the policies put in place when defining this policy.
Implementing ICT safety issue policies regarding cyberbullying

You might have heard the term’ cyberbullying,’ and it means to try to hurt someone’s
feelings by using ICT such as the internet, email, chatrooms, and texting to deliver demeaning
messages at any time and through a variety of avenues. Today’s children with online access and
equipped with digital mobile phone or social network account can receive cyberbully messages
anywhere and at any time, and these digital messages can also be anonymous, that increase the
amount of fear experienced by the target child. This intense psychological stress of victims of
bullying unfavorably affects a child’s ability to concentrate on schoolwork, and school lessons or
activities.
Children who experience classic bullying and cyberbullying adversely affects their
academic performance. Those who experience classic bullying are likely to avoid locations and
activities they associate with negative experiences; likewise, cyberbullied victims try to avoid the
technological spaces. In cyberspace, technological areas such as social media networking sites,
online websites, social networks, chat programs, and school computer rooms are all vital elements
in the educational development and social lives of students relevant to their academic success. As
technology and technological skills become more critical in modern academics and professional
training, cyberbullied, students face several academic and career difficulties.
The Government today unveiled tough new measures to be like the UK that is the safest
place in the world to be online.
These are the suggested safety policy measures:
● Independent regulator will be appointed to enforce stringent new standards
● Social media firms must abide by mandatory “duty of care” to protect users and could face
hefty fines if they fail to deliver
● Measures are the first of their kind in the world in the fight to make the internet a safer
place

In the first online safety laws of their kind, social media companies and tech firms will be
legally required to protect their users and face severe penalties if they do not comply. The eSafety
Toolkit for Schools is designed to support schools to create safer online environments. The
resources are backed by evidence and promote a nationally consistent approach to preventing and
responding to online safety issues.
The resources are categorized into four elements: Prepare, Engage, Educate, and Respond.
Each contributes to creating safer online environments for school communities, whether the
resources from each element are used on their own or collectively, each contributes to creating
safer online environments for school communities.
● Prepare
Prepare resources to help schools evaluate their willingness to deal with online safety issues
and deliver suggestions to improve their practices. They are useful for strengthening school
policies and procedures in online safety.
● Engage
All members of your school community should be active participants in creating and
maintaining safe online environments. Engage resources to encourage the participation of the
school community in creating a safe online environment. They help engage school community
members as involved and valued participants, and they facilitate the real involvement of students.
● Educate
 Preventing an online incident is always better than having to respond to one. The Educate
resources support schools in developing the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of students, staff,
and parents to have positive and secure online experiences. They bid best practice guidance for
online safety education and sit alongside eSafety’s complement of curriculum-aligned teaching-
learning activities.
● Respond
There must be processes in place in case an incident happens so that it is controlled
appropriately. The Respond resources support schools to evaluate and respond to online incidents
effectively. They preserve digital evidence, offer guidance to understand reporting requirements,
minimized more harm, and supporting wellbeing.
eSafety developed the Toolkit in consultation across every state and territory with
government and non-government education sector representatives. It was established in response
to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Education
Council’s work program to report bullying and cyberbullying.

Application

Based on your activities, make a mind-map of the decisions you face concerning
the implementation of ICT policies in teaching-learning and the safety issues in ICT regarding
cyberbullying.

Closure

Congratulation! You have just finished Lesson 2.

In this lesson, you learned about the practices that address safety issues in ICT for teaching
and learning and safety issues in cyberbullying. In the next lesson, you will learn about the ICT
policies that are incorporated to the design and implementation of teaching-learning activities
 Lesson 3

Uses of ICT Policies in the Teaching and

Learning Environment
Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

Identify ICT policies that are incorporated into the
design and implementation of teaching -learning activities and
have a deeper understanding of the uses of ICTs in facilitating the
teaching and learning process
Incorporate ICT policies in the design and
implementation of teaching-learning activities

Time Frame 2 days

Introduction
This module will provide the student with a deeper understanding of the uses of ICTs in
facilitating the teaching and learning process as well as the role that ICTs play in the larger
educational and national context. Students will explore ways in which ICTs can be used for
professional development, educational management, and school administration and publicity.

Activity

1. You will research other schools’ ICT policies and best practices by surfing the World
Wide Web and write down your discoveries using the graphic organizer.
 2. You will do a class observation on how ICT practices are utilized in the classroom

Analysis

1. Where is the most research on the impact of ICT focusing on?

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2. What policies do reports on the use of ICT practices that impacts teaching and learning in
the classroom?
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Abstraction

Globally, researchers and policymakers acknowledge the importance of developing a

school-based ICT policy plan to facilitate the integration of information and
communication technology (ICT) in education. Despite this interest, little is known about how
schools can improve their local ICT policy capacity and how to launch an ICT policy plan.

In many countries, the use of ICT in education and training has become a priority during
the last decade. However, very few have achieved progress. Indeed, a small percentage of schools
in some countries reached high levels of effective use of ICT to support and change the teaching
and learning process in many subject areas. Others are still in the early phase of Information and
Communication Technologies adoption. Those schools with sufficient ICT resources have better
results achievements compared to those schools that are not well-equipped. Finally, teachers are
more convinced that the educational achievements of pupils are anticipated to good ICT use. There
is a high percentage of teachers in Europe (86%) say that students are more motivated when they
used computers and the Internet in class.

A lot of resources have been invested by many governments across the world to ICT
development to improve teaching and learning using technology in schools. New educational ICT
policy issues emerged, and new patterns of ICT related practices are evident in education. To
support traditional learning methods, many teachers use ICT to know how ICT can promote
teaching and learning, as explained by Khattak, (2015). Furthermore, it has been proven that
students have lots of benefits to new technologies.

Literature shows that ICT has a potential to enhance the teaching and learning process in
many ways if it is well-utilized in learner-centered schools According to research conducted by
Dzidonu, (2010), it shows that learning activities that are challenging, authentic, multisensorial
and multi-disciplinary, students are motivated with higher attendance report, motivation and
academic accomplishment as a result of ICT programs.

When there are potential and promise of ICT use in education, there are also 'perils' related
to the distraction of existing traditional teaching and learning practices, such as the high costs,
increased responsibilities on teachers, equity, and issues around data privacy and security. Four
broad tangled issues must be addressed when considering the overall impact of the use of ICTs in
education, effectiveness, cost, equity, and sustainability.

Policies related to technology use in change and evolve, often along a somewhat
predictable path, and technological innovations often outpace the ability of policymakers to
innovate on related policy issues. Such policies take different forms and are formulated and
proposed by various institutions in different countries. No matter what country, a lack of rigorous,
relevant evidence typically complicates attempts to draft impactful ICT/education policies. The
educational effectiveness of ICTs depends on how they are used and for what purpose. ICTs do
not work in other educational tools or educational delivery for everyone, everywhere in the same
way.

In developing countries, education takes place under situations that are substantially
different from those in developed countries. The poorest countries spend the least proportionately
on non-salary related educational expenditures. The Philippines is one of many developing nations
that have turned to information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool to improve teaching
and learning, whose educational system reveals many of the same problems and limitations of its
fellow developing nations. Unfortunately, implementation endures from several weaknesses: the
absence of documentation and information on how ICT is used; there is a lack of coordination
between public and private sector efforts; and not sufficient teacher preparation. More specifically,
there is uncertainty about whether computers in schools are fully utilized for educational
computing. There were also concerns that computers meant for students were instead being used
only by teachers for lesson plans preparation or playing games.

Educational researchers stated that lack of documentation regarding ICT use is a problem
that exists in many countries. In developing countries, data that could help determine how scarce
educational resources should be distributed or how effectively they are being used are simply not
available. Finally, teacher preparation is not sufficient. Some training programs for teachers
emphasize the use of specific software packages, but the integration of ICT in the curriculum is
overlooked (Ng et. al, 2009). If teachers dare to use ICT without adequate training, they are likely
to do it inaccurately.

Therefore, Philippine national policy has been formulated in the advanced use of ICT in
education. The Senate Committee on Education, in cooperation with the DECS, launched Project
CARES in March 2001. Project CARES was designed to upgrade the use and application of ICT
in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide (Rimando, 2001). The primary concern of
the project is the school administration to respond to the need for accurate and timely data that
administrators and teachers need to manage their classes.

Philippines as a developing country are committed to instilling schools with ICT, hopeful
that these technologies will improve teaching and learning in today's knowledge society.
Subsequently, the government and the private sector have introduced programs to deliver schools
with computer hardware and software, Internet connectivity, and teacher training. However,
substantial gaps still exist in ICT program implementations. There is a lack of data on schools’ use
of ICT, so there is little basis for policy formulation; furthermore, there is a lack of coordination
between public and private sector efforts. Within the ICT program, thus leads to wasted time,
money, and human resources. Finally, there is a demand for further teacher training in both
computer literacy and ICT integration in the curriculum. These gaps must be sufficiently addressed
before ICT can have a significant impact on teaching and learning in Philippine schools (Rodrigo,
2001).

A. Policy Recommended Programs that have applications to education teaching-learning:

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, develops
applications used in schools and conducts students’ and teacher’s competitions to promote
the development of education-related web content.

3. PheDNET is a “walled” garden the 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 the 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 the government using
Open Source technologies. Particularly the beneficiary agencies organizations, the Cultural
Center of the Philippines, National Commission and for Culture and Arts, State
Universities, 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.

B. Some Issues on ICT and Internet Policy and Regulations

Issue No. 1: 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.
● Censorship restricts the transmission of information by blocking it or filtering
information.

Issue No. 2: Privacy and Security

● Privacy means “personal privacy,” the right of individuals not to have their home,
private life, or personal life interfered with.
● Privacy of communication refers to the protection from interference with
transmission over the phone or the internet.
● Information privacy must be used for purposes and will not be disclosed to others
without the consent of the individuals.

Issue No. 3: Surveillance and Data Retention

● Indirect Surveillance – no direct contact between the agent and the surveillance subject
and but evidence of activities can be traced.
● Dataveillance –the use of personal information to monitor a person’s activities.
● Data Retention – the storage and use of information from communication systems.

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

● A large amount of E-waste is generated by ICT.

● These are in particular, terminal equipment for computing, broadcasting, telephony,
and peripherals.
● Material waste can be destroyed by crushing, toxic material brought by the different
equipment requires top management.

Application

The availability and the use of the new ICTs also encourage new types of learning
interactions: between teacher-learner, teacher-teacher, learner-experts, and between learners-
computer.
In a continuum from traditional to the new environment, where would you position your school?
Place an X mark where you think your school is.
In the space below, write a brief explanation for your answer.
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Closure

Now that you have already known the implications of ICT Policies and Safety
Issues in Teaching and Learning, you can now proceed to the next module, which will discuss on
Theories and Principles in the Use and Design of Technology-Driven Lessons.