ICT: The Scholar of Technologies by Paulo Mendoza

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 become an important consideration for curriculum frameworks. Online learning opportunities and the use of open educational resources and other technologies can increase educational productivity by accelerating the rate of learning; reducing costs associated with instructional materials or program delivery; and better utilizing teacher time.

Information and Communication Technologies have recently gained groundswell of interest. It is a significant research area for many scholars around the globe.  Their nature has highly changed the face of education over the last few decades. Information rich society promotes new practices and paradigms for education where the teacher has to play new role of mentoring, coaching and helping students in their studies rather to play the conventional role of spoon-feeding in the classrooms. Students can learn independently having a wide choice of programme selection and access to information. Students can be involved in skill oriented activities in group learning environments for accumulated knowledge. They can interact and share learning experiences with their teachers and fellow learners in knowledge construction and dissemination process. They can receive and use information of all kinds in more constructive and productive profession rather depending upon the teacher. Branson (1991) stated that students learn not only by the teacher but they also learn along with the teacher and by interacting with one another. Indeed, students can learn much more than that the teacher teaches in conventional learning environments. For productive teaching learning process teachers and students have to use information technologies according to their requirements and availability.

 The educational effectiveness of ICTs depends on how they are used and for what purpose. And like any other educational tool or mode of educational delivery, ICTs do not work for everyone, everywhere in the same way. To guide learning processes can be mentioned as one of the core problems of future education One of the dilemmas the teacher has to cope with is whether he should ‘direct’ students learning processes or ‘leave students at their own devices’. A student has to work as independently as possible, but when should a teacher intervene? And in what way can a student accomplish the best (independent) learning activity? How should the teaching-learning process be formed to establish the best learning achievements? The teacher has to constantly consider which teaching aids or materials are most suitable to use. A number of examples include: Tablets are small personal computers with a touch screen, allowing input without a keyboard or mouse. Inexpensive learning software or 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 ; and 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. Not surprisingly, we discovered that, although technology has the ability to provide access to high quality digital learning materials, students in many low-income schools only have “access” to technology solely for the purposes of remediation. Ironically, using technology for remedial purposes rather than for authentic productive and creative purposes, broadens the digital divide between underserved students and their counterparts in wealthier school districts. Unlike students enrolled in affluent school districts, students enrolled in low-income rural and urban districts are more likely to use technology for remedial purposes. Rather than using technology for skill and drill activities, teachers as well as students, should be using Web 2.0 technologies for authentic tasks like Facebook, Google, WordPress, Pinterest, Yahoo Answers, Wikipedia, Geogebra and the like.

At present, knowledge may be regarded as power and it comes from having information. Information encompasses and relies upon the use of different communication channels or technologies –called information technologies, for its effectiveness and equal access. Information technologies may extend knowledge beyond the geographical boundaries of a state or country providing relevant information to the relevant people round the clock.

What future holds: Millenial Readers

A 16-year old boy was standing at the corner of his room staring at his bookshelves covered in blanket of light dust. Heavy hardbound books were stacked accordingly.  It has no textbooks at all, no journals, nor any encyclopedias, but literatures. He had read Greek, Roman, Anglo-American, Western European and even his own country’s literature, the Philippine Literature, for leisure. He sighed deeply, feeling the cool night breeze lingering upon his skin. He felt a sense of guilt about the fact that he has not read most of literatures around his continent. He was about to sit and face his laptop to search for Asian Literatures, when he suddenly overheard his parents talking from the kitchen.

His father was upset, not on the usual stuff that his parents worry about, like which school in senior high he’s going to, what academic track that best fit his ambitions and how much it’s going to cost. Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to him. His father sounded like this: “There will be a pandemic that will disable education-oriented people, and gain their social status, a devastating economic crisis, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger.” As he got out of his room and laid his back on the couch, he started to worry about the future his dad was describing. He doesn’t want to rely on his thoughts any longer so he found himself looking at some old family photos. There was a picture of his grandfather in his uniform at a war class. He was one of the 7,500 troops who fought at war. Next to it was another picture of his grandfather holding a rifle and ready to fight, the boy suddenly recalled the Korean War during the 1950’s, except the picture was tattered and old. Then he thought, it wasn’t his grandfather but his great-grandfather instead. Seeing those old pictures made him feel better, not worse. It helped him understand and considered some of the awful things his grandparents and great-grandparents had been through in their past lifetimes: Two world wars, demand crisis, martial laws, unexpected bombings and forced labor to help the country at war. But they’ve experienced better things too: The end of 2 world wars, the supply of ASEAN collaboration and the passages of the civil right laws and even the human rights and protection. He glanced over the window and into the peaceful night beyond. He believed, right at that moment that his generation will see better things too. That they will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated. When the Middle East will find peace, when education will no longer be a country’s flaw, when environment and economy will adapt into an ecotone behavior to build integrated global economy and the Ozone layer will be sealed again for good.

Ever since he was a toddler whenever he had a bad day, his dad would always put his arm around him and promised to him that, “Don’t worry, tomorrow will be a better day.” And he would challenge his father once, “How do you know that?” His father said, “I just do.” And right off the bat he believed him. As he listened to his dad from the kitchen that night, worrying about what the future holds for him and his generation, he wanted to put his arm around his father and repeat the promise his father always told him: “Don’t worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day.”