What is ICT?
Approximately 250,000 are graduating from information technology-related courses every March. They go out into the world of employment armed with knowledge that is now filtering down to the high schools.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT), especially with the recent developments and upgrades when it comes to features, connection speed, hardware and software, are increasingly becoming interesting to our high school students.
So when merged with teaching, learning and education, what do we get from ICT? The product: very, very interested students.
What are ICTs?
With June as the National ICT Month, let’s find out first what ICT is.
Information and Communications Technology sums up any electronic means to collect, store, process and present information to end-users. This includes computer systems, office systems and consumer electronics, as well as networked information infrastructure, the components of which include the telephone system, the Internet, fax machines and computers.
In the Philippines, it all started with the liberalized telecommunications sector back in 1989. We now have a competitive ICT sector in the country as Filipinos have access not only to telephones, but are spectacularly taking advantage of mobile phones and the Internet for their communication needs.
ICTs are actually divided into the following:
- Telephone services - In the Philippines, there are nine major telecommunication companies, giving a nationwide telephone density of 7.83 as of December 2004.
- Public mobile phone services - Way back in 2004, there were 82.7 million mobile phone subscribers.
- Broadcast and Cable TV services - As of December 2005, these are the statistics: 375 AM stations, 580 FM stations, 232 TV stations, and 1,480 CATV.
- Internet services - The first quarter of 2005 pegged the number of Internet users at 7.82 million. With the campaigns to put one laptop in every child’s hands for educational purposes, and the ever-decreasing prices of personal computers and laptops, this number will sure keep on increasing.
ICT in the Philippines
The year 2000 marked the passage of the E-Commerce Act, encouraging the growth of e-commerce here, as well as mandating all government agencies to go online.
With our 94% literacy rate and 72% of the population’s fluency in English, the government’s vision of an ePhilippines (an electronically enabled society where the citizens live in an environment that will promote access to technologies providing quality education, efficient government service, greater sources of livelihood, and, ultimately, a better way of life) is definitely on its way to becoming fully realized.
ICT in Education
The framework is now ready for the use of ICT in education, now seen globally as a necessity and an opportunity. In fact, even UNESCO is prioritizing adapting ICT to serve educational goals.
Information plays a vital role to everyone. It helps us get an accurate picture of our situation, make better decisions in the future, and improve the quality of our lives. Now, with ICT, information is more accessible and widespread and more than willing to land on the doorstep of our students’ classrooms.
With ICT, learning is no longer confined to the classrooms. With ICT, learning extends at home, in Internet cafes, and in government-initiated programs.
Sources:
“CICT pillars.” Retrieved June 10, 2008 from
http://www.cict.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=86
“Emergence of ICT-related bodies in neighboring countries.” Retrieved June 10, 2008 from
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2929&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
“Introduction.” Retrieved June 10, 2008 from http://lastmileinitiative.ph/stratplan/introduction.htm
“The ICT Sector at a glance.” Retrieved June 10, 2008 from
http://lastmileinitiative.ph/stratplan/background_ICTAtAGlance.htm
“The Philippine Situation.” Retrieved June 10, 2008 from
http://lastmileinitiative.ph/stratplan/background_PHSituation.htm
(Published 16 June 2008, Smart Communications, Inc.)
