Issue: Access to the internet at computer laboratories( in CHS)
Claim: Agree for Enabling and Officialization; “”
In this internet-navigative era, the prospect of providing free internet
access in computer laboratories presents a double-edged sword. The
introduction of the ICT strand to the Philippines had mixed with its entirely
chaotic contemporary school structures of culture and norms, the question
for allowing official internet access in the majority of state schools has yet
to be answered. This narrative contends that such restrictions might
inadvertently hinder equal opportunities and technological preparedness for
ICT students. As the decades progressed however, and communication,
accessing of information, and even learning via online has been
deeply-integrated in today's learners in consideration of online schooling in
the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, the point stands clear. The traditional
ways of the classroom are yet to evolve to a modernized version, tackling
the probable but continuous showcase of the benefits of local connectivity.
Free access to the school internet, in the vicinity of computer laboratories,
should be officialized to support the mandatory educational needs of
students and classrooms’ sctructurized culture.
Despite the mountains of benefits of being connected to the computer
lab, there are still some setbacks, some of them foreseen and obvious. The
first one obviously questions the focus of the student, on subject matters
and occasions unrelated to ICT. The greater majority of ICT teachers at
Commonwealth High School believes that students, given access to the
internet of the locale with no limitations, are detrimental to their own
learning, in the context that the tendency to be distracted from one's own
lessons, are handed on a silver platter.1 An extension of this argument
states that the beneficial divide of the school for ICT students that have
merged their personal, social and entertainment needs with educational
needs on a singular device, will be now gone. They are now prey to forces
as simple as push notifications and and more adverse effects of being
freely connected to the internet.2 In the context of prevention, it is difficult
enough to oversee a class of averaging more than thirty(30) plus
individuals, but also monitoring their activities, specifically their phone and
gadget usage will laboriously tire out the educators that are not paid
enough to do so. Personal and privacy issues will also come into play as
you are not only trying to oversee their phone activity, in hopes of
preventing distraction, but also imminently about to cross boundaries of
1
2
Scalf, Landon. “Do Students Rely Too Much on Technology?”
Ng, S. F., “,smartphone use and academic performance,”
trying to control their personal lives, as aforementioned, a majority of
students keep both personal and educational needs in one phone.
Cheating issues may also arrive as being connected to the internet at any
point of time, including standardized tests that instrumentalizes itself as a
reflection of the student's learnings and a direct component of their grades,
will falsify their learnings and potentially harm the ethical and honest
environment needed for educational institutions to function and effectively
do their jobs.3
To battle these, leading technological schools like AMA, FEU-TECH4,
and T.I.P impose a level of desirable control by letting the students utilize
computers owned by the school that are connected to the internet.
Doing this effectively separates their personal phone lives, to the
educational tasks at hand. Of course these computers are built and
maintained to do the tasks just as, and even more efficiently than doing
them on the student's phone. The statement can be applied also to
Commonwealth High school. As the school already possesses the
computers needed for learning and actualization of the ICT in the ICT
strand. The paper recognizes that distraction is a leading problem in
3
4
Common Sense Media, “Teens Admit to Using Cell Phones to Cheat.”
FEU-Tech, “FEU-Tech Facilities.”
learning, but a great classroom culture, presence, and a thriving
environment should be the focus of solving these problems, and not
blame it all on the connectivity to the internet, in which distraction
pre-dates, but similarly, prevents the learning of students based on the
contemporary trends.5 It is understood that trust is not easily materialized
in terms of student-teacher but it is important for educators, as having the
upper hand at the classroom power dynamics, to take the initiative.6
Some ICT teachers at the school also impose rules that combat cheating
using the internet. They withhold access of students to their phones
during the tests by collecting them in an open, easily observable
space. This way they are not making the policy personal or invasive by
making the phones inaccessible and hidden, but rather observable for
those who own it; a form of assurance. They are able to obtain their
respective phones again once the test is done. Furthermore, students who
are not connected to the locale`s free internet, load themselves with data
connections, and hot-spots do exist, so this type of internet gatekeeping
is, inherently useless. If students are just going to circle around the rule
and not even with a great amount of effort in doing so, then the benefits will
Perez, Rosa. “How to Focus in Class When It’s so Boring!”
Varthana, “Why Is Building Trust between Teachers and Students
Essential?”
5
6
surely outweigh the repercussions. Lastly, in the context of student culture,
students who are serious in learning will definitely do their best to focus
in class. Educators will barely have to give a nudge, in order to get their
focus back into what's important.
The ICT strand, possesses a highly technologically competitive
curriculum, for this reason alone, if any strand in Commonwealth High
School would initiate a request for freedom of internet access in their
laboratories, it will be the ICT strand.7
A leading advantage of students having an easily accessible internet
inside computer laboratories is that, regardless of the students'
socio-economic background, they are able to achieve the privilege and
equal opportunity to engage in utilizing ICT learning resources and
materials in school.8 Students are forced into a pipe curriculum of
constantly needing the most latest of information, programs, and methods.
This is all in accordance with the strand, except for the overlooked fact that
a certain bias exists in terms of their socio-economic background. After all,
it should not cease to remember that technology was once, and
7
8
Asset Panda, “Why Today’s Student Must Have Internet Access”
Scispace, “How Does the Socio Economic Status of Students Relates,”
continuously shows itself as a luxury for those who can afford to obtain and
use it.
Another obvious point is that having an access to internet connection
in a computer laboratory infer an easier collaboration in the process of
teaching/learning. It employs instant transferring of information such as
sharing instructions, files or documents, and makes communication easier
inside the laboratory through ICT contrivance without leaving students
unsupervised. Collaboration, consistency and communication between
modules and materials of a system, whether it be hardware, software, or a
project is essential to its own success, being the collective insight of the
authors as they are in-fact ICT students. It should not be a question of
depriving students of modernization, advancements, technicality and
programming, especially when the strand is focused entirely on that and
secondly by the allowance of a stable, freely accessible internet
connection.9
Moreover, an accessible internet connection fosters seamless
access to a wealth of online resources and educational platforms,
enabling students to explore diverse learning materials, conduct research,
and collaborate on projects more efficiently. This not only enhances their
9
ShamirS., et al., “Role of ICT in the Curriculum Educational System.”
academic experience but also prepares them for the digital demands of the
modern workforce without the added cost of data balance acquisition for
themselves, ensuring a well-rounded and technologically adept educational
environment. 10
Free access to the internet at the Commonwealth Highschool
computer laboratories, should be implemented. It helps to make learning of
the ICT strand free of biases and socio-economic restrictions. A fair
competitive field to foster future people. It also allows for, in the only way
possible, for the actualization and proper collaboration of tools and
communication of modules needed to run the classroom and the lessons
within. Furthermore, it answers the main problem of being involved in a
computer or technological related study; is that information is always
updating and information can quickly become obsolete as a result of
continuous advancements. Keeping up to the times by accessing an
unlimited arsenal of resources online in the tap of a thumb via the
internet is an easily valid reason that trumps all. The school and educators
should impose all the necessary protocols, including limiting but not in
complete forbidding access of the internet to the students within the
class only, and mutual understanding of when to utilize the internet in
10
ShamirS., et al., “Role of ICT in the Curriculum Educational System.”
the lesson for the actualization of free accessible internet in the computer
laboratories in Commonwealth Highschool.