ICT Initiatives in Education at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Abstract

At the advent of the new millennium, we note a strong trend towards increasing attention to the concerns and issues about information and communication technologies (ICT). Particularly in the field of education, ICT is now being employed to improve not only the teaching and learning circumstances but also administration and institution governance. The main justification why ICT should be used in education is that students need to become prepared for a digitized world of work.  Accordingly, teachers need to become digitally literate to transfer these skills and take advantage of the various strategies offered by ICT.   Moreover, administrators need to make decisions about the most efficient use of resources in education. To jumpstart ICT efforts throughout society, the government of the Philippines has recently passed several laws that aim to provide the optimal environment for adoption of ICT.   This ICT policy is known as the National Information Technology Plan for the Twenty-first Century, IT21. To understand the new ICT use in education, this Paper reports the experience of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) which is a dual-mode education provider with both traditional and open modes. The PUP is working on several IT21-ICT initiatives. Of 108 state universities and colleges in the Philippines, the PUP is the largest in terms of student population with 54,000 students, spread over 14 campuses - including 6 in the capital Manila and the other 8 in the outlying provinces.  The PUP has as a result been recognized as a leader in ICT use in the Philippines. Here this Paper explores and evaluates these PUP initiatives in both the traditional mode and in the open university system