RECENTLY, the Department of Education Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) reiterated calls for the prohibition of electronic gadgets inside the school premises. A DECS order back in 1999 was used as reference for the reiteration.
I believe this DECS order is already outdated and using it as a reference is as useless as the order itself. It may have been necessary back in 1999, where the learners were the late Gen Xers and the early millennials, but now, there is a new generation of learners now. They belong to the post-millennials or the Net Generation.
The latest generation is the Generation Z. Aside from the terms earlier mentioned, they are also called the “Sharing Generation”, “Born Digital”, “Generation N” (as in Network), “IGen” or “Internet Generation”, and “Screensters”. These individuals were born in a digital world and thrive with a high reliance on digital technology and internet connectivity.
They have all the digital technologies and gadgets at their disposal, so they are sometimes called “the digital kids.”
Some of the attributes of those who belong to this generation being born at the time of global recession, global warming issues, and cloud computing, as well as the 9/11 terror attacks, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is that they value information, stimulation and connection. They are able to quick sort through and assess enormous amounts of information, which provide them engaging and immediate beneficial experiences.
They are more independent than the millennials, with everything done with the touch of a button, but they are more interactive or collaborative compared to the previous generations. The Screensters are more motivated, practical and financially driven and have ambitious plans for their education, their careers and their lives.
Their preference for self-learning and search for authentic and meaningful experiences drives them to be curious and be concerned about their personal fulfillment and their impact on society.
Those from this generation have a very different learning style from those of the earlier generations. They are now very interactive especially that everything can be accessed with just pressing a button.
I understand where the people from DepEd are coming from, but come on, the reality, we cannot keep our students from bring their mobile phones in the school premises. Even if schools and teachers have already set guidelines on the use of cellular phones, we cannot prevent them from bringing in their mobile phones into the school premises. I doubt it if Parents would allow that to happen especially that our streets are not as safe as when the DECS order was written some 20 years ago.
To be honest, it reflects their effectiveness and efficiency as an agency to just reiterate and not think of better ways to address this issue. It was as if they were culling their records when they found it and they thought that they can just recycle it, not thinking that if it were still applicable or not these days.
Mobile phones are not used for calling and texting anymore. They are used for other purposes already. Preventing students from bringing them in is not only moot but also counterproductive. So, why don’t we just use it to everybody’s advantage?
Students from this generation are highly responsive in their learning when technology is used. As a teacher myself, I use their mobile phones as their screens instead of flashing them on a widescreen. E-books and e-notes can be accessed through their mobile phones. They can even use it in order to research for their written reports and commentaries.
I shifted to technology-driven learning just last year and I observed that my students last year were relatively more receptive of learning than the previous batches that I facilitated learning using more traditional means, like whiteboard and powerpoint presentations.
What I am saying here is that we can use technology to better facilitate learning rather than stifling them from these necessities, because whether we accept it or not, these are not luxuries anymore. I am not saying that we should allow them to bring their mobile and let them all run free like free range hens.
Teachers and schools and government education regulatory agencies should be more creative, interactive and proactive especially that technology is changing with a blink of the eye. We cannot stay inside our caves and live like cavemen in the era where information is so easy to generate. It is our duty as educators to support our students in sorting out what are beneficial for them in their learning from those that are not.
We should also get an upgrade of our skills, strategies and pedagogies.