IN a recent forum at the Mind Museum in Taguig City, 100 public high-school students were asked to point their fingers at the stage, and to whirl it clockwise. The speaker plucked one student from the bunch and invited him onstage, while the rest continued to draw a loop.
The speaker asked the student to face the crowd, point his finger back to them, and to move it clockwise, as well.
The speaker asked the audience to which direction is the lone student circling his finger, and they answered, “counterclockwise.” He then asked the student to which direction is he going, and he said “clockwise.” The speaker repeated his questions, throwing the mic to the crowd then back to the student and so on, but both still had opposing answers despite convicted deliveries.
“This,” the speaker said, “is what happens in most arguments in social media.”
He asked the student to turn his back on the audience and to continue swirling. Finally, the audience and the student agreed on the same answer. “Only when we start seeing things the way other people see it do we agree on things,” the speaker said.
More of the same interactive exercise comprised that pilot “Digital Discernment” workshop from Globe Telecom, Facebook and the Department of Education (DepEd). It was the fourth module of Globe’s Digital Thumbprint (DTP) program geared to promote responsible digital citizenship among teachers and students in public and private schools across the country.
There are more than 60 million Internet users in the country as of end 2017, and 52.2 million of which—or roughly half of the country’s population—are mobile Internet users who spend about 3.36 hours online daily. Data from a Philippine National Police (PNP) report revealed that half of Internet users are adolescents aged 17 years old and below.
According to the inaugural 2018 DQ Global Impact Report of the DQ Institute, an international think tank formed in association with the World Economic Forum, 56 percent of kids age 8 to 12 years old worldwide who go online are exposed to a variety of cyber risks. The same report tallied that in the Philippines, 73 percent of children in the same age bracket are exposed to cyber risks, such as cyber bullying, video-game addiction, online grooming, online sexual behavior and digital misinformation. That mark is the second highest in the study among 29 countries.
“From an early age, our children are able to access social media through personal mobile phones,” said Dr. Yuhyun Park, founder of the DQ Institute. “Before they start actively engaging in social media or owning their mobile phone, we need to empower our children with digital citizenship skills to mitigate cyber risks and maximize the opportunity of technology.”
Globe Telecom launched the DTP in 2016 with three initial workshop modules. First was “Digital Insight” (for Grades 7 to 10 students), where participants were taught to help discern proper online behavior. Another was “Digital Impact” (also for Grade 7 to 10 students), wherein issues on technology’s impact on students’ social activities were tackled. Last, “Digital Ambition” (for Grades 11 to 12 students) sought to equip students with skills on how to use technology to help them achieve their life goals.
The most recent module, Digital Discernment, carries topics that teach online users how to think critically online, and effectively identify credible information from questionable information.
“Because of the changing times, we decided to create a fourth module,” said Miguel Bermundo, Globe citizenship and advocacy marketing division manager and the workshop’s speaker. “We want online users to intelligently decipher what is factual, what is an opinion and what is outright false, or what is intended to be false news. From there, it’s for them to appreciate and respect other perspectives and points of view.”
In terms of implementation, Bermundo explained that they have professional facilitators, and more than a thousand volunteers who they train along with Globe employees to readily conduct the workshops in case a school requests so. They also teach trainers and facilitators from the DepEd.
Tonisito M.C. Umali, DepEd undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, External Partnerships and School Sports, underscored the internet’s “very large role” in the lives of the youth and students, saying that it seems impossible to restrain them from internet usage. “What we can do about this is to teach them how to use it properly,” he said. “It is our department’s responsibility to educate them to wisely use the Internet because this is exactly how we produce individuals who are responsible and critical enough to know the perfect time and way to consult the Internet. This is how we raise well-informed and insightful citizens.”
Clair Deevy, Facebook head of community affairs in Asia-Pacific, agreed, and said that digital literacy is critical to building informed and meaningful communities. “Working with partners like Globe, we hope to give people in the Philippines the skills and resources they need to help contribute to a positive online experience.”
The workshop coincided with this year’s observance of “Safer Internet Day.” Aside from Bermudo’s exercises that included the comparison of perception toward digital information to optical illusions, Facebook also reminded the students that false news on their platforms can be reported. They said there are three types of false news: malicious items, click baits and overly dramatic headlines.
Spotting these, they added, can be done through several steps, including being critical of headlines, looking closely at URLs, investigating the source, watching for unusual formatting, considering the photos, inspecting dates and verifying evidence by cross-checking with other reports from more established news sources.
At present, DTP has reached more than 17,000 public and private high-school students in the country, with more than 1,800 facilitators. The latest impact assessment done by the Karrikins Group showed that 94.4 percent of the participants found the DTP relevant, while 93.7 percent said it helped them build confidence in their online activities. Teachers also said their students displayed a high level of engagement in the sessions.
“Collaborating with Facebook and the DepEd to enhance our DTP is important to make sure we are putting in the right intervention to address responsible usage of the Internet,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe senior vice president for corporate communications. “By the first quarter of this year, we will determine the social impact of this program to students from Grade 7 to 12.”
- For schools and other organizations that would like to avail themselves and schedule facilitation of the free workshops, e-mail bridgecom@globe.com.ph. Workshops also include a trainers’ program to equip aspiring facilitators to hold the workshops independently.