Affiliations: Department of Information Systems and Computer
Science, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon
City, Philippines. Tel.: +632 426 6071; E-mail: mrodrigo@ateneo.edu
Abstract: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage in education
falls into three board categories: ICTs as objects under study, ICTs as support
tools, and ICTs as catalysts for transformation. The researcher's goal was to
determine and evaluate the status of ICT resources in Metro Manila schools.
Specifically, the researcher wanted to determine the goals that educators had
for using ICTs, whether schools had the necessary ICT facilities to reach these
goals, whether actual usage was consistent with these goals, and whether there
were differences between public and private schools' responses. Using a mail-in
questionnaire and follow-up interviews, the researcher determined that schools,
a few primary schools and many secondary schools said they espoused emerging or
transformative uses of ICTs. However, Metro Manila students' access to
computers, peripherals, and the Internet was poor. Software selections were
also generally limited to productivity tools. As such, ICTs were actually
primarily used to teach computer literacy and programming. Private schools were
better equipped than public schools, but ICT usage was similarly limited.
Keywords: international education, information and communication technologies, developing countries, Philippines, primary school, secondary school
