DepEd, telco team up for digital IQ project

The Department of Education (DepEd) has partnered with a major telecommunications company and an international coalition to bring quality digital intelligence education to public school students.

Globe Telecom, the DQ Institute and the DepEd have joined forces for the project which includes the measurement of the digital intelligence quotient (DQ) of youths through pilot surveys in public schools.

Globe will be undertaking a DQ test in 12 schools under the its GFS program. The test is part of a national study to determine and measure the digital intelligence of public school students. DQ is defined as the “sum of technical, mental and social competencies essential to digital life.” It will provide the skills and values needed to develop responsible netizens.

Globe becomes the first telco in the Philippines to help conduct a DQ test the results of which will be used as the benchmark of cyber-risk exposure and digital citizenship level of students in the Philippines.

According to Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto, the company is supporting DQ Institute in determining the digital intelligence quotient of the Philippines. “This enables us to create new learning techniques to elevate the learning experience of children in the Philippines,” she said.

Globe is also behind the Global Filipino Schools (GFS) Program where every DepEd division is provided a teacher training hub to bring 21st century learning to public schools through technology, and the Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP) where students and teachers are provided free workshops on responsible digital citizenship.

The study is derived from DQ World. net (https://www.dqworld.net), an online education platform that teaches Digital Citizenship Skills to kids aged 8 to 12.

DQ World was developed by the DQ Institute, an international think-tank committed to improving digital education, culture and innovation through cross-sector collaborations, global dialog and big data research. It is a spinoff group from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Infollution Zero in South Korea, formed as a coalition in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.

There are eight core DQ citizenship skills that children must be equipped with:

•Digital Citizen Identity which is the ability to build and manage a healthy congruent identity both online and offline with integrity

•Screen Time Management which helps kids manage their time in front of the screen-multitasking and engaging in online games and social media with appropriate self-control

•Cyber Bullying Management which is the ability to detect cyberbullying situations and handle them wisely

•Cyber Security Management which is the process of protecting sensitive data through the creation of strong passwords and managing various cyberattacks.

•Privacy Management which is the ability to handle with discretion all personal information shared online for full protection of one’s and others’ privacy

•Critical Thinking which is the ability to distinguish between true and false information, good and harmful content, and trustworthy and questionable contacts online

•Digital Footprint Management which is about learning and understanding the nature of digital footprints and their reallife consequences and how to manage them responsibly;

•Digital Empathy which is being empathetic to the needs and feelings of the children, as well as that of other users, online.