TechTonics: Revaluation of Philippines' Education System's Lack of Adaptability to New Technologies

Written by: Ashley Cabuhat

To start, narinig niyo na ba ang kasabihan na “History truly repeats itself”. Well that saying is applicable for our topic today kung “Natutugunan nga ba ng Pilipinas yung misuse of Generative AI sa K-12 education?” First though, as a student, how often do you think you rely on AI in doing your schoolwork? Now, do you think technology should still be implemented in our education today given the fact that it can be misused? K-12 has been implemented in the Philippines for almost 12 years. With the recent technological advancements, there has been a debate whether or not using these technologies are considered “cheating” or unhelpful for the students. The big question here is that “Are there enough understanding and policies to make sure that our country is adapting to these recent advancements?”. With this, I personally think the recent technological advancements, like GenAI, should push the Philippines’ education sector to present an opportunity to modify or enhance our learning experience with GenAI, while also making sure it is being regulated and monitored. Creating policies and programs about GenAI should also be raised to improve our system, not only with the students but with the teachers and staff as well. 

So ano nga ba yung problema sa ating bansa pagdating dito? First, there is a lack of comprehensive guidelines that only fosters the potential misuse of GenAI within students. Paano nga ba mapagbabawalan yung mga studyante kung walang gabay na nagsasabi na “uy bawal yan!” when it comes to AI, diba? Some experts from renowned schools in the Philippines  highlight that there aren't any policies in regulating AI use of students. Joel T. Bautista, an information technology officer in Philippine Science High School, says that “The use of ChatGPT or other similar AI tools in academic settings… calls for policies or guidelines to ensure the ethical use of such or similar technologies''. Experts also support that there should be implementation of new policies in schools, especially in the creation of manuscripts, graphic designs, videos, computer programs, and other academic requirements that supposedly should only be done by students. Next would be the insufficient educational infrastructure/technical support and teacher/staff training that greatly hinders the implementation of GenAI in K-12. Sa isang study na kinonduct nila Miranda and Estrellado in 2023 about AI in education, they emphasized that GenAI needs “robust technological infrastructure and adequate computing resources… and the need for ongoing faculty training and development.” Furthermore, another argument would be that there is a misunderstanding of GenAI’s capabilities and limitations impede the integration and responsible use of this new technology. We cannot deny that there is negativity surrounding the use of GenAI in education, and there are simply multiple people that are not open to how it can actually be helpful. In an article by Mon Ibrahim, a executive member of the National Innovation Council, he states, “Some schools may be banning it completely like how calculators were banned in classrooms some decades back”. Again, returning to my point that history is repeating itself as education rejects technology at first glance, the way it has been done these past few decades. One may argue that there are already some efforts to monitor and regulate the use of AI in Philippine schools. Though I do acknowledge these, there is no denial that there is barely any effort by the government to properly implement policies. Teachers, especially in public schools in the Philippines, are not trained enough to combat the recent AI advancements, giving leeway for students to misuse it on their academic outputs. There are also barely any educational programs where students are taught how to responsibly use AI and improve their critical thinking.

In conclusion, GenAI can be a vital tool in K-12 not only for the students, but also teachers and staff alike. The problem in the Philippines is that there are no policies being made by the education sector to properly recognize and address ethical issues, as well as the growing technologies that our country should be adapting to in recent years. Acknowledging the gaps necessitates collaboration between policymakers, stakeholders, technology experts, and most importantly, the education sector itself. By taking action to prevent the misuse of AI, we can pave the way for future improvements within the modernization of K-12 and the entire education system in our country as well.