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ICT-INTEGRATION-IN EDUCATION AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE IN A POST-

CONFLICT SETTING: AN ANALYSIS OF AN ICT-INTEGRATION IN EDUCATION
PROGRAM IN ARMM

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 DONN DAVID P. RAMOS: ICT-INTEGRATION-IN EDUCATION

ICT-INTEGRATION-IN EDUCATION AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE

IN A POST-CONFLICT SETTING: AN ANALYSIS
OF AN ICT-INTEGRATION IN EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ARMM

Donn David P. Ramos

MS Sociology, Asian Social Institute
Quality Audit and Evaluation Officer,
The APC Center, Asia Pacific College

Abstract
This paper is guided by the “practice turn” in social science and philosophy. It identifies ICT-integration
in education as a practice or “something people do”. This empirical paper is largely based on the ICT-
integration practices of identified high school teacher at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
This paper utilizes Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory, guiding the practice framework, to delve into
ICT-integration in the respective schools within the agency-structure continuum. The paper explores
how ICT-integration facilitates and constrains the inclusion of culturally different social actors, and how
these actors in turn mediate the social setting; moreover, it further depicts the aggregate effects of the
ICT-integration practices and at the extra-organizational level. The paper also develops implications of
this framework for ICT-integration studies and other researches.

Key terms: Internet, ICT, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), structuration, eMentor
Scholarship Program

RATIONALE
Information Communication Technologies (ICT) integration in basic and higher education institutions has
been perceived as possessing the potential to yield significant benefits in improving the teaching-
learning process and address deeply rooted problems in the educational system. The value of ICT-
integration education has been studied in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contexts with various
academic disciplines like the field of education, psychology and sociology contributing their shares,
influences as well as orientations.

ICT-Integration in Educational Practices

Different studies have delved into ICT-integration in education focusing on ICT as tools for information
processing as well as the successors of older technologies of representation, as well as traditional
instructional technologies. ICT-integration in education may belong to the following categories: (1)
computer-aided learning, (2) information retrieval and processing, (3) design and production, (4)
communication, and (5) the study of the computer itself (Burn 103). ICT-integration in education
practices ranges from pure distance learning (wherein students work at home or at their office and

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interact with faculty and other students through several forms of computer-mediated communication,
such as e-mail or videoconferencing), to a standard classroom-based environment enriched with
computer simulations, business games, or virtual spaces to discuss and interact (Proserpio 83). ICT as a
tool for course and instructional material development; tool for delivering and sharing content;
communication between learners, teachers and the outside world; creation and delivery of
presentations and lectures; academic research; administrative support, student enrollment. These
practices may lead to changes in the curriculum as well as the mindsets of people within the educational
system.
The emergence of an important trend toward the development of methodologies to understand
and measure ICT-integration in education is now evident as international researches in ICT-integration in
school systems flourished. The recent concluded SITES 2006 may be a clear examples; SITES 2006 - an
international comparative study of pedagogy and ICT use in schools- that focused on the role of ICT in
teaching and learning in mathematics and science classrooms - examined the extent to which
pedagogical practices considered to be conducive to the development of 21st Century Skills or the
capacity to engage in life long learning (understood as self-directed and collaborative inquiry) and as
connectedness (communication and collaboration with experts and peers around the world). Gathering
information from principals and technology coordinators from roughly 9,000 schools and over 35,000
mathematics and science teachers in from 22 countries/education systems namely, Canada (2
provinces: Alberta and Ontario), Chile, Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Russian Federation, Russia-Moscow, Slovak Republic,
Singapore, Slovenia, Spain-Catalonia, South Africa, Thailand. SITES 2006 data revealed that twenty (20)
out of the twenty-two (22) have a system-wide policy on the ICT use in education; moreover, even with
different policy implementation and environments, majority of countries admitted to at least a slight
increase in ICT spending during the past 5 years and some level of government funding for the provision
of hardware and software. On the other hand, ICT use in teaching and learning by mathematics and
science teachers remained generally low and highly variable across countries, with reported adoption
varying from twenty percent (20%) to eighty percent (80%); no correlation between the level of ICT
access (student-computer ratio) and the percentage of teachers reporting having used ICT in their
teaching.. According to SITES 2006 data, the extent of ICT use is not only dependent on overall national
level ICT policies and school level conditions, but also to the national curriculum policies.
There is now a growing emphasis on the need for being meticulous and careful in conducting
ICT-integration in education research. Literature remind that, in some studies there has been a
mismatch between the methods used to measure anticipated gains and the nature of the learning which
is promoted by the use of different ICT environments. Researchers have sometimes measured the ‘wrong’
things, looking for improvements in traditional processes and knowledge instead of new reasoning and
new knowledge which might emerge from the ICT use (Cox and Abbott 8). Even though that there
seemed positive consequences of ICT to student motivation, attitudes toward learning, even self-
confidence, others argued that ICTs’ impact on students learning are far from conclusive due to the
rapid changes in the ICT landscape as well as the inadequate measures (Ringstaff and Kelley 7).

ICT-Integration in Education in the Philippine Context

Schools in the Philippines are moving towards increased ICT-integration even though they encounter
many difficulties in doing these practices. Current social conditions and existing practices may facilitate
and impede ICT-integration practices.

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 DONN DAVID P. RAMOS: ICT-INTEGRATION-IN EDUCATION

According to the 1996 National Survey on Computer Education revealed that the number of
computers owned by the private schools is twice as much as what public schools can afford, and most
computers in public schools were donated. Computers are mostly used to teach different application
programs. (NETFI 50). Similarly, SEAMEO-INNOTECH’s Profile on Information and Communications
Technology Capabilities of Elementary and Secondary School in the Philippines 2000-2001 disclosed that
only 2% of the schools have Internet connections. 14.28% of the respondents or about 5,217 schools
have computers within the National Capital region, and 18.24% of the schools have human resource that
is IT-proficient. Noteworthy was the discovery that very few schools (13.13%) have schools
administrators with ICT training in the past 5 years and 64.36% of the administrators felt the need for
training on computer literacy fundamentals (SEAMEO-INNOTECH 26). A recent Asian Development Bank
Report entitled, ICT in Education and Training in Asia and the Pacific, discussed the present ICT
infrastructure of the Philippines. The report indicated that the national telecommunications
infrastructure is more or less adequate, marketing and business practices in the sector prevent a more
optimal utilization of the national network and of local exchanges (ADB 110). It also conveyed that the
Human Resources Development Committee's ePhilippines vision that aimed to: (1) Develop policy and
programs on e-learning and (2) Develop guidelines on enhancement of Basic Education. Developing
programs on government/private sector initiatives in increasing supply of IT skills; as of November 2003,
there had been no significant government budgetary commitment to attain these goals and launch
these activities.

Philippines’ general interest in the use of ICT in education as a tool to improve the teaching-
learning process was discussed (Rodrigo 105). However, she noted that limitations like lack of
collaboration among public and private educational institutions, dearth of information regarding ICT use
in education, and insufficient teacher-training. In another study she conducted, Rodrigo (2005)
compared the digital divide that existed between schools in Metro Manila, Philippines and schools in
countries surveyed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.
Results revealed that unlike students in other countries, students in Metro Manila schools had limited
access to computers, software, and the Internet; this suggests that Metro Manila students are among
the digital poor, with fewer opportunities to access, process, and contribute to digital content.

ICT-Integration in Education Project Background

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is one of the most underprivileged regions in the
Philippines. Despite the enormous economic potentials of ARMM, a greater majority of the population
still lives in poverty. Armed conflict and government negligence had hampered the development of the
region. Most of the schools are located in remote areas that are further isolated by their limited access
to information technologies and most of these most school communities were ranked by the National
Statistics Office severely economically impoverished. Despite these geographic and economic
limitations, the communities are striving to reform their schools while maintaining their rich cultural
heritage. Hence, there is no better place to launch the eMentor Scholarship Program but in the
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which includes the provinces of Lanao del Norte,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

This paper presents the eMentor Scholarship Program. The eMentor Scholarship Program is a
Corporate Community Relations Program on Teacher Professional Development in educational
technology spear-headed by IBM Philippines in cooperation with EduQuest, Inc., IBM’s education
consulting partner and the United States Agency for International Development in the Philippines
(USAID/Philippines) through the Computer Literacy Internet Connection (CLIC) Program of Growth with
Equity in Mindanao (GEM-2).

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The eMentor Scholarship Program was implemented in the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) from January to November 2006. The region has a total of two thousand two
hundred eighty six (2,286) secondary school teachers; from these a total of seventy-five (75) teacher-
applicants from different schools in the region applied to be an IBM eMentor scholar, and only across
the twenty-eight (28) teachers were identified as the beneficiaries of the program. The program
intended to advocate, challenge, and accelerate teacher professional development in effective and
appropriate ICT-integration as a means to enhance and improve educational results in selected ARMM
secondary schools.

Against this background, the overarching goal of this study is to investigate ICT-integration in
education in a post-conflict social backdrop. It seeks to ascertain, through a program that fostered the
institutionalization of ICT-integration in education practices, has changed the personal milieu of the
teachers, students, schools and most importantly the teaching-learning process and the educational
system at the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It seeks to ascertain, from a
sociological standpoint, ICT practices in these schools and how ICT integration as a practice influenced
the schools.

THEORETICAL ORIENTATION

ICT-Integration as a Social Practice

This study addresses a challenge raised by a current shift in social theory on the conception of ICT-
integration as a social practice. Traditionally, the use of technology in educational institutions was
primarily treated as teaching methodology. However, the “practice turn” in social theory has guided
this study in examining ICT-integration in education as a practice. With this recognition, the study
delves into the Divisions and schools as sites of practice (Orlikowski 410); furthermore, this practice has
powerful and pervasive social effects.

This paper shares the commitment of Practice theorists towards an understanding of the various
domains in ICT-Integration in education in terms of three central practice themes of people, activity and
the wider society. Moreover, in this study, the importance of not just what is done but also of how it is
done, something requiring more sociological focus is imperative, as attention to the detailed,
idiosyncratic murmurings of the everyday of ICT-integration in education will be delved into (De Certeau
70).

Structuration Theory as Theory of Practice

This study was guided by Anthony Giddens’ Theory of Structuration. Giddens presented an integrated
agency-structure theoretical framework. As a practice theorist Giddens is concerned with how systems
define the practices -— shared understandings, cultural rules, languages and procedures — that guide
and enable human activity. He viewed individual actions as molded and constrained by social
structures, which he labels as the duality of structure. Social structure results from the interactions of
individuals with each other and with existing social structures in what he termed as the
enactment/reproduction of social practices (Giddens 21). Giddens’ Structuration Theory as a subtle and
intricate theoretical approach to conceptualizing the linkage between context and process in social
systems as well as interpreting them; it resolves the agency/structure debate of social theory.
Structuration theory stresses both human agency and social structure through the notion of duality of
structure: agents and structures are not two independently given sets of phenomena, but represent a

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duality whereby structure is drawn on in human interactions but, in so doing, social structures are
produced and reproduced (Walsham 61). To help understand ICT-integration in education as an ongoing
social practice, a structurational model of technology” will be utilized. Wanda Orlikowski conveyed that
structuration reframes the role of technology “in terms of a mutual interaction between human agents
and technology and hence as both structural and socially constructed” (Orlikowski 403). This model of
technological structuration both forms the groundwork for understanding ICT-integration at a micro-
level as personal and groups and outlines the relationship between the two empirical levels of analysis
of this thesis – the larger contextual level and the smaller community/school level.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design
This is study is largely based on the evaluation of the eMentor Scholarship Program. Triangulation is an
integral methodological thrust of study as this is a multitrait/multimethod/mixed-method research
(Creswell, 5-10). For the purpose of this study, Creswell's methodological rigor and scope of a mixed
method research is adhered to: as a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the
direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative
approaches in many phases of research process. (Cresswell 5). Quantitative and qualitative data
approaches were utilized to better understand and address the research problem. Qualitative data
sources are appropriate to ascertain meaning as qualitative research tries to establish an empathetic
understanding for the reader, through description, sometimes thick description, conveying to the reader
what the experience itself would convey (Stake 39). Informal interviews of the teacher-beneficiaries’
experiences with the eMentor Scholarship program were conducted during the field visits. Interviews
were supplemented by the researcher’s observation of the conditions during the interview. Archival
data from project reports, email correspondences, and technology sources like the eMentor Bog and
Yahoo Group were also delved and brought to bear on the research problem and the paper’s theoretical
orientation. On the other hand, quantitative data comprised the program beneficiaries’ socio-
demographic data and their perception. Quantitative information may also be found in project data like
evaluation forms, attendance sheets and formal project reports.

Respondents of the Study

Key informants are the project beneficiaries themselves. This is a complete enumeration of the twenty-
eight (28) teachers who were identified as the eMentor Scholars of the program.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Agency-Structure in ICT-integration in Education at ARMM

Socio-Demographic Profile of ICT-Integration Agents
The scholars are evenly distributed according to gender – with each gender having fourteen (14)
beneficiaries each. In terms of age range, majority of the respondents fall between 31 and 50 age range;
in this age group, seven (7) are equally distributed per Gender. For male beneficiaries, the average age
is 37; while 33 is the average age for women.

As the program is implemented at the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM),

majority of the program-beneficiaries of the eMentor Scholarship Program – with 64% or eighteen (18)
respondents – are Muslims. From the ten (10) Christian program-beneficiaries, seven (7) are Roman
Catholics, two (2) are Protestants and one (1) belongs to Jehovah's Witness.

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Even though the selection process of the eMentor Scholarship Program is stringent, the
educational qualifications are just an element for selection as the program. Ten (10) of the program-
beneficiaries have Bachelor degrees, nine (9) have Masteral Units and (9) have MS/MA Degrees.
Program-beneficiaries came from different academic disciplines with most of the participants having
Education degrees. From those who belong to the Education discipline, five (5) hold Bachelor in
Secondary Education (BS Ed), five (5) Master of Science in Teaching, three (3) with Master of Arts in
Education with majors in specific subject areas, two (2) are taking up Masters in Educational
Management, and one (1) finished Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education. Other eMentors belong
to specific disciplines like Biology, Mathematics, Economics and Psychology. This can be ascribed to
implicit need for teachers with Educational Background for secondary schools here in the Philippines.

Sixty-four percent (64%) or eighteen (18) eMentor scholars have 1-10 years of teaching
experience, while thirty-six percent (36%) or ten (10) of the eMentors have longer teaching experience
with 11-20 years under their belt. All in all, the eMentors’ average teaching experience is nine (9) years.
The eMentor Scholarship Program does not put a premium on the years spent in teaching as it opened
the program to a qualified beneficiary who has only a year of teaching experience and another who has
twenty (20) years of experience.

Actor’s knowledgebeality and ICT Integration Practices

Giddens expressed that social actors are knowledgeable and reflexive that knowledgability of the
relevant social actors is a fundamental to the structural properties of social systems (Giddensa 15).
Technology proficiency, pedagogical compatibility, and social awareness are necessary for effective ICT-
integration in education.

The previously discussed educational attainment of the key informants may have contributed to
ICT-integration in education; however,

ICT-Integration Context
Poverty incidence in ARMM is among the highest in the Philippines, with 71% of the population living in
poverty in 2000 as against the national incidence of 40%; in 2003, poverty incidence in the region is a
high 45% which is almost twice the national average of 24%..In 2000, all the ARMM provinces were
among the 10 poorest in the Philippines; by 2003, Maguindanao remains to be the second poorest or
the second with the highest incidence of poverty among the Philippine Provinces (NSO 10). For many
years an armed conflict has occurred between the Philippine government and two Muslim separatist
groups: the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). ARMM
has been the center of this armed conflict.

In terms of education, expenditure on education at ARMM is less than $100/student as

estimated by World Bank. As a result, schools generally score poorly in national tests as compared to
other schools in the provinces. In the recently finished National Achievement Test (NAT), the Philippine
Daily Inquirer (2007) reported that ARMM public schools were among the lowest performers in the said
test for Grade 6 and Fourth Year students conducted early 2007 by the Department of Education. For SY
2005-2006, the National Education Testing and Research Center of the Department of Education (2006)
ARMM garnered the lowest ranking Mean Percentage Scores (MPS) among the provinces for the NAT
with 45.3 for the elementary students.

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ICT-Integration Sites
The program intends to reach as many beneficiaries as possible across the Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and identified and distributed evenly the number of teacher-beneficiaries
among the ARMM provinces. Most of the program-beneficiaries hailed from the province of Lanao del
Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao - with twelve (12), six (6) and (5) beneficiaries respectively; on the other
hand, only one (1) applicant each came from Lanao del Norte and Sulu. The number of qualified
program applicants has affected the distribution of the program-beneficiaries. For Lanao Del Sur there
are ten (10) schools, while Basilan and Maguindanao, has four (4) and three (3) schools respectively; it
must be noted that there are six (6) instances where two (2) eMentors were identified per school; nine
(9) schools belong to the Mindanao State University system, which may imply that the schools are
conducive for ICT-integration.

The program has provided a pre-implementation training and learning sessions for the teachers
to effectively integrate ICT to schools. These capacity development activities enabled the eMentor
Scholars to improve not only their proficiency in the use of educational technology but also their
instructional competencies. CGM of Parang Maguindanao said, “I have been equipped with teaching
strategies which are effective in drawing students’ interest to learn more & crave for more knowledge.”

As a result of these program activities, the teachers felt more prepared to integrate technology
into their classroom instruction and utilize instructional technology. Moreover, they were also able to
apply what they learned by integrating technology into their traditional teaching methods using new
teaching approaches. The program has helped the teachers to utilize technology as an effective tool in
instruction. BM, an English teacher from Sulu, declared that the use of technology had helped our
school in making us eMentor effective in teaching. As an eMentor Scholar, I had made my students
draw more interest in learning; and I have seen some excitement on their faces when it comes to
technology ways of teaching (Multi-Media) IH, a TLE teacher from Marawi recalled. The program has
changed the teacher’s belief and practices; hence, enabling them to integrate ICT in their respective
schools. MM, eMentor Scholar of MSU Balindong Community High School, Balindong, Lanao Del Sur
remarks to a co-eMentor Scholar:

Alhamdulillah and congratulations to you Ms. No-rain! Ms. No-rain! You have now
started your journey towards bringing your students into the world of learning through
modern technology. And that's where we all are headed for. As we move on to this
journey just don't forget, we also need to adapt other appropriate strategies without
technology.

The eMentors have become discriminative of technology usage in the classroom. They
recognize that while some lessons can be taught either entirely or minimally through the use of
technology, others are best taught using the traditional approaches but enhanced by technology. They
have recognized the critical importance of technology in the classroom. According to WS, biology
teacher and eMentor Scholar, educational technology is most applicable and had the greatest impact on
lessons that require imagination on the part of the teacher. Topics that have linear linkage are
fundamental to the understanding of the subject matter; and that this was a clear benefit of using
technology in instruction.

ICT-Integration in Education Practices

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Sites of ICT-Integation in Education Practices. Some of the eMentors are handling multiple subjects at
the same time. Compared to Metro Manila experience, where only primary school teachers are asked
to handle multiple subjects, the reality at ARMM is different as teachers are tasked to handle different
subjects with multiple preparations. The issue of subject boundaries is more pertinent for secondary
schools that traditionally more integrated curriculum of the primary sector (Lawson and Comber 424).
This shows the eMentors’ commitment to implement the program even though they have multiple
workloads.

In terms of subjects handled, most of the eMentors – with thirteen (13) or 29% is handling
TLE/Computer, this is followed by Science and Mathematics with twelve (12) and eight (8) teachers
handling them respectively. Only one (1) Filipino teacher has been tapped as eMentor. It was expected
that computer proficiency is confined to more technical subjects like TLE/Computer, Science and
Mathematics. In this sense, these subjects become sites of ICT-Integration in Education.

ICT-Integration in Education Practices in the School Setting. Generally, eMentors use technology
for instruction to improve the teaching-learning experience; majority was observed to use PowerPoint in
lesson presentation and class demonstration. Other ICT-integration practices in education is the use of
spreadsheet programs like MS Excel for Grades and the encoding of lesson plans in document programs
like MS Word. With the advent of technology, innovation became more apparent as the some teachers
were observed to use the internet for personal research as a venue for the students to conduct research
themselves; there was one (1) case where an eMentor used PowerPoint for a Quiz Bee.

ICT-Collaboration in ARMM. With the aim of propagating ICT-integration in education in the

dispersed provinces ARMM, providing a venue for collaboration is at the center of the eMentor
program. Using collaboration and communication tools via the internet, the eMentors were able to
share their lessons, insights and models of practice across the community of teachers despite the
geographic distance among schools. Web logs and e-groups provided a sense of community and
openness among the facilitators and the eMentors. The eMentor Buzz,
http://www.ibmementor.blogspot.com served as the main venue for the participants to share their
thoughts, their experiences, their reflections, their musings and just about anything related to the
program.; while the http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/IBMeMentor2006 became a site for online
consultations, surveys, file database, calendars, photos and the likes.

On the average, the eMentors have posted almost two hundred (200) comments and materials
on the different sites; these postings can be as just a comment to a previous posting in the blogs,
questions or asking for help, or the instructional materials that they wanted to share to their fellow
eMentors. To date, the last Blog entry was a comment of one of the eMentor scholar's visit to Manila
on October 28, 2007; suggesting that it is still utilized by the eMentors. Availability of Internet access
and electricity hampered the posting of some of the eMentors. All in all, the eMentors were able to
post their concerns and issues, share their practices and insights as well as provide other participants
with their self-made ICT instructional materials.

Online collaboration became a venue for the program-beneficiaries to understand their situation
as venturing into ICT-integration somehow helped them to recognize and act upon their conditions as
there are others within the region that are experiencing the same thing that they are experiencing;
knowledge constructed without the active participation of practitioners can only be partial knowledge
(Somekh 90). A “community of practice” is formed as the eMentors engage in an activity system about

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which participants share understanding of what they are doing and what that means in their lives (Squire
and Johnson 98). A sharing of understanding where the eMentors find relevance and meaning to what
they are doing. It suggests a mutual developmental process between communities and individuals, one
that goes beyond mere socialization… It is an investment of a community in its own future (Wenger 263-
264).

Sociologists have constantly defined and redefined the concept of community. This online
community shared a common interest, experiences and needs; moreover, they are engaged in supportive
and sociable relationships, where they obtained important resources like instructional materials, fostered
strong sense of belongingness and shared identity as eMentors. This corresponds to dimensions of
identity that is not bound in time and space espoused by Giddens, as this collaboration practice became a
vehicle for identification with each other and later on community formation. The eMentors does not
necessarily collaborate daily, but they find value in their interaction as technology subjects (Knorr Cetina,
105; Saloma-Akpedonu 2006) established in this knowledge-based social structure. Drawing from
Gidden's Structuration Theory, the eMentors as social actors draw on the sources of shared or mutual
knowledge to construct meaning through this collaboration. This shared meaning is fundamental to the
production and reproduction of social interaction, even though each interaction is not face-to-face. As a
community of practice, the eMentors became informally bound by the value of that they find in learning
together as they integrate ICT in education.

Factors that hindered ICT-Integration

Integrating ICT into education can be challenging as some of the eMentors shared their experiences in
the eMentor Scholarship Program.

Failure of Electricity. Development Conditions at ARMM makes ICT-integration a daunting task.

At ARMM, there exists Unstable status of electricity in our areas makes this program difficult and using
generator is very expensive. The failure of electricity was a term used by another respondent. ICT-
integration is really a chore especially if the prevailing condition does not support it.

Availability of Technology Infrastructure. We have no LCD and TV monitor, complained L, one of

the eMentors. M, on the other hand, declared that insufficient number of computer to address our
population-schedule in using the equipment impeded program implementation.

The use of the Internet facilitated program implementation as it was the source of most
materials that the teachers used for ICT-integration. The Internet is also the venue for collaboration
among the eMentor scholars and for online expert consultation. W complained on the availability of the
internet in our school, which had plays the big role in helping us implementing the program. In other
instances where Internet is available, others complained that the Internet Connection is not that fast.

Even if the identified schools conveyed that they have available computers and internet
connections, some schools does not have the capacity for ICT-integration; consequently, this
contributed to the non-implementation of the program in some schools. Technology infrastructure
availability is the primary factor hindering ICT-integration in education.

In fact one respondent implied that there is a need to provide those schools without complete
technology equipment (KP, one of the teachers from Lanao del Sur). This is symptomatic of the donor-
beneficiary relationship ingrained by development programs, especially now that most development aid
is funneled into Mindanao.

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Lack of Teacher Commitment. Some of the program-beneficiaries expressed that the preparation
of teaching resources like PowerPoint presentations is burdensome as they have no time to prepare
them. While another requested that give us another source aside from the internet where in (especially
in my subject, Computer) technology-oriented material could be used. These things all boils down to the
eMentor's commitment to the program and to utilize his/her creativity in integrating ICT in their schools.

Following the principles of structuration theory which has guided this thesis, in this context,
agency can be construed as the complexity of the social environment as it structured the eMentor
Scholarship Program (Giddens 14). Despite of these limiting factors, certain outcomes became evident.

Program Outcome
While much attention has been drawn to measuring ICT-integration practices, there was a need for new
knowledge that can emerge from ICT integration in the ARMM context. Clearly, from the program
proponents’ and the beneficiaries’ viewpoints, there must be benefits, and estimation of the relative
merits of a development initiative like the eMentor Scholarship Program. The eMentor Scholarship
Program had considerable number of accomplishments after ten (10) months of program
implementation. Program performance and outcome is analyzed at the program and then at a personal
level.

Personal Impact on eMentors. The eMentors are the direct program-beneficiaries of the
program. It is appropriate to begin with personal accounts of what intangible benefits they encountered
because of the program albeit this is an element of the eMentor Scholarship Program’s stated objectives.
Pertierra (2006) declared that we may expect technology to enter even deeper into everyday life,
including our sense of self (Pertierra 17). In this case, the ICT-integration practice has really permeated
even the crevices of the eMentor’s personal life.

On a personal level, some eMentors were very proud to have reported that their school
management was impressed with their work, and were quite surprised with the new methods they were
using in class. On another plane, one of the eMentors recalled that her theses mentor was very pleased
to accept his practice as her Masteral Thesis as she brought her learning’s as eMentor Scholar to the
higher bounds of teacher professional education.

Classroom Impact. The introduction of new technologies transformed and reconstructed

classroom practices in often unanticipated ways (Giddens 18). The eMentors conveyed that the
program helped them cater to the special needs of their students. Because of the program, the teachers
were equipped to facilitate the teaching and learning process more effectively. They are firmly
convinced that this interactive mode of learning has resulted in higher interest, retention, and
performance compared to traditional classroom teaching. Stoll et al. (2003) now identify the
‘reculturing of schools’ as a key factor in school improvement: Reculturing is about visiting and
challenging cultural norms, making sure they are supportive of learning (Stoll et al., 150).

The eMentor scholars are unanimous are in agreement that teaching with technology makes
learning meaningful. GL, from Lamitan Basilan expressed that utilizing technology does really help me a
lot in imparting knowledge to my students in the sense that I will no longer just rely on a chalk and board
in my way of teaching but instead with the use of Multi-Media. The efficacy of using ICT in instruction
has become evident as it helped the teachers in presenting their lesson in a well organized and

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meaningful manner (CA of East Kili-Kili, Wao, Lanao Del Sur). HG explained that ICT –integration in the
classroom enabled me to present my lesson enjoyable on my students’ part. It makes my lesson
meaningful and enjoyable. MM, Math teacher of Mindanao State University, Balindong Lanao del Sur
also speaks about the change in her students: My students are more participative with modern
technology in my classroom. In my geometry class, they understand the meaning of figures clearly and
become more interested; as Mathematics became more real because of technology. Indeed, ICT-
integration in education has made teaching and learning worthwhile for the teachers and students. ICT
integration in education at the ARMM schools has created as situation where there is greater emphasis
on student learning (Lawson and Comb, 2000). Interestingly, the impact of ICT-integration in education
has been more significant on the slow learners, who have displayed better understanding of concepts
and are more confident and interactive in the class before.

Student Impact. The eMentors have different stories to tell about their students. The following
annotations were taken from the blog conversations, circulated across all eMentors. NA aptly captures
the real essence and benefits of ICT for the teachers and pupils of ARMM:

Now our children can experience what the children in urban areas have been enjoying
for years. Children of the war can now be children enriched with bright future ahead of
them. Enriched with new innovations that technology can provide… By improving
teachers with new innovations and new technologies in teaching, you're improving the
lives of the children, making it possible for them to leap beyond their world.

The students’ “enjoyment” of ICT in their schools somewhat ‘demarginalized’ them as they felt
they are enjoying the same privilieges that people from “more affluent” schools in Metro Manila to
enjoy. The pride of students upon seeing their hometown on the web is encapsulated in the following
comment: Ma’am tingnan mo, kasama po pala ang Tawi-Tawi sa pwedeng ire-search sa web! A sense of
cultural pride is felt by students as they discovered that they are part of a larger social reality and not
alienated from the outside world. A cultural elaboration of sort has transpired as a result of the ICT-
integration in education practices introduced by the program.

The ICT-integration practices in education introduced by the program may have started leveling
the playing field and bridging the digital divide. Many teachers agree that accessibility to resources
creates an avenue for equitable opportunities for teachers and students to practice new teaching and
learning models. The desperation over the war-torn conditions of the communities in ARMM has for
once taken a back seat as students and teachers deflect their attention to the different educational
context forstered by the different ICT-integration in education practices.

Towards a Structurational Analysis of ICT-Integration Practices in Education at ARMM

Following Giddens' structuration theory, the ICT-integration in education practices through the eMentor
Scholarship Program has significant impact on institutional and professional as well as personal practices
at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). These practices have deconstructed current
modalities of interpreting teaching-learning and managing instructional practice.

The eMentor Scholarship Program's thrust of promoting ICT-integration in education at ARMM

schools was based on the social practices of developing the capacities of the eMentors as catalysts for
educational reform. Program activities like the pre-implementation training, learning sessions,
classroom observation and online collaboration has mediated the development of individual capability,
subjectivity and shared meaning production. Giddens (1990) argued that, all forms of social life are

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partly constituted by actors' knowledge of them. Knowing how to go on... is intrinsic to the conventions
which are drawn and upon and reproduced in human activity (Giddens 90). The continual patterns of ICT-
integration in the ARMM schools has shaped and reshaped identity, values and capability not only of the
direct program beneficiaries – the eMentors themselves- but also their students who were given the
opportunity to utilize technology in the classroom.

Applying Giddens, ICT-integration in education has constituted the ARMM schools, while the
social conditions of the schools have in a way mediated the eMentor's professional practice of ICT-
integration in the teaching-learning experience. Through the eMentor Scholarship Program, the
eMentors and even their students can be considered as catalysts of the teaching-learning process that
possess notable agency and intentionality because of ICT-integration. Based on data, the practice of
integrating technology has shaped the actions of the eMentors as they are consistently considering
when using technology is appropriate; moreover, it has added to their repertoire of instructional
approaches that they can opt to employ in the teaching and learning process. The application of ICTs as
instructional tools has facilitated the development of contexts for teaching and learning. In addition, as
the eMentors progressed in implementing the program, student outcome become evident creating both
ICT-integration processes and products at the same time. Many formal practices of ICT are now
characterized by set routines and fixed instructional sequences and activities that students tend to
experience; furthermore, as the students become engage with these new practices they develop
complex cognitive skills and knowledge most of which is acquired informally. These patterns of social
practices suggests social construction that can be viewed and experienced over time, and reified as
structure in the ARMM educational system. This confirms Giddens' assertion about social practices as
being constantly examined and reformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices,
thus constitutively altering their character (Giddens, 1990: 38). In structuration theory the agent or
human actor is viewed as discursively knowledgeable, a conscious actor with the capability to reflexively
monitor social activity. ICT-integration in education at ARMM schools has proven the power of the
eMentors to act independently the determining constraints and domination of structure. By introducing
ICT in their respective schools, not only instructional practices were changed; the meaning system and
practices of the teachers and students have changed.

On the other hand, consistent with Giddens view, the social condition of the ARMM schools viz.,
the technological infrastructure and the culture of the students has also shaped ICT-integration at
ARMM as the eMentors deemed them crucial to the implementation of the program. As the ICT-
integration practice reshaped the ARMM educational system, the social condition has shaped the
actions of the eMentors and their instructional practices.

The eMentor Scholarship Program has not only provided avenues for ICT-integration in education
but rather planted the seeds of hope. For what is hope in a community devastated by conflict; what is
hope to the children of war; what is hope in communities suffering inequitable access to economic
opportunities? The equitable access brought about by the eMentor Scholarship Program to educational
resources as children learn together and teachers becoming active innovators in ICT-integration. This can
only lead to a seamless mosaic of authentic learning experiences that support the acquisition of basic
competencies while offering significant challenge for all learners. Some of these demonstrations may
have been effective, while others were lessons learned.

The eMentor Scholarship Program is the answer to Pertierra’s observation that, Philippine
culture readily accepts new technologies but is less interested in developing them. While technologies are

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quickly assimilated, their transformative potentials have been unfulfilled (Pertierra 1). The eMentor
Scholarship Program did not only help the teachers to assimilate ICT as a tool but has allowed them to
tap its transformative potential.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The program enabled and has propagated ICT-integration in education at their respective schools. It has
affected the program-beneficiaries and produced classroom and student outcomes.

ICT-integration in education can be viewed sociologically as a social practice. From the point of
view of a theory of practice like Giddens’ structuration theory, ICT-integration occurs within and for the
sake of educational practices. ICT-integration in education practices requires that competent
practitioners - like the eMentors – to utilize and manipulate the appropriate technology tools, and
devote a suitable level of attention to the conduct of the practice; moreover, exhibiting common
understanding, know-how, and commitment to the value of the practice are necessary to promote
theses practices and mediate social institutions. ICT-integration in education practices has constituted
the ARMM schools, while the social conditions of the schools have in a way mediated the eMentor's
professional practice of ICT-integration in the teaching-learning experience. The eMentors even their
students can be considered as catalysts of the teaching-learning process that possess notable agency
and intentionality because of ICT-integration. The introduction and propagation of ICT-integration in
education practices in the respective ARMM schools changed not only instructional practices, but also
the meaning system and practices of the teachers, students and schools. As the ICT-integration practice
reshaped the actions of the eMentors and their instructional practices, students and the school
environment were mediated. ICT-integration practices in the ARMM schools did not only help the
teachers to assimilate ICT as a tool but has allowed them to tap its transformative potential.

There are important matters that the confines of this paper were not bale to address. The
argument remains to be proven that theories of practice, specifically Giddens’ structuration theory,
perform better than, or at least as well as, other sociological approaches. The refinement and closer
application of Giddens’ structuration theory and other theories of practice is essential; it is the paper’s
contention that other versions may be applied to the same research problem. The “practice” flavor of
this paper implies the necessity of inquiring the various types of practices that are prevalent, and what
range of the available practices do different individuals engage in, as well as what are the typical
combinations of practices that this paper were not able to delve into. A thorough analysis of how ICT-
integration in education practices develop, considering both the internal dynamics and the external
conditions of their existence, especially with regard to changing criteria of effectiveness and excellence.
Finally, the paper was not able to delve into theoretical expositions of how different ICT-integration
practices mediate one another.

An in-depth study of the program may be needed; impact study and ex-post study, as well as
case studies employing other theories and methods are necessary to fully understand program
outcome. As the current research dealt with only ICT-integration in education practices of selected
schools at ARMM, a study on sustainability of ICT-integration in other schools and regions is also
recommended; a cross-comparison of ICT-integration in education in conflict-afflicted area using the
theoretical orientation of this paper may be necessary.

This range of research questions and research suggestions proposes a parallel need for breadth
in research scope, method and techniques of interpretation that are imperative for future endeavors.

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