CATBALOGAN CITY — In response to the latest cybersecurity challenges plaguing social media, students from Samar embark on an exciting journey through a digital awareness course organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Samar Provincial Office.
The two-day training covers six modules and explores digital technologies’ incredible benefits and tricky challenges. Participants learned to manage their devices skillfully, navigated the vast world of digital content, and uncovered the vital ethical considerations surrounding their digital footprints.
Digital literacy helps us to use the internet in a safe and responsible way. With this knowledge, I’m very amazed at how the DICT handles digital literacy lessons. I was pretty impressed because the lessons were not very hard; they were very easy to understand. I said to myself, ‘Wow, it is amazing! I thought it was hard, but it was alright.’ So, it will definitely help me both in school and personally,” said Charles Jonas L. Vista, a Grade 12 STEM student from Samar National School.
According to Shaira Sol A. Abelido, Digital Transformation Center (DTC) manager at DICT Samar, students like Vista often encounter issues such as digital addiction, excessive screen time, and misinformation. However, she believes this event would help students use digital platforms more responsibly and confidently.
“Through digital awareness, this event will actually help our students—not just students but for everyone, may it be a woman, youth, senior citizens, all individuals, Samarnons, or all of the Filipinos to actually know kung pa’no nga ba i-navigate yung socials natin. So, aside from that, since we are talking about the digital technologies, we are here, the DICT to help you, kung pa’no nga ba maging safe online, pa’no nga ba natin ma-mamaximize yung paggamit ng ating mga digital devices,” Abelido said.
(Through digital awareness, this event will help our students—not just students but everyone, whether they are women, youth, senior citizens, individuals from Samar, or all Filipinos—understand how to navigate our social platforms. Additionally, since we are talking about digital technologies, we, the DICT, are here to help you learn how to stay safe online and how to maximize the use of our digital devices.)
The DICT also shared key online safety tips: verify links and messages before interacting, protect sensitive data to prevent identity theft, and remember that online posts leave a digital trail that can impact the user’s reputation and opportunities. (AAC, PIA Samar)
