MODULE 4 The Information Age

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTOR

FEBY C. BUSAIN SONNY MARTIN P. CORTEZ MAJAL RANI O. ESPIRITU SILVINO B. DANNUG JR.
BS BIOL MBS LPT, MS BIO BS BIOL

MECHELL P. LARDIZAVAL ROSELYNE A. TANAS

MS BIO BS BIOL

1. Recognize the evolution of communication and information from the ancient

times up to the present.

2. Appraise the various tools, products and services utilized at the present time in
LEARNING the fields of communication and information.
OUTCOMES
3. Appreciate Philippine laws or policies that protect the well-being of the users
and regulate the actions of contributors in technological advancements in
information and communication.

4. Link learned concepts to the development of the information age, social media
and its impact on society and our lives.

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 The Information Age

The Information Age is known by different names such as the Digital Age,
the Computer Age and the New Media Age. In each of these names, the
underlying component is the computer. The information age is also called the digital
age due to the use of digits or numbers as code for various information. This is
read by computers, hence the name computer age. The new media age refers to
the utilization of digital platforms unlike the traditional media such as radio,
television and newspapers.

This module on the information age includes topics about advancements in

information and communications technology, their advantages and disadvantages,
their ethical dilemmas, and their effects or impacts to the society and to the lives of
the people all around the globe.

Topics:

1. The accelerated growth of Information and Communication Technology

2. Artificial Intelligence and the Information Age
3. The impacts of the Information Age to Society and Vice Versa

Information and Communications Technology

Information is the characteristic or structure of communication, hence it is

subject to transmission, interpretation and processing. Information or data is
considered as one of the most valuable assets at the present time. Information is
readily available any time during the day and accessible in any part of the world that
is connected to the superhighway called the internet. Once data is generated, it is
reusable, thus the analysis of information may easily be done by anyone ranging
from the highly specialized data analysts to the simple members of the human
society. In fact, information or data nowadays is considered by most businesses
as the “new oil” It may be transmitted instantaneously and it is very extensive that
companies and institutions use these not only to generate sales but also as bases
for decision-making.

Technology found its way in gathering, assessing, using and transmitting

information giving rise to the field of information technology. The six-decades
worth of innovations consisted of hardwares, softwares, data storage, data security,
data exchange and other data processes. Information technology is closely
intertwined with another spectrum of technology that is involved in its
dissemination. This is communications technology. As such, advancements in
the fields of information technology and communications technology are linked
together and incorporated in information and communications technology
(ICT).

To better understand what ICT is, watch the video What is ICT (Information and
Communications Technology)?

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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PDQKu2-bAc

For better appreciation of the evolution of information technology and the digital
era, watch the video The History of Information Technology, a summary of the
book entitled Bright Boys: The Making of Information Technology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2TkrC40VUc

Meet Diosdado Banatao, a Filipino entrepreneur who co-founded Mostron,

Chips and Technologies and S3 Graphics. He invented the first 10-Mbit Ethernet
CMOS with silicon coupler data-link control and transceiver chip, the first system
logic chip set for IBM's PC-XT and the PC-AT, and the local bus concept and the
first Windows Graphics accelerator chip for personal computers (Villacorta, 2012)

The computer is a primary tool used for information and communications

technology. Computers are used to store, process and analyze data. The data are
set in algorithms of 0 and 1 called the binary system. These in turn are translated
into information.

How and where did the computer originate from? Watch the video The
History of Computers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMuQppYtTCo

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 To appreciate the changes in ICT that gave rise to the Information Age, watch the
video 6 Stories celebrating the Information Age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSbPgH76LQA

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

Try to analyze the following pictures (from A to B to C) and list down the
improvements in the succeeding pictures that are not found in the prior ones.

A B C

Are telephones A and B still being used today? Why is this the
case? To answer this question, watch the video Essential
Schumpeter: Creative Destruction and then provide a short
synthesis of the video in relation to the improvements you observed
on the types of phones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-soJGRgAAQ

Creative destruction is best observed in the advancement of ICT. As

new innovations on old technologies are incorporated, these old technologies are
used less while the innovated ones are continuously used and improved. Read

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 on the continuous improvements of ICT tools from the blog The History of
Information Technology: Past, Present, Future using this link

https://www.zimegats.com/the-history-of-information-technology-
past-present-future/

Accelerated Growth of ICT

History witnessed a staggering shift of ICT from the Industrial Revolution to

one that is based on information and computerization, and more importantly, one
that impacts human society globally. An important antecedent is the printing press
described by the Britannica Dictionary.

HISTORY (Printing Press and Beyond)

The Printing Press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1440. A printing
press is a device that applies pressure to an inked surface lying on a print
medium, such as cloth paper, to transfer ink. Gutenberg’s printing press reformed
the structure of society as information became accessible to the different classes
of society.

In the year 1936, Alan Turing, an English mathematician invented the bombe
machine - a device that Broke or cracked the enigma code during the world war.
Pioneer of computer science, laid out modern computing and theorized about
Artificial Intelligence.

As history unfolds, computers became among the important contributions of

advances in the Information Age to society. A computer is an electronic device
that stores and processes data. It runs a program that contains the exact, step-by-
step directions to solve a problem.

Aside from the invention of computers, the World Wide Web or Internet was
invented. The Internet is a worldwide system of interconnected networks that
facilitate date transmission among innumerable computers. In 1976 Steve
Wozniak and Steve Jobs became famous because of their computer known as
Apple I, a jumpstart their career as founders of Apple Inc.

From 1973, social media platforms were introduced.

Britannica Dictionary
2 UShistory.org, 2017
3 John Naughton (2016) The evolution of the Internet: from military experiment to General Purpose
Technology, Journal of Cyber Policy, 1:1, 5-28, DOI:10.1080/23738871.2016.1157619

As the printing press is a device that mass produced printed information, the eras
of Information coincide with its invention. Prior to the invention of the printing
press or the Pre-Gutenberg Era, information was difficult to replicate and
distribute, thus information dissemination was mostly by word-of-mouth reaching

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 only a few individuals, mostly the rich. Upon the invention of the printing press of
the Gutenberg Era, information was distributed in the form of books and other
reading materials. Traditional forms of information distribution or media also came
about such as newspapers and news channels in television and in radio. The
Post-Gutenberg Era started with the invention of the computer and then years
later, the internet. This era is also known as the Information Age. Here,
information is free and is easily distributed all over the world due to different online
media platforms that include social media.

The History of Social Media, @ FutureMarketing.com

Artificial Intelligence and the Information Age

Did you ever wonder how online platforms are able to suggest videos, music
or websites when you search the internet? Did you ever imagine that a computer
is able to copy how a human is able to think and act?

Read about the Overview of Artificial Intelligence, a short journal article

written by Singh et al., 2013.

After reading the article and knowing the capabilities of artificial intelligence
(AI), what are the thoughts that run through your mind? How do you feel about
AIs? Are there things or consequences that we should be concerned about?

Information Explosion in the Information Age

The onset of the Information Age, from the invention of the printing press to the
creation of other information communication tools as a result of technological
advancements resulted in exponential availability of information. Despite its
advantages, this period also presents challenges to different information users,
one of which is information explosion.

Information Explosion is a situation where there is an overabundance of data due

to the rapid increase in the amount of information being published. The influx of
information being easily accessible makes the processing of these data difficult for
the user leading to information overload.

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 Information Overload occurs when information users become overwhelmed with
the excessive flow of information which usually affects their psychological, social
effects, and physical well-being.

What practices are you personally implementing to avoid information

overload?

Information explosion resulted in the emergence of numerous unreliable sources

online. In the Philippines, around 51% of Filipinos find it hard to distinguish
legitimate information from illegitimate ones according to a survey conducted by
Social Weather Stations (SWS) in December of 2021.

We should only obtain information from credible sources to assure its

validity.

What Is a Credible Source?

A source of information authored by a person or an organization expert in their

field which is free from personal biases and is based on evidence.

CRAAP TEST
CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) is a
framework primarily used in evaluating the credibility of information resources.

Mills, S. (2021). LibGuides: Evaluating Resources: CRAAP Test. Libguides.spokanefalls.edu.

https://libguides.spokanefalls.edu/_evaluation/CRAAP

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 Suggested Reading:

Lewis, A.B. (2018). What does bad information look like? Using
the CRAAP test for evaluating substandard resources. Issues
in Science and Technology Librarianship. 2018.
10.5062/F41N7ZC4.

IMPACTS OF THE INFORMATION AGE TO SOCIETY

Computers, the Internet, and other information technologies are extraordinarily

powerful tools. The Information Age have great potential both to benefit and harm
the society that uses the different tools of the Information Age. The Information Age
was a shift from mechanical to the digital age and it changes various aspects of life
EXPLAIN with efficiency as the primary aim.

The Information age have brought many inventions, innovations, and

communication services like, SMS, E-mails, social media, etc.

How is the information transmitted before the digital age? Compare it in

today’s way of information transmission.

The development of information age was adopted by society as a way to improve

and increase work and lifestyle efficiency.

1. Economy and Commerce (Economic Shift)

o Researchers Ian Stewart, Debapratim De and Alex Cole found that jobs that
require a routine have declined the most because they can be easily substituted
by technology.

2. Education Shift

o There is a shift from the teaching methods, techniques, and contents to

concentrate more on critical reasoning skills to be able to take tons of information
and synthesize it better.

Education greatly impacts the future of one nation, and ICT greatly affects
education nowadays. Read through with OECD Report entitled What We Know
About Children and Technology and try to assess your personal experiences as
students during the pandemic when education was purely delivered to you thru
online learning.

3. Government and Political Shift

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 o Transformation in the manner in which the Government interacts and
provides services to the citizens, control the content and flow of information in
society, and manage government supply chains.

4. Private Life

o Improved entertainment and easier way of life

Supplemental videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afYovHZkKtw&t=78s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57X49fmC0qg&t=13s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yHc9UtqFKg

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 27

As stated by Quinto et, al. (2019), human rights should be integral to the journey
toward the ultimate good. They should guide humans not only to flourish as
ELABORATE individual members of society, but also to assist each other in flourishing
collectively as a society. Human rights are rights to sustainability, as one author
puts it. They may function as the “golden mean” particularly by protecting the
weak, poor and vulnerable from the deficiencies and excesses of science and
technology

To gain a perspective on this watch the video clip from YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzNANZnoiRs

By imposing upon science and technology the moral and ethical duty to protect
and uphold human rights, there can be a more effective and sustainable approach
to bridging the gap between poor and rich countries on both tangible (e.g.
services and natural resources) and intangible (e.g., well-being and human
dignity) aspects. Ultimately, all these will lead humans to flourish together through
science and technology.

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 Do the two activities below to enhance your learning about the topics in this
module.

A. Watch the video clip “The Story of Human Rights “by

Scientology on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXGF_V8_7M

While watching the video clip, take note of the following guide questions:

• What are human rights? Why are they pre-requisites in developing a

civilized society?

• How were the basic human rights conceptualized or developed

in the course of human history?

• At the last part of the video clip, a very important question was posed
regarding human rights, if human rights are indeed recognized and fully
exercised by people, why is it that some people are still unable to have
access to food, housing and other basic necessities. Explain why this is so.

Summarize your answers on the above questions in three sentences.

Social media refers to means of interaction among people in which they create,
share, and, or exchange information ideas in virtual communities and networks.
But this too, can be used to violate human rights and data privacy.

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 B. Read the criminal case (Vivares vs St. Theresa’s College. G.R.
No. 202666, September 29, 2014) in view of the violation of Data
Privacy Act of 2012 and Facebook privacy settings.

https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2014/sep2014/gr_202666_2014. html

While reading the case, take note of the following guide questions:

• What are the kinds of privacy?

• How is the invocation of the right to privacy manifested on Facebook?

• Are the students entitled to their informational privacy?

• If their setting was to “friends only” will this guarantee their right to
privacy?

Write the keywords of your answers below.

Rights are always coupled with responsibilities. These responsibilities include not
only those that involve ourselves but those that will also impact the entire human
society and its future. Watch the documentary The Social Dilemma from Netflix
and reflect on our responsibilities as users of social media and the possible
solutions that we could do to address the existing negative consequences of such
use.

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 The salient information about the unit lesson are as follows:

1. Information and Communications Technology: A diverse set of technological

resources and tools to create, transmit and store information. (UNESCO Learning
Portal)

KEY POINTS
2. Artificial Intelligence: Computers and machines that mimic humans in how they
think and act.

3. Information Age: A period starting in the last quarter of the 20th Century when
information became effortlessly accessible through publications and through
management of information by computers and computer networks

4. Defining Characteristics of the Information Age

A. Shift from industrial production to one based information and

computerization (industry to information)

B. Accelerated growth of ICTs and other electronics

C. Explosion of information

5. Information overload occurs when decision-makers face a level of information

that is greater than their information processing capacity, i.e., an overly high
information load (Mengis 2004).

6. CRAAP Test: A rubric used in evaluating credibility of information.

7. Human Rights: Rights in the context of Science and technology are the
entitlements of an individual or groups of individuals associated with their
development and flourishing.

8. Human Dignity: The ultimate core value of human existence

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 3-2-1 Exit Ticket

Fill in the table below to assess your understanding about the concepts presented
in this module.

3 Things I’ve Learned 2 Things I Want more 1 Question I Have

EVALUATE
from this Module to Learn About

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 CHEd Recommendations

TEDTalk:

a. Ray Kurzwell on “How Technology Will Transform Us”

REFERENCES
The accelerating power of technology | Ray Kurzweil

Article:

Eppler, M.J., and J. Mengis. 2004. The concept of information overload: A review
of literature from organization science, accounting, marketing, MIS and related
disciplines. The Information Society 20 (5): 325–344.

Lewis, A.B.. (2018). What does bad information look like? Using the CRAAP test
for evaluating substandard resources. Issues in Science and Technology
Librarianship. 2018. 10.5062/F41N7ZC4

Shirandula, A. H. (2015). Evolving Information Technology: opportunities and

challenges.

Singh, G., Mishra, A & Sagar, D. (2013). An overview of Artificial Intelligence.

SBIT Journal of Sciences and Technology.

The ethical dilemmas of robotics http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/64323 07

Is Google Making Us Stupid? http://www/theatlantic.com/magazine/archive

/2008/07/Is google making us stupid/306868/?

YouTube:

The Story of Human Rights by Scientology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXGF_V8_7M

Book:

“Alan Turing: The Enigma” (Andrew Hodges and Douglas Hofstadter)

• Activity Report: A day without Technology

• Nature’s Longest Threads by Janaki Balakrishnan and B V Sreekantan

• How we decide by Jonah Lehrer

• Information: The new language of science (Hans Christian von Baeyer

• Germ Catcher (David J. Ecker, Scientific American, 2014) Physics of the Future:
How science will shape human destiny and our daily lives by the year 2100
(Michio Kaku, Doubleday, 2011)

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 Sample answers on the formative activities

A. Human Rights

1.Human rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behavior and
are regularly protected in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as
inalienable, fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a
human being. They are prerequisites to developing a civilized society since they form the basis or
foundation of creating laws, the constitution, or observing norms or holding people on a moral standard.

2. They were conceptualized over the years, as population grows. There is now the rise of the have’s
and the have nots. For each citizen to have an equal footing with others in terms of access to food,
supplies, land wealth, laws were prescribed by kings, monarchs, and emperors to attain some level of
equality. This is made possible by a growing population of middle class, sparking movements later on
revolutions.

3. Inspite of the laws protecting every human’s right, it is said that others have more than the others, this
is because of unequal opportunities in life. Often times, the established rich would have more of the
means to acquire more wealth, leaving the others for what is left. Furthermore, since they have wealth,
they have more legal means to defend themselves. In addition, laws were legislated in favor of the
middle class, but not to address problems of the lower class. There are also laws that tend to favor
bigger corporations rather than say, small enterprises, since the former gives more supposedly taxes to
the government establishment, hence creating an atmosphere of inequality.

B. Vivares vs. St. Theresa’s College

What are the kinds of privacy?

1. Right to informational privacy

2. Locational or situational privacy

3. Decisional privacy

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 How is the invocation of the right to privacy manifested on Facebook?

By changing privacy settings. Facebook has provided several privacy settings which may be chosen
depending on when and what extent to disclose facts about themselves and to put others in the position
of receiving such confidences. It is a means of regulating the spread of personal information in order for
there to be considered an expectation of privacy, there should be a manifestation to keep certain posts
private by utilizing privacy tools.

Are the students entitled to their informational privacy?

No. There were no pieces of evidence to show that the photos were only limited to the viewing of 5
people. This claim is self-serving. The fact that the students only had to log on to their respective
account to access these phots showed that there was no special means to be able to view the posts
and therefore it is reasonable to assume that the photos were viewable by fb friends or by any fb user.

If their setting was to “friends only” will this guarantee their right to privacy?

No. There is no assurance that even with “friends only” that the photos can no longer be viewed by
another user who is not friends with the source of the content. It can still be shared and uploading any
kind of data or information online, they are automatically and inevitably making it permanently available
online.

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