ql-align-justify">Grateful for the discussion made by Cris Mayo on the module. Timely and relatable since as a faculty and community leader in todays digitalization it opens to a wider view that we have to be see the perspective on how male and female make use of technology, the cultural context of the recipients to this technology and also the inclusivity made with the people with disabilities.

That standing out idea of Cris which I wanted to focus is on “inclusivity”. The inclusivity in technology opens doors for people with disabilities, assisting them to learn more and discover more about the world they are living in. Technology will never limit them to explore the beauty of the lives they are living in. Technology’s advancement helps them with their mobility, intellectual earnings and as well living a life normally. Mayo’s discussion led me to remember a concrete example, an experience of how technology embraces people with special needs. Samaniego López, M. V. et. al (2025) highlighted in their study the utilization of technologies among the inclusive educational environment. It removes barriers for the people who have disabilities and enable them to access knowledge technologically. In addition, gadgets such as smart devices, virtual assistants, and AR and VR technologies give an immersive, gamified, and customizable experiences that will assist them to comprehend and support student’s learning: intellectually, emotionally and that which will lead them to a functional environment.

I have this experience to hold a community immersion a shelter where the residents are visually impaired. I admire the founder who is a teacher but visually impaired. She functions well. She leads well. She has a lot to give and share despite her disability. During my visit and my students’ stay for a couple of months’ immersion – I learned how technology advanced the learning process and progress of the residents. They have a single braille, being utilize to help them read and write. They have limited facility yet they have mobile phones and laptops. They also have internet connection and still have their other senses. I witnessed how they made use of their strength to learn with the technology that they have. They can hear, they can tough, they can understand things and that’s where the technology advances them and helps them be includible to the world. They are capable of immersing also in the digitalization of the world.

To conclude, I see the discussion of Cris as a reminder for us that technology if properly used, if the user knows its purpose, and if its is maximized according to its function it will be really advantageous. Online learning, advancement in technology to solve problems in medicine, politics, economic and even in the society, all of this will create a better world. We are learning and we are advancing because of the good purposes introduced to us by the digital world.

Let me give also my take on the issue of technology and gender as Cris Mayo she highlighted during the course of module. I concur with her presentation especially about the issue in gamification or in mobile games – how the characters and avatar looked like when technology is applied. The digital creators’ styles and choices of features matter. Say for instance, on mobile games, characters now a days are not realistic. They made use of animals, lego-like, diverse and peculiar facial and body features of characters that if young people of today will see or encounter, there will a huge impact to their cognitive properties and even in their behavior. I wonder, why Roblox has peculiar created characters and story board. A lot of feedbacks where posted on online platforms creating negative impacts to children of today. Ouhnni, H., et. al (2025) established on their study that the kind of avatars that are personalized is greatly determined by the operating environment. Their study shows that there is a significant limitation when the operating environments are multiple and diverse. According to them, the most of the current approaches to avatar customization are based on the one-size-fits-all solution, there is insufficiency to provide a representation. There is a limitation and therefore points to the fact that there is a need for more research and innovation in the field. The implications are alarming especially that the reality today, children receive lesser guidance and supervision when they are using technology in gadgets.

References:

Samaniego López, M. V., Orrego Riofrío, M. C., Barriga-Fray, S. F., & Paz Viteri, B. S. (2025). Technologies in inclusive education: Solution or challenge? A systematic review. Education Sciences, 15(6), 715.

Ouhnni, H., Btissam, A., Meryam, B., El Bouchti, K., Seghroucheni Yassine, Z., Lagmiri, S. N., ... & Ziti, S. (2025). The evolution of virtual identity: a systematic review of avatar customization technologies and their behavioral effects in VR environments. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 6, 1496128.

Inclusivity in Technology