Never before in the history of the Philippines have we seen millions of school children unable to attend classes. With over 21 million elementary and high-school students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, both the educators and students are pinning their hopes on a new normal type of education involving online learning. Unfortunately, public school teachers are particularly in the dark on what to expect once the new school year virtually opens next week.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, however, gave her assurance that with the introduction of the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), this will serve as the guiding principle of the K-12 education system.
A learning continuity plan seeks to ensure that students’ learning progresses even amid disasters such as natural calamities, storms, fires, and pandemics. This plan overcomes obstacles created by the disasters through innovative means of teaching and learning, keeping students on track with their courses.
This educational framework is composed of different important pillars such as School Readiness, Human Resources, Infrastructure Readiness, Transition Program, Building Partnership, Teaching and Learning Modalities and Assessment centered on the Development of the Most Essential Skills and Values of the learners.
“We would like to emphasize that it will not necessarily mean that teachers and learners will undergo the traditional in-classroom set-up. In the LCP, the choice and contextualization of the learning delivery modality of schools will depend on the local Covid-19 situation as well as access to certain learning platforms. Even as we set policies in the central office, we will primarily consider local public health conditions in adjusting our LCP. Preventive measures will be put in place to secure the health and well-being of our personnel and our learners under this new normal,” Briones said in a statement.
“Access, as we are all aware, is another issue of utmost concern and we have devised various modalities to ensure that online learning is only one of the options among all others in this new learning environment. Our field units will determine the most appropriate combinations or strategies for every locality as we look into addressing equity concerns of our constituents in this new arrangement,” she added.
Online teaching and learning
Since the Philippines is considered one of the world’s leaders in the use of social media, many teachers in elementary and high school are being creative and resourceful in handing out modalities. Most of them are now using Facebook Messenger and Google Meet to interact with their students.
In the provinces, some schools formed partnerships with their local radio stations to reach out to students in far-flung barangays with no Internet connection.
The DepEd is optimistic and confident that “distant online learning” will work given that more than 80 percent or 700,000 of their teachers have laptops and desktops in their homes. This figure is based on a survey conducted by the DepEd. Likewise, the various approaches of blended learning will be adjusted based on the needs of the various localities where they are applied. Thus, “blended learning” is “differentiated instruction,” where there’s a combination of online and in-person delivery. The online portion effectively replaces some of the face-to-face contact time rather than supplementing it.
Teachers, on the other hand, must acquire a certain level of IT competency and proficiency needed for distant online learning to be able to teach effectively. Otherwise, failure to adjust will become a barrier that may hamper the success and effectiveness of online learning. Hence, there will be a significant amount of extra work involved for teachers as they prepare themselves for the implementation of the “blended learning” program as schools re-open.
Lack of motivation in online learners
AS hard as distance teaching might be for educators, it’s likely even harder for our students. They’ve gone from classrooms explicitly designed to support learning, to bedrooms and kitchen tables where distractions are plentiful and expert support isn’t always on hand. It is no surprise then that more than a few students will be tempted to opt out this school year.
Clear, measurable goals are the best source of motivation. Teachers must set them regularly so that students have something to focus on. Instead of setting an open-ended task and leaving students to do it by themselves, teachers must clearly specify the time that the students should spend on the task, a measurable or quantifiable outcome, and set some means of accountability. A due date for assignments and exams are needed.
Also, teachers must remember that parents can be their biggest assets when it comes to maintaining student motivation. It pays to get the parents involved in the virtual education of their children.
The author is Master Teacher 1 in Lal-lo National High School in Lal-lo, Cagayan.