By Merlina Hernando-Malipot and Alexandria San Juan
Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Metro Manila are shifting to online classes to limit the disruption of education due to class suspensions brought about by the cornavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones
(DepEd / MANILA BULLETIN)
The continuity of learning, thus, becomes more challenging for learners, teachers, and schools.
In Metro Manila, for instance, classes have been suspended in all schools at all levels for an entire week starting from March 10 to 14 in an effort to minimize the risk of spreading the virus.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the Department of Education (DepEd) has prepared measures to ensure that learners will be able to complete the required competencies based on their grade level.
CHED guidelines
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued guidelines in connection with the prevention of the COVID-19 among HEIs including the provision of distance learning for students.
CHED Chairman J. Prospero De Vera III, in the Commission's second set of policy directives regarding COVID-19, said tertiary institutions should "deploy available distance learning, e-learning, and other alternative modes of delivery in lieu of residential learning if they have resources to do so."
For colleges and universities, which were already teaching some courses either partially or entirely online, basic technology infrastructure was in place when instructors were told to go digital.
In Centro Escolar University (CEU), students in its Manila and Makati campuses have started having their online class sessions through the University's Learning Management System.
Dr. Teresa Perez, Vice President for Academic Affairs, said the full implementation of this mode of instruction began on Wednesday, March 11. Similar to the conventional classroom set-up, classes done online were also held at same time as regular classes.
" is effective, so far. All students are actively participating," Perez noted.
For the students of CEU's Communication and Media with Education program, attending their classes through an online platform is somehow useful and helpful especially in this time of national emergency.
"It's useful now considering we have nothing to do at home without classes. The assignments or quizzes keep us busy and I still feel productive at the end of the day," second-year student Katherine Denise Dy told the Manila Bulletin.
According to Dy, their class is using Canvas, an e-learning portal where students can chat or video call and take quizzes with deadline and time limit.
While distance learning is "somehow helpful," especially in this situation, she said that conventional classroom set-up is more effective given the ability to interact with instructors and other students.
"I still prefer the conventional classroom setup mainly because powerpoints can only go so far. Online classes, specifically video calls, make it harder to have interactions with the professor and other students. Interactions provide a lot more than just bullet points," Dy added.
Blended learning
Prestoline Suyat, an instructor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Open University (OU) System, said a regular class set-up is more effective than purely online classes.
"Blended learning is effective for PUP-OU students. Through face-to-face sessions, we can clarify, summarize, and explain the modules or lessons to students. Interaction through recitation, group dynamics, individual and group reports, short film, or video showing and other presentations can be practiced and managed during offline or face-to-face sessions," Suyat said..
The PUP-OU, Suyat explained, using blended learning, which means having an online and offline session.
"For undergraduate courses, every semester we have two blocks. In each block there is four offline or face-to-face sessions with the students. There are also four online sessions. We use the eMabini Learning Portal. In this portal we provide our modules, lectures, assignments, requirements, and others for students," he added.
However, Suyat believes that distance learning through online education is helping a lot to bridge the learning gap being experienced especially during this time of national emergency.
"Students who are constrained by time, distance and other circumstances are bridged through lessons and other learning materials posted online and other new media platforms," he added.
For Dy, the effectivity of online education, or any form of learning, depends on the students -- especially if they have the initiative and really know how to explore on their own
E-Learning as an option
Since face-to-face interaction is not currently possible due to cancellation of on-campus classes, some schools are taking advantage of technology in order to ensure that their students will not miss out on their lessons. In public schools, Briones said DepEd is looking at the possibility of using Online Educational Resources (OERs).
When it comes to private schools, Briones said that they “have the autonomy” to implement policies that will help achieve education goals. “The purpose is to create a balance between the safety of learners, containment of COVID-19, and not to disrupt the lives of learners in their learning process,” she added.
Online classes are allowed as long as private schools inform the DepEd. Private schools, Briones said, have the flexibility to engage in various measures to ensure the continuity of learning of students.
“They can manage it because enrollment tends to be smaller compared to public schools so if they hold online classes, that’s okay with us because possible interventions are welcome at this time,” Briones said. “We will not stop those that want to use technology as long as the education system is not derailed,” she added.
Among the schools that utilize technology in learning is the University of Santo Tomas (UST). When classes in Manila were suspended by the city mayor’s office, the school readily complied.
As announced by Office of the Secretary General of university, the entire community was “advised to maximize the use” of the UST Cloud Campus “to continue instructional delivery and quality.”
Through UST Cloud Campus, in partnership with Google for Education, teachers and students are given access to various apps and tools for an “innovative approach in learning.” Students and teachers are given Google for Education accounts where they can access different Google apps. For instance, students can access projects stored by the teachers in an account online. They can also collaborate real time and simultaneously work on a school project with their teacher’s guidance. Paperless submission of projects is also made possible through the e-learning program.
Through UST Cloud Campus, students can keep their academic priorities organized through a course calendar and submit assignments and other course requirements from cloud drives. Students can also enrich their learning using e-resources embedded in their course and track their grade performance and test scores.
The students can also participate in virtual meetings and video conference with their professors and classmates and interact with their professors and network of learners via discussion fora. Since it is online, students can access and download their course handouts and learning materials wherever they are.
One student, on her way to her home province of Aparri on a passenger bus, was able to participate in her Chemistry class online, finish her quiz for another subject, and move on to another subject or class via technology-mediated instruction. She described her 14-hour trip as “exciting and a learning session.”
Pros and Cons
While online learning brings an array of convenience at a time where face-to-face interaction is highly discouraged, there are also limitations that need to be taken into consideration.
Briones said that while the DepEd welcomes online learning as an intervention during cancellation of classes, this will only be effective when feasible. “In e-learning, we need gadgets and access to the Internet and this is not always possible in all schools - especially since it needs Internet connectivity,” she said.
In public schools, for instance, not all students may have electronic gadgets at home or they may not have access to the Internet at all. “Of course, our technical people are thinking of ways so that even offline, the students can utilize e-learning but it may not be possible for all schools nationwide,” Briones noted.
For Jose Martin Adrian D.L. Bustamante, 17, online learning has its advantages and disadvantages. A Grade 11 student at the UST Senior High School taking up Humanities and Social Science (HUMMS) strand, he is among the thousands of students affected by the suspension of classes due to the threat of the COVID-19 in Metro Manila.
Bustamante, in a phone interview with the Manila Bulletin, shared that online learning has been strengthened in UST due to the virus outbreak. Prior to the suspension of classes, he noted that one day has been allotted for an online class as part of the curriculum. Now, almost all classes in various subjects are being conducted online. “For me, the advantage is that we are able to catch up with the lessons that we have missed,” he said.
Using BLACKBOARD app, Bustamante said that learning-on-the-go is made possible especially during cancelled classes. In his class, where there are 46 students, they are able to attend online classes and receive instructions from their teachers while schools are closed. “We can participate in discussions, post-assessments and we can keep up with our schedules,” he shared.
However, Bustamante does not see the e-learning option as a long-term approach. “While it may be effective for me, it may not be for others like some of my classmates who are experiencing poor internet connection,” he said. Aside from additional charges in electricity since they have to monitor assignments, complete home works, and wait for other instructions from their teachers, he admitted that engaging in online learning “is much more difficult compared to classroom learning.”
“Compared to the regular classroom learning where we are given more time to complete our school works, online learning is fast-paced since we are required to submit requirements on the same day,” Bustamante said.
Despite the advantages of online learning, Bustamante said that this is only ideal as a short-term solution. “As human beings, we need to engage and interact with other people,” he said. “We still need to be physically present inside the classrooms, to see our classmates, friends, and teachers face-to-face,” he added.
Aside from the usual dangers of the cyberworld such as exposure to various scrupulous sites and people, Bustamante said that online learning does not help so much when it comes to instilling values and discipline among students. “Since the teachers cannot monitor what students do when they are online, this may become a problem because there’s always the possibility that the student can cheat,” he ended.