The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has opened doors for some teachers to innovate ways to enrich their students’ learning experience.

A case in point is Leo Andrei Crisologo, a math teacher at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) – Main Campus, who created 60 YouTube videos discussing Grade 9 topics from first to fourth quarters of Academic Year 2020-2021.

"Crisologo’s instructional videos aim to enrich the content of the learning guides provided by the PSHS System in support of the institutional remote learning modality,” read the PSHS’s Facebook post.

Crisologo said he wanted to implement a blended approach in his face-to-face classes, but he was unable to find the time to either curate existing online material or make his own.

"With the pandemic removing the face-to-face option I took the opportunity to finally make my own material, which I also intend to use in the future for blended learning opportunities,” Crisologo said.

The Pisay teacher said he started experimenting with his own lesson videos when he curated existing Math lesson videos from sites like Khan Academy.

"Having that initial opportunity to make a lesson video allowed me to make mistakes early and get some insights on what can be improved, while giving me confidence that I could actually pull off making videos for all my lessons in an entire school year,” he said.

The former Curriculum and Instruction Division Chief cited the "instructional benefits" of his initiative.

"Because of the videos, the students are not pressured to attend synchronous classes; the videos provide an alternative or a complement to the textbooks and learning guides, and students who prefer learning visually or by having a teacher explain the lesson have reported that the videos have helped them a lot,” the PSHS said quoting Crisologo.

He said through the instructional videos, students can engage with the lesson at a time of their choice making leaning more conducive for them.

“The feedback I usually receive from my students (pre-pandemic) is that they appreciated how I explain the lessons in class, and I wanted to keep that aspect of my teaching in the pandemic, which is why I preferred to make my own lessons instead of linking to resources like Khan Academy. My videos are also based on our curriculum, while existing Math videos are of course based on other curricula,” Crisologo said.

He said he used both English and Filipino languages in his videos, adding that his occasional use of Filipino makes the lessons more accessible.

“I can immediately implement a blended learning approach to my classroom in the next opportunity as I already have a complete set of video lessons.”

Crisologo said he intends to assign video watching as homework and use the class time for problem solving and discussion.

"I have learned a lot along the way, from recording videos to improving my presentations, and what students are taking out of their lessons,” Crisologo said, describing his instructional videos as “investment”.

“It should be mentioned that this is not a magic bullet that suddenly increases student engagement. Students who refuse to engage with their lessons will continue to disengage even with video lessons being provided. Student submissions still remain my biggest concern and take up my time in follow-ups. However, I feel that the videos benefit those students who do choose to engage,” he said.