Distance learning under COVID: Gearing up for education’s digital transformation

The global lockdown has greatly impacted educational institutions and has triggered major and unanticipated interruption in students’ learning. With school shutdowns worldwide, around 1.1 billion students are out of the classroom. Teaching and learning have changed dramatically and are compelled to shift to digital platforms and other modalities. With the unexpected move away from the physical classrooms, parents, students, and even teachers are now in a quandary as to how this paradigm shift would affect education in general, and what temporary solutions should be applied as we all prepare to adapt for education’s digital transformation.

To address such issues, the Liveable Cities Challenge PH and the League of Cities in the Philippines—in partnership with Globe Business—launched a series of webinar sessions to prepare all cities around the country with insights for designing better solutions for all institutions. The first of the series reeled off with “Distance Learning Under COVID”, held recently and sharing their expertise was a panel of industry specialists including Salustiano Jimenez, CESO V Officer-in-Charge, Dep-Ed Region VII; Dr. Reynaldo Arimbuyutan, President of College for Research and Technology; Mark Abalos, Globe Telecom’s Segment Head for Education; and Vince Tempongko, Globe’s VP for Site Acquisition and Management as resource speakers, while Liveable Cities Chairman Guillermo Luz moderated the webinar. Joining them were a total of 22 mayors from around the country. 

The webinar underscored the crucial role of LGUs, their potential policies and plans on how they can help schools shift from traditional, face-to-face education to online education, the challenges of connectivity, devices (and lack thereof), the new curriculum, teacher training, and the need to collaborate to better implement a formidable e-learning strategy. 

Key topics also included the importance of embracing technology and innovation, as well as the premise that building a strong and reliable connectivity infrastructure are indispensable tools to forward a resilient education system that is interactive, experiential, collaborative teaching—and even mentoring—in this unforeseen new norm.

How LGUs can help public and private schools pivot to virtual learning

As schools in the country mobilize for the August 24 opening, Dep-Ed reports that Elementary and High School enrollments are down to 25% for all public schools. The economic toll of the lockdown has immensely impacted the private school sector which admittedly have way lower enrollees this school year, as most students are transferring to public schools. The greater problem is how to deploy a resilient distance learning education system combined with other modes of learning at the height of Covid-19. 

School teachers are being equipped with various learning modalities including Modular distance learning (with printed materials brought by the teachers to students, online distance learning (the use of gadgets), self-learning modules, blended learning (the use of TV or radio), and homeschooling (with the help of parents or guardian). 

Jimenez represented Dep-Ed Region 7 and disclosed the drop in enrolment both in their public and private school but assured that every decision they make in the implementation of services is anchored on the principle of shared governance as stipulated in RA 9155 or the Governance Act of Enhanced Basic Education. 

“In Region 7, learners will be able to access basic education anywhere, anytime without health risk because of our Learning Continuity Plan strategic approach in response to the new normal in the education landscape. We call it Path,” Jimenez pointed out.

 P-A-T-H, he explained, stands for Progressive action towards the delivery of instruction (through various modalities), Aligned policies and guidelines, Trusting each personnel’s capacity to handle various situations, and Healing the whole person (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual well-being of both teachers and students. This, according to Jimenez, is their Edu-kalidad or the concept of always delivering quality education.

The nationwide challenges, however, lie in the insufficiency of gadgets and the limited access to connectivity. The underprivileged and poverty-stricken students may not have enough money to purchase any gadget, much less to pay for monthly internet subscriptions. 

The Talang High School in Candaba Pampanga, for instance, is cognizant of the economic realities of some of their students thus, they will be using the Modular Delivery Mode and TV-based instruction as recommended by Dep-Ed SDO Pampanga. Principal Jesusa Punzalan said they have properly equipped themselves with skills through training and webinars to take on education’s new normal. They have also undergone psycho-social training to handle students with mental health issues resulting from the lockdown and from coping with the change of non-classroom instruction.  

“Most parents here have apprehensions about their preferred e-learning deliveries mostly because of their inability to provide gadgets for their children, their limited or lack of internet connectivity, and the skill level and learning styles of their children now that they are suddenly pressed to adapt to the new norm,” Punzalan shared. Talang High School has presented its Learning Continuity Plan to their LGU heads and they are scheduled to hold virtual presentations on how to deliver and sustain effective teaching measures, hand-in-hand with their local leaders.

To further create an environment with apt learning opportunities, therefore, it is important to have a learning management system that can document, track, report, and deliver educational courses or learning and development programs that can mobilize online distance learning. Jimenez said that some mayors in Region 7 have complied to help bridge the gap by offering gadgets, radios, or even integrating LGU-sponsored connectivity for all schools under their jurisdiction.

Thus, in an education perspective, local chief executives may need to support opportunities for remote learning. LGUs should help put up means while complying to health protocols and even set up E-learning facilities that can help teachers, parents, and children achieve their learning goals. 

Digital revolution at the forefront

Education is one of the relevant industries caught in the middle of this pandemic and the Philippines alone has more than 28 million affected learners. Now it has become necessary to safeguard the education sector through strategies that will guarantee the continuous flow of learning and integrate online with offline approaches. According to the Benefits of Using Mobile Apps in Education, 81% of students have been using mobile devices for studying and 77% of these say that adaptive technology has helped them improve their grades. And because of accessible online sources for research, 62% say that technology has helped them to be better prepared for class. Gen Zs are the most tech-savvy (also called the “Generation Glued”) and they are usually online for three to six hours daily on their smartphones, laptops, tablets, gaming console, smart TV, and other wearable devices. Thus, for every Gen Z, technology is a must.

Technology can help students with research, communicate beyond the classroom, code and program, store their files, create, and establish their digital citizenship. Teachers, on the other hand, can use technology for research, grading system and administration, to increase student engagement, better student feedback, and home-school communication.

Abalos pointed out that distance learning through technology can be successfully implemented given the standards of the new normal. “As an educator myself, this is an entirely new thing for me, yet I have to abide by it. Using technology, I will have to align and enable while establishing clear conditions for success, make key choices around the device, platform, and content I will use for teaching before I can roll out my remote teaching and learning strategy. Then I will try to monitor and modify my initiatives as I go along,” he said. That sounds ideal but to achieve that, there should be digital equity for everyone. 

Boosting digital equity in education simply means that all students should have access to learning resources in an easier and less expensive way than the traditional one, wherever they are and regardless of their economic status. That is why Abalos cited that Globe is the most reliable and trusted partner for 21st century learning because of its connectivity through its prepaid internet kits, prepaid mobile data, Fixed Broadband plans, and other learning management systems.

Tempongko, meanwhile, stressed that the need for the Philippines to become a digital nation has never been more pronounced than now. With the lockdown, Filipinos continued managing their daily lives as normally as possible using the internet to pay their bills, shop, or have food and essentials delivered while minimizing their chances to contract the virus. “However, the Philippines does not have enough towers and cell sites to support better speeds and eventually, the future growth of all sectors—business, food and beverage, tourism, and education included,” Tempongko said. 

Some current constraints according to Tempongko are low cell site density, challenges regarding the filing of permits (one cell site takes at least 8 months to acquire a permit), and rejection of homeowners because of the alleged health risks that cell sites bring. “We all deserve a 1st world connectivity that’s why Globe has been requesting for faster approval of permits for cell site, broadband, and fiber builds. We are also seeking help from the LGUs to request their constituents to support and allow our cell site within their lands and subdivisions,” he added 

Having better connectivity is the only way for all sectors to share knowledge and expertise for innovating teaching models, and in addressing modern issues in education. It is therefore necessary to safeguard the education sector through strategies that will ensure the continuity of learning. How teachers, local policymakers, students, and parents will address this remains to be seen. 

Moving forward, however, it is evident how everyone sees so much potential in employing new technologies to make the education, under the new norm, more manageable and adaptive to evolving landscapes. And when done in synergy with all sectors—including the government—we shall be able to give every student their right to better education as the future nation-builders.

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