Technology and continuous learning amid Covid-19

TO ensure that their students’ education is not compromised, schools are using alternative spaces for learning amid the COVID-19 crisis. In place of classroom lectures, lessons are taught through online platforms, social media channels, and unconventional educational programs.

With the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) keeping both students and teachers at home, here are the different ways that learning institutions have embraced technology to promote continuous learning.

Ann Abacan of Sophia School in Mecauayan, Bulacan shares that the Internet has allowed them to continue their operations.

“Our teachers meet online once or twice a week using Zoom or Google Hangouts. Members of the school admin meet similarly around three to five times to follow-up on tasks,” the principal and owner says.

Their school community has also been using social media to keep in touch. Since the community quarantine, Sophia School launched a campaign on their school Facebook Page called ‘Share Ko Lang’, which is a series of creative videos featuring Sophian students, parents and teachers sharing their experiences during their stay at home.

Staying connected with her students is also a must for Marj Palmares-Cruz, a business professor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) – San Pedro Campus and PUP Open University.

Her main concern was to finish the remaining sessions for the semester after classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “The challenge lies in the students’ access to the internet, because not all of them own computers,” Cruz shares.

Looking for a solution, Palmares-Cruz was able to find a way around the problem. “I had to think of an online app which everyone can access with free data – and that would be Facebook Messenger,” Cruz said.

Understanding that students need to save their airtime, Cruz designed her instructional materials in such a way that there would be lesser online meetings, which easily eat up data. “Outputs are submitted through Facebook Messenger as a group, in consideration of the students who don’t have gadgets and have limited internet access,” she explained.

In addition, Cruz utilizes Google Classroom for individual submission and tracking of student’s work for courses that require monitoring of each student’s progress. “I also make sure to post contents that are relevant to my students on my personal Facebook account. That way, their learning never stops,” she shared.

When the enhanced community quarantine was implemented, Teacher Oliver Lara thought of ways to still do therapy sessions with his students from Kids Home Intervention.

As a center that uses a skill-based system to address children’s developmental delays, he knew his learners need to continually receive treatment for their courses to be fully effective.

“Our Team decided to have online classes in order to ensure that our students continue to receive the intervention they need and to facilitate skills across different platforms and settings,” Teacher Oliver said, adding that they use Microsoft Teams to run their daily Virtual Classroom Management activities.

“Technology is very essential especially during this ECQ because it enables us to be of service to our clients and students regardless of the current situations,” he explained.

Even prior to the COVID-19 health crisis, there have been several teaching methodologies that proved to be disaster-resilient.

Designed to promote independent learning in students, the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP) adopted by several schools nationwide is a non-traditional and innovative teaching framework that can be implemented even during times of crisis.

The pedagogy uses parallel learning groups, activity-based multi-domain learning, in-school comprehensive student portfolio, and strategic study and rest periods to improve student academic performance as well as support teachers’ needs.

During the Zamboanga Siege back in 2013, students of Claret School in Zamboanga City (CSZC) continued to learn in the safety of their homes through the DLP. The same is true today as the entire nation wages a battle against a faceless enemy.

“We have already proven that DLP works as a pedagogy that allows students to learn especially in times of a force majeure,” said CSZC high school principal Daisy Bejerano-Natividad.

According to Marie Joneth C. Rivera, a Math Subject Coordinator in CSZC, the DLP activity-based multi-domain learning and in-school comprehensive student portfolios facilitate the learning process even if the students can’t come to school.

“Since the teachers have already planned and designed the learning activity sheets for the whole school year, the students can easily access these activities and can work independently in their respective homes,” said Rivera.

Aika Angel F. Ubando, a graduate of CSZC, is among those who benefited from DLP at the time of the Zamboanga siege, when they were unable to go to school for close to two months.

“We were given worksheets online that had to be submitted once a week, and the setup was convenient for both teachers and learners,” she explained. “If it weren’t for the program, we all would have struggled to cope with the crisis.”

As part of its initiatives under its education advocacy, wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has conducted DLP training for teachers and schools nationwide.

DLP Workshops were also held in various provinces for facilitators of Alternative Learning System (ALS), the flagship program of the Department of Education (DepEd) that offers non-formal education to out-of-school youth and adults who have failed to complete basic education.

“I created a group chat to keep my learners updated with the lesson and activity sheets they must work on,” seconds Pinky Fabria, an ALS mobile teacher in CDO. “I am thankful that even with the work from home arrangement, I am still able to fulfil my duty as a teacher and to be productive because of DLP.”

Similarly, the Xavier University ALS Night School Program is doing its best to make sure its learners acquire the necessary knowledge needed for their Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) test. The competency exam is required for ALS students who wish to enroll in secondary and post-secondary schools.

“We continue to develop inclusive learning opportunities, as instructions are given through the online class with modular worksheets provided by the volunteer-teachers,” says program head Jett Torres.

By thinking out of the box, making the most of available online resources, and staying true to their calling, educators are working to ensure that learning in the time of COVID-19 can happen at home. (PR)