Distance Education in the Screens of a Common Filipino

Written by Bernard Gerome Barrera
Editorial Cartoon by Joshua Shimizu
Posted on September 25, 2020 | 5:00 PM

One month after the official opening of classes, and everyone involved in an individual’s learning experience—students, parents, teachers, and others—is struggling in dealing with the new problems of the New Normal in Education.

As the Department of Education planned to adjust the school year to the third quarter of 2020, President Duterte agreed that no face-to-face classes are allowed until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. Only distance education, such as Online Distance Learning (ODL) and Modular Distance Learning (MDL), shall be done by schools. In effect, a new way of education has formed to be an alternative during the pandemic.

Today’s normal requires self-adjustments, but fully adapting to the current situation of learning is strenuous because of several pre-existing issues in the country. Aspects regarding internet connection, resource deficiency, and health hazards make distance learning worrisome. Furthermore, the learning and teaching environment became harder for students and teachers as those problems are directly affecting them day-to-day.

Internet connection is a big problem in an online learning set-up as the country’s average internet speed is 19.51 Mbps compared to the global average is 57.91 Mbps. Unfortunately, not everyone is receiving at least 20 Mbps, for internet speed is highly dependent on location and weather. This concern is evident, especially in synchronous sessions. Students unexpectedly leave the online class trying to fix the delay of the internet, and teachers sometimes seem to stutter when discussing. Other than that, internet disruption, technical problems, and power outages are also barriers to the new normal in education.

Another concern is the lack of resources. Modular distance learning requires many self-learning modules and is accompanied by electronic materials as well, the same in ODL, which is for lectures and communication. The insufficiency may not be apparent in NCR or any nearby regions, but this is a serious thorn thinking about the rural areas. Adding to this is the delivery of these supplies. The carriage will cost gas, labor, time, and other extra expenditures.

A problem for most parents, guardians, teachers, and schools is on funds. Having education offered over the internet demands the use of devices. This means that there will be extra expenses on electric and internet bills.

Last is about the problems with our health. This new normal has set impacts on both the physical and mental health of students and teachers. The increased exposure to blue light emitted by digital devices is inevitable in pure technology-driven learning, thus causing adverse effects in the body. In a study, 2-hour continuous screen time is imputable to blurry vision, headaches, and muscle strain. A 6-hour on-screen display is enough to suppress the release of melatonin, the body’s sleep hormone. In turn, this can lead to stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation.

This pandemic examines our coping mechanisms. It forces us to adjust in the new ways of living, from the new normal in the community (wearing of face masks) up to the new normal in education (distance learning). However, these times of uncertainties should not last. The pandemic must end as soon as possible because labor, education, and such will suffer. Students, parents, teachers, laborers, the school, and others are groping in this new normal. They are in a wrestling ring, bravely fighting the consequences of negligence—both the micro and macro effects.