The Rise of a New Era in Education
By: Kimberly B. Diapana
More than a year ago, the entire world was surprised by a contagious disease which forced the entire human race to combat it unprepared. The Covid19 pandemic made a horrendous impact to the point that it caused everything to change. The education system of the world is of no exemption to that. The pandemic compromised the usual face to face educative process and eventually forced the education system across the world to shift the learning modality to distance learning programs such as, modular, online and blended learning. However, with the impressive technological advancement of the world, it is of no surprise that most countries even the Philippines resorted to Online Education. With the rise of a new era in education comes the questions concerning the reliability, effectivity and conductivity of this new mode of learning.
It is undeniable that Online Education projects an amenable mode of instructional delivery. At the onset, it offers efficiency for teachers when it comes to delivering the lessons since the online world has built applications that will help them aid the process of sharing learning materials. In addition, online mode of learning also poses the advantage in terms of the accessibility of time and place. It helps educational institutions to reach students more extensively unlike face to face instruction that has only a limited scope due to geographical boundaries. In simple terms, it poses flexibility for both learners and educators in such a way that there is no need for everyone to travel miles and miles just to attend class. More so, it offers a lenient time schedule for everyone which is somehow advantageous to those who are working and studying at the same time.
However, despite how ideal it seems, it is also undeniable that its implementation triggers points to critique and to question especially when it comes to its effectiveness. A lot actually has been arguing that Online Education is not as effective as face to face instruction. Catherine Van Wheele, a student of San Diego State who experienced first-hand the online mode of learning, expressed that online learning is not a promising educational opportunity for the major reason that for most students, online classes are just merely a means to fulfill courses and unit requirements. On a relative note, what Wheele mentioned is somehow the root cause of one of the disadvantages of online learning which is the learners’ lack of willingness and desire to learn. Online Education poses the assumption that not all learners have a conducive learning space in their homes. With a lot of distractions going on, it is no longer surprising that a lot of learners find it demotivating as they go through their learning process. This is perhaps one of the reasons why students have a hard time focusing during classes held online.
In Philippine context, the online education received various reactions from the constituents especially with the facts that the country has a slow internet connection and not all learners are given the privilege of having digital access. Surveys have showed that the Philippines ranked 103rd among the 139 countries with the slowest internet connection in the world. With roughly 28 million students affected by school closures caused by the corona virus disease, it definitely calls for urgency in upgrading the internet connectivity infrastructure. Further, the survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that 42% of school-age learners do not use gadgets for distance learning. These statistics have made the efficacy of the Online Education an interesting point to analyze. As it pioneered here in the Philippines, the main concern is the digital divide. The technological issues brought by the slow internet connection somehow compromised the quality of online education. More importantly, there are many students especially those living in rural areas with poor status in life that are not given the luxury to have access to quality resources needed for online learning. It is saddening that a lot of Filipino families cannot afford to give their children the appropriate gadgets for this mode of learning even just a simple android phone.
This new era in education have encouraged people especially learners to weigh its pros and cons. With the immense advantages that online education is offering, it is no longer a wonder if a lot of people finds it comforting especially with the flexibility it brings to the learning process. Conversely, it is just alarming to notice that alongside with the good outcomes brought by this new mode of learning, there are also salient aspects that have been compromised by this shift. Its efficacy is challenged by the level of effectivity and reliability that face to face education already established for decades. Moreover, in Philippine context, although educational groups are making huge efforts to fill in the gap of the lack of resources and bridge the digital divide, it is still undeniable that the country is still having a hard time to be at par with the other countries in terms of the quality of their online education. In spite of all of these, there is one common truth that everyone is believing in this trying time. Online education being a new era builds the hope and power that even the most challenging catastrophe can never dilapidate the world’s drive in providing better education for all.
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