By Ervin Delas Peñas, UN SDSN Youth Philippines Volunteer | Published on August 19, 2020 3:08:12 PM
Educational institutions worldwide need to adapt to the barriers brought by the pandemic by transitioning to online platforms as an alternative place for learning. Some claim online learning is an indispensable alternative to making up for the lost presence in physical classrooms, while others struggle as they adjust to the digital environment. Here, we list down the advantages and disadvantages of each learning style.
Benefits of online learning. Other than the continued access to learning material brought by online platforms, there is research that suggests “interaction in an online environment promotes student-centered learning, encourages wider student participation, and produces more in-depth and reasoned discussions than a traditional classroom“. There are also indications that students would be less intimidated, and feel less time pressure participating online compared to the traditional setting. Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009 showed that students who participated purely or mostly in online courses performed better in terms of grades than the students who took the same course but in the traditional setting.
It is also easy to imagine how flexible it is for students to learn at their own time, since one of the stark characteristics of online learning is that it is done asynchronously. Students are then free to pace themselves as they progress through the course. For some, synchronous sessions are up to the prerogative of the instructor, either making it optional for students to join in, or conduct none at all. As such, absences do not exist in online classes, unless the teacher requires the students to attend the sessions they hold online, if any.
Disadvantages of online learning. One drawback of online learning is the possibility of students not being able to connect or relate to their classmates, unlike in the classroom where students may ask their peers or teachers for immediate clarifications. This may cause stress and other mental problems among the isolated students. Another setback among students is that they may lose interest in the subject matter and thus become less effective learners. At times, it is also hard to obtain immediate feedback or other related concerns from teachers due to the asynchronicity.
Other than the social implications it has on students, the internet itself may require its users to be wary of its natural limitations.
Nicholas Carr’s book, The Shallows, was a Pulitzer finalist, and in it, he brilliantly illustrated the nature and effects of the internet as a medium. It includes a chapter where it discusses the limitations of the human mind in processing information we get and seek on the internet. Carr used an analogy to picture how short-term memory seeps into the long-term: like filling a bathtub with a tool as small as a thimble. The adjacent part reads "[w]ith the Net, we face many information faucets, all going full blast. Our little thimble overflows as we rush from one faucet to the next”. This echoes the fact that our ability to store and digest information is subject to our cognitive load, which refers to the information our working memory receives at any given moment. And so when we experience an overload—or as Carr says, “when the water overflows the thimble”—it’s a reflection of our natural inability to absorb multiple information at once, and thus the practice may hinder effective learning.
As an avid internet surfer myself, it’s difficult to stick to one task while maintaining another. Because of our tendency to open multiple tabs at once, our mind goes astray. One can imagine how jagged the progress is when we work on one thing, and then briefly move on to the next, like a dog following a trail of crumbs, only to end up nowhere. Multitasking inherently becomes a distraction, unless we focus and recall what it is we really have to work on.
Another obvious downside of online learning is that a prerequisite is to own an electronic device capable of connecting to the wifi. These two incur costs that some are not able to afford. According to a study that surveyed internet usage among Filipinos in 2018, 45% (46 million) do not have internet access, while 74% of (34,500) public schools suffer the same fate. Just recently, students have resorted to crowdfunding on social media—dubbed “PisoParaSaLaptop”—as efforts to prepare for the school year. Some students have to endure walking far lengths or crossing rivers just to gain internet access or signal. CNN reports an account on how one student climbed a mountain just to submit an assignment, while another died from a motorcycle accident while searching for wifi in nearby barangays. Unstable wifi connection also remains a persistent issue in many parts of the country, and others are paying an unjust price compared to what their family or personal livelihood provides them with, while in some cases, the subscription just doesn’t turn out as it should be.
There are also some students who claim that they do not have the luxury of private spaces for them to have a conducive place for learning, which may affect their motivation and attitude towards keeping up with the class.
As opposed to online learning, classes conducted in physical sites are synchronous, meaning the lecturer has to be present at the same time and place as the students. This has its own pros and cons.
Benefits of traditional learning. Live interaction makes it easier for students to communicate easier with their teachers, rendering study-related matters and inquiries easily addressed. Being able to read the teacher’s body language, as opposed to seeing just their faces on screen, may help students understand the lesson better and retain information more effectively. Furthermore, pedagogical devices that are made available in the classroom may serve as visual aids that the instructor can easily make use of, unlike in online platforms where the usage of applications is required to illustrate a point or explanation while subject to their technical limitations.
Classrooms may also serve as avenues for students to socialize and make friends, which may foster encouragement to learn together.. This may also encourage students to attend classes as they get to meet their peers, and ask for help if they feel shy in approaching the teacher. In addition, students will develop presentation and public speaking skills as teachers are given the option to assign such activities for the students to do, which would be quite unlikely or impractical to do in an online setting.
Other than presentation skills, students will have to develop organization skills by adapting and adjusting as they interact in an environment where they may be curating their impressions, or developing behavior that may influence others or the perception of their classmates towards them. This may inculcate life lessons that students would otherwise not have the chance or need to do when online where they have to maintain just themselves.
Disadvantages of traditional learning. According to certain academic literature, the possibility of students going absent may be the cause of conflicts in schedule, emergencies, medical conditions, and transportation issues among others. As a result, attendance and the required logistics to fulfill it may be draining for some students, especially those whose residences lie in an inconvenient distance from the school.
Behavior not conducive to learning may also be an issue among students. This includes sleeping in class, secretly using mobile devices, and chatting with peers. At times, the teacher may notice these and take proper disciplinary action that may incur delay for the entire class, leading to problems with pacing, and may evoke emotions among students that may discourage them from active or effective participation.
In contrast to online platforms, traditional learning follows a rigid schedule that the student must follow, else they face consequences set by their school or teacher’s policies.
How does the Philippines fare in this context? In cooperation with a foundation, the Department of Education has initiated a campaign to fund the distribution of printed learning packets containing reading materials to the elementary and secondary levels of schools (Grades 1 to 12) that have no internet connection. Other than the foundation, DepEd will be partnering with the “Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in mobilizing barangay officials to help bring the printed materials to households with limited or no access to internet or communication gadgets.” In line with the DepEd’s proposed Alternative Learning System (ALS), tapping into radio frequencies and TV channels is an option made available by their campaign “Oplan Balik Eskwela – Brigada Eskwela”, where teachers are to relay instructions and supplemental learning materials for those without gadgets or wifi.
In addition to DepEd’s publications regarding how distance learning will take place, their most recent publication, “Policy Guidelines for the Provision of Learning Resources in the Implementation of the Basic Education Continuity Plan”, can be found here. DepEd published an infographic summarizing their plan:
Despite this, affordable, ubiquitous, and fair distribution of network channels remains to be seen in the country as segments of the population lack the resources and capital to adjust to the country’s lack of infrastructure as we shift to distance learning. Furthermore, an article published by BusinessWorld last June elucidates this reality:
“Some can’t afford the computers or even smartphones needed, or to subscribe to Wi-Fi providers and master the use of the technology involved within a short two months. As some news reports have noted, some teachers are similarly unprepared, either because they don’t have the devices needed and can’t afford them, and/or are also as technologically challenged as their students.”
This plus the figure given by the article that some 5 million children may not be able to enroll this school year, while “9 million students in both private and public schools had enrolled online” by the end of June.
Last June, Manila City mayor Isko Moreno “earmarked P994 million for the purchase of tablets, laptops and internet connection for students and teachers which are necessary for distance learning”. Moreno specified the figures based on the DepEd’s prescriptions that each student and teacher is entitled to as provided for by the funds: one tablet for all 3 students in every household, incurring 4 hours of usage of the tablet twice a week, with a 10-gigabyte monthly load; each teacher will receive a laptop, and a pocket wifi unit to be loaded 10 gigabytes per month.
There are many other benefits and limitations that may have not been mentioned here, but what really matters is that students get to adjust to online education, while being able to address other needs that would help in doing so (depending on the circ*mstances). They should always seek support from their social support groups—be it friends, family or schoolmates—while actively trying to reach out to their teachers, and realize that the common good of staying healthy is what should be set as a priority in these trying times. Ultimately, there are many gaps in our system that the government has yet to fill or help with. Without authoritative intervention or direct aid, most of the country is left to their own capabilities, while some face the chances of not enrolling this year at all.
Sources:
Ya N, A. (2013). Comparing the Effectiveness of Classroom and Online Learning: Teaching Research Methods. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 19(2). 199-215. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.com/stable/23608947Hurlbut, A. (2018, October 18). Online vs. traditional learning in teacher education: a comparison of student progress. American Journal of Distance Education, 32(4), 248-266, Retrieved from:https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2018.1509265Petrović, J and Predrag, P. (2014, September 26). Students' perception of live lectures' inherent disadvantages. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(2), 143-157, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2014.962505https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CfC-Reform-Story-11-Improving-Internet-Access-in-the-Philippines.pdfhttps://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2020/5/20/internet-access-pandemic.htmlhttps://www.bworldonline.com/philippine-education-in-crisis/https://rappler.com/nation/students-seek-help-online-learninghttps://www.worldvision.org.ph/abutin-na10/https://www.bworldonline.com/philippine-education-in-crisis/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/741618/manila-to-spend-p994m-for-tablets-laptops-data-connection-for-students-teachers/story/Churned by:
Nicole Ortiz
Volunteer, Data Churner
UN SDSN Youth Philippines
Graphic by:
Jazmin Jabines
Intern
UN SDSN Youth Philippines
