DLDM

Transmuting Challenges
into Opportunities:
The Distance Learning Delivery Modalities
During the COVID-19 Pandemic in
the Philippines
Gretchen G. Cordero
Alexander A. Sucalit Jr.
English Composition Writing Ability

of Filipino Elementary Learners
Difficulty Analysis of Filipino Learners

in PISA 2018
Pacinia L. Panganiban
Exploratory Study on the Available Learning
Resources and Services of the Alternative
Learning System Program
Education Research Division’s
2022
Imee G. Delos Reyes
PANUKIDUKI Multi-Literacy Education Roadmap

for Filipino Deaf-and-Hard-of-Hearing
Learners (DHHLs)
Mary Stephanie G. Yaw
TIMSS 2019 National Report
Armida R. Celeste
Policy Briefs on
Education Research Fair TIMSS 2019 Item Diagnostics Report

ILSAs
November 21 – 22, 2022 | NEAP, Marikina City

Study Objective
The Office of Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction

through the Bureau of Education Assessment–Education
Research Division (BEA-ERD) initiated this study to explore
key education stakeholders’ experiences, practices,
challenges, and opportunities in implementing the
distance learning delivery modalities (DLDMs) in the
Philippine public schools.

PANUKIDUKI 2022 Transmuting Challenges into Opportunities: The Distance
Education Research Fair Learning Delivery Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Research Questions
EXPERIENCES PRACTICES CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES
What were the

What practices How did the
learners’ and key
were carried out What challenges learners and key
education
by the key were encountered education
stakeholders’
education by key education stakeholders
experiences as
stakeholders to stakeholders in respond to the
they transition
continue implementing the challenges in
from face-to-face
education through DLDMs? implementing the
learning to
DLDMs? DLDMs?
DLDMs?
*The phenomenological qualitative approach was used to

describe the common meaning for several individuals of their
experiences about the implementation of DLDMs.

Data Gathering
Online in-depth interviews with five groups of study
participants in public schools:
• school heads (27)
• teachers (78),
• learners (66)
• parents (48)
• LGU representatives (25)
from 16 participating regions were conducted in July 2021.
Education Research Fair 2022

PANUKIDUKI Transmuting Challenges into Opportunities: The Distance
Learning Delivery Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Data Gathering
The distance learning modalities covered in this study include:
Online Distance Modular Distance Radio-based

Learning (ODL) Learning (ODL) Instruction (RBI)
Data Analysis
The verbatim transcripts from interviews were coded and analyzed using
the MAXQDA software following the protocol of Moustakas (1991).

Key Findings of the Study
Experiences and Challenges

The sudden shift from face-to-face to online classes prematurely

immersed the learners, teachers, and other key education
stakeholders in a different mode of learning.
For school head-participants, it was even more challenging

because it was their first time being in such predicament and the
pandemic required them to pull out all the stops to lead their school
community solidly.
“We had a hard time shifting into distance learning kasi
hindi po kami, shall we say, we are not expert, kasi nga
bagong-bago lang itong health crisis na ito. Wala pong
right na application sa ganitong situation kundi changes
and adjustment na lang po kami sa kung ano po yung nasa
harapan namin. So, mahirap compared sa nakagisnan.”
-School Head-participant

For the teacher-participants, they did not have adequate time to

adjust to the new teaching platforms like Google Meet and Zoom.
The development and reproduction of instructional materials were
done with limited time and resources.
The teacher-participants also had to think of ways to deliver the

modules to learners in far-flung areas given the limited mobility
caused by the lockdown.
“Naging unang struggle po namin is yung distribution, paano

po namin ibibigay sa mga bata since bawal naman po kami
pumunta sa kanila, bawal po kami magbahay-bahay. Sila
naman po bawal din pumunta sa school, yung mga parents
po allowed pumunta sa school pero nung nagpeak na po
yung COVID-19 sa community hindi na po sila pwede.”
-Teacher-participant

On Inadequate ICT Infrastructure, Resources and Skills
The teachers, learners, and parents in this study struggled to

cope with new ways like learning the technology necessary for
distance learning given the following barriers to distance learning:
• the country’s inadequate information and communications
technology (ICT) infrastructure
• lack of learning resources, suitability of home as learning
environment
• different levels of academic and ICT knowledge of teachers,
learners, and parents

On Learners Being Compelled to Study with Little

Assistance at Home
Given an almost impossible task, the parent-participants had to

bear the full responsibility of teaching and helping their children
answer the modules at home while making a living to provide for the
needs of the family in the middle of a pandemic.
“Hindi ko po sila talaga hundred percent

na matutukan kasi nga po kailangan din po
naming maghanap-buhay at gumawa ng
paraan dahil sa ngayon pong [may
pandemya], mahirap kumita ng pera.”
-Parent-participant

On Learners Being Compelled to Study with Little

Assistance at Home
For most of the learner-participants, there were no other family

members to assist them in learning their lessons at home.
The learner-participants admitted that they were not trained to

study on their own and felt that it was difficult for them to learn the
lessons without direct instruction from their teachers.
“May mga topic po kaming di
maintindihan, may mga [topic] din
naman po na di ko rin matanong sina
Mama at di rin po nila alam.”
-Learner-participant

On Diminished Learner Engagement and

Hampered Learning Process
The teacher-participants also emphasized the need for major

adjustments in their pedagogical practices:
Replacing paper-based tests with Utilizing interactive games to

online interactive quizzes and motivate active participation and
summative tests to monitor and immersion of learners in the
assess learners’ performances teaching-learning process

On Diminished Learner Engagement and

Hampered Learning Process
There were learner-participants who expressed their need for a

suitable learning environment to cope with the demands of tasks in
school. Some distractions they encountered at home include:
• annoying noise from the neighborhood while attending
online classes
• errands or household chores put on them by parents
• noise from siblings having their own online class

Key Findings of the Study
Practices and Opportunities

The challenges pushed the school head-participants to make

strategic actions to adjust to the new modalities:
• organization of different fund-raising activities involving different
stakeholders
• Realignment of their school fund to augment the limited funds
available to implement the DLDMs
• Conduct of training and seminars for the teachers to capacitate
them with the new learning modalities
“We have realigned the budget saved from the
electricity. ‘Di ba po na reduce ang electricity and
water expenses because we have no pupils here? We
used this savings to purchase other materials needed
by the teachers, kagaya po ng printer, ink, coupon
bond and Wi-fi modem.”
-School Head-participant

Despite having to carry the biggest responsibility in ensuring

learning continuity amidst the pandemic being the main
implementers of DLDMs, the teacher-participants went the extra
mile to reach out to parents and work with them hand-in-hand so
that the latter would become more involved in the distance learning
process of their children.
“During the distribution and retrieval of modules,

I talk[ed] to the parents, and ask them to share
weekly developments of their children at home
and give feedback about the accomplished task
of their children.”
-Teacher-participant

Through continuing professional development in the form of

trainings, workshops, and webinars, the teachers were trained to
utilize different online platforms and applications to:
• deliver the lessons
• monitor and evaluate students’ learning
• update strategies in dealing with the learners; and
• develop supplementary learning
materials– all to enable them to teach
effectively in a remote setup.

Since the teachers could not possibly monitor all learners at the
same time, the parents became their counterparts at home, who
so diligently coordinated with the teachers to ensure completion of
modules and report any difficulties or concerns if there were any.
“Kung may mga problema kami, tinatawagan

namin ang mga guro para matulungan kami o
kaya ay sinasabi naming tuwing sila ay
bumibisita tuwing Martes. Bilang mga magulang
ginagawa po naming ang lahat para maturuan
ang aming mga anak.”
-Parent-participant

Parent-participants, even at different capacities, did their best in

making sure that their children were learning effectively even at
home– whether by providing gadgets and materials, hiring tutors,
seeking help from other relatives as needed or personally
overseeing the learning activities and submission of accomplished
modules.
Indeed, the school heads, teachers, and

parents worked hand-in-hand to make sure
that the learners were guided and assisted
throughout the transition from face-to-face
to distance learning modalities.

Despite the challenges, the learner-participants still viewed

DLDMs as an opportunity to learn independently, discover new
ways to learn, manage their time on their own, and experience
increased family time while learning at home.
A learner-participant commended the work dynamics developed

among the learners to collaboratively answer the modules.
“I asked help from my classmates, since

me and my classmates are good at
teamwork, we always share our answers
or ideas and knowledge about a certain
problem. We kind of help each other so
that was my strategy.”
-Learner-participant

The local government units (LGUs) realigned their budget to

respond to the immediate needs of the schools in their community,
invested in the development of facilities necessary for the
implementation of DLDMs, and assisted the schools in managing
school resources to keep up with frequently changing guidelines.
“The city changed its priorities in the utilization

of the Special Education Fund since our
primary need was the production and printing
of our learning modules. We made some
[necessary] realignments, especially in
programs that have been suspended because
of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
-LGU Official-participant

Conclusion
Overall, the implementation of the distance learning modalities in the

public schools was confronted with challenges in managing
overwhelming responsibilities, limited resources, and poor student
engagement.
However difficult, the key education stakeholders successfully

transmuted the challenges into building stronger partnerships
and collaboration among the stakeholders which facilitated the
creation of different targeted support mechanisms, enabling
better adjustments to the new learning modalities.

Recommendations
Building a More Resilient Education System
for the Filipino Learners

Recommendations
On Limited Resources
One of the main stumbling blocks encountered by the education
stakeholders during the implementation of DLDMs was the lack of
resources that support distance learning. To address this hurdle, the
government must:
• increase investment in education and protect education

spending to meet the pressing demands of the distance
learning modalities; and
• ensure that adequate distance learning resources are
made available, accessible, and equitable especially to
those vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Recommendations
On Managing Work and Responsibilities
• School leaders must implement a comprehensive strategy to

monitor and support the mental health and overall well-being of
stakeholders and avoid burnout among teachers, students,
administrators, and other education support teams.
• Teachers must have adjusted administrative workloads so
they can focus on teaching, design integrative assessment
strategies that focus on the most essential skills and address the
diverse needs of students and the para-teachers.

Recommendations
On Poor Student Engagement
• Teachers must use varied low-stakes assessments to evaluate

learning outcomes and diagnose learning gaps and implement
positive reinforcement and reward system strategies that
boost student engagement.
• Family members and the community must monitor and
minimize external distractions during class hours to help the
students focus and accomplish their assigned tasks.

Certainly, the lessons learned during the
implementation of new learning modalities point
to the need to enhance the resilience of the
Philippine education system, so that it can
accommodate not only the changes brought by
the ‘new normal’, but more importantly, to
prepare for the post-COVID-19 world.

Gretchen G. Cordero
Transmuting Challenges into
Opportunities: The Distance Learning
Delivery Modalities During the COVID-
19 Pandemic in the Philippines
Alexander A. Sucalit Jr.
English Composition Writing Ability

of Filipino Elementary Learners
Difficulty Analysis of Filipino Learners

in PISA 2018
Pacinia L. Panganiban
Exploratory Study on the Available Learning
Resources and Services of the Alternative
Learning System Program
2022
Imee G. Delos Reyes
PANUKIDUKI Multi-Literacy Education Roadmap

for Filipino Deaf-and-Hard-of-Hearing
Learners (DHHLs)
Mary Stephanie G. Yaw
TIMSS 2019 National Report
Armida R. Celeste
Policy Briefs on
Education Research Fair TIMSS 2019 Item Diagnostics Report

ILSAs

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Transmuting Challenges

Alexander A. Sucalit Jr.

English Composition Writing Ability

Difficulty Analysis of Filipino Learners

Education Research Division’s

PANUKIDUKI Multi-Literacy Education Roadmap

Education Research Fair TIMSS 2019 Item Diagnostics Report

November 21 – 22, 2022 | NEAP, Marikina City

The Office of Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction

Education Research Division’s

What were the

*The phenomenological qualitative approach was used to

Education Research Division’s

from 16 participating regions were conducted in July 2021.

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

Online Distance Modular Distance Radio-based

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

The sudden shift from face-to-face to online classes prematurely

For school head-participants, it was even more challenging

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

For the teacher-participants, they did not have adequate time to

The teacher-participants also had to think of ways to deliver the

“Naging unang struggle po namin is yung distribution, paano

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

On Inadequate ICT Infrastructure, Resources and Skills

The teachers, learners, and parents in this study struggled to

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

On Learners Being Compelled to Study with Little

Given an almost impossible task, the parent-participants had to

“Hindi ko po sila talaga hundred percent

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

On Learners Being Compelled to Study with Little

For most of the learner-participants, there were no other family

The learner-participants admitted that they were not trained to

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

On Diminished Learner Engagement and

The teacher-participants also emphasized the need for major

Replacing paper-based tests with Utilizing interactive games to

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

On Diminished Learner Engagement and

There were learner-participants who expressed their need for a

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

The challenges pushed the school head-participants to make

Education Research Division’s

Education Research Fair 2022

Despite having to carry the biggest responsibility in ensuring

“During the distribution and retrieval of modules,