The Plight of BLENDED LEARNING in the Philippines

KHERON LEA S. RAMOS

In the fourth quarter of the year 2019, there was a surge of

coronavirus or Covid-19 disease in almost all countries of the world.

There were lots of students worldwide who were not able to go to school

during that time of Covid-19 outbreak.

In the first quarter of 2020, this deadly disease has entered the

Philippines. The classes were shut immediately and no student and

teacher were allowed to enter schools. Because of this pandemic, the

education system of the Philippines has been affected.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to have a devastating

impact on the lives of people. The frequent changes in delivering

learning of the educational institutions affect both parents and students.

Before the pandemic striked, the students comfortably underwent the

face-to-face classes but since 2020, the Philippine Education system

has strived to create different distance learning modalities to continue

the learning delivery amidst the crisis (Kintanar, 2021).

The Philippine President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte recommended the

declaration of the state of calamity throughout the Philippines (RA No.

10121). In response to this, the learners, teachers, parents and

stakeholders continue to adapt changes in terms of learning modalities

(OED, 2020).

Moreover, the President also declared that there would be no

face to face classes until a vaccine will be formulated. The secretary of

Education, Leonor Magtolis Briones has recommended to use or adopt

the technology-based approach of learning instruction. Furthermore,

because of the disease outbreak in almost all parts of the country,

Senator Gatchalian has filed the Senate Resolution No. 391 that

postpones the opening of classes in August of the same year, 2020. The

Philippine senators have also suggested and recommended to use the

Distance Learning Approach and with the help of the advocates of

education and experts from the DepEd, the Blended Learning approach

was then adopted by the DepEd (Tupas, Laguda, 2020).

Blended Learning is the combination of face-to-face learning,

modular distance learning, online distance learning and Tv or Radio-

based learning modalities. It was adopted by the DepEd to limit face to

face interaction inside the schools perimeters and of course to make

sure of the social distancing between people in prevention of covid-19

disease infection among all.

 In the Face-to-face learning, the setting of teaching and learning

process is in the classroom. There is an interaction between the teacher

and the learners. The students and the teacher has all the time and

opportunities to actively engage in participation and collaboration. The

teacher can also give immediate feedback to the students’ performance

in the class.

On the basis of the approval of the President on the Progressive

face to face classes last January 17, 2022 and the newly improved alert

level classifications of the IATF-EID, the Department of Education has

issued and posted the DepEd Order 017, Series of 2022 on April 6,

2022. This is about the Guidelines on the Progressive Expansion of

Face to Face Classes. These guidelines aims to guide the schools of

the rules in the effective and safe implementation of the face face

classes in all grade levels.

Because of the huge challenges and issues on facilitating the

distance learning, the DepEd prepared for the re- implementation of safe

face to face learning and there was a conduct of pilot face to face

implementation on November 15 to December 17, 2021 by the selected

public and private schools in the country that is in the low-risk areas.

This is due to the approval of the President to conduct pilot face to face

classes last September 20, 2021 and of the issuance of the Joint
Memorandum Circular No. 01, s. 2021 which is the Operational

Guidelines on the Implementation of Limited Face to Face Learning

Modality last September 27, 2021 by the DepEd and the department of

Health.

On the other hand, modular learning comes into print and digital.

Printed modules consist of SLMs, Learning Activity Sheets, worksheets,

and Learner’s manual and other printed learning materials while digital

modules can be in electronic copy of these learning modules. The

learners can have access to these electronic copies of learning materials

through the use of USB, and gadgets. In modular learning, the learners

independently learn with the use of the said materials. The learners can

ask assistance from their teachers through texting or messaging and

phone calls while the teachers do monitor the learners’ progress.

Whenever a learner seeks for a remediation or actual assistance, the

teacher may visit the learner at home (Llego, 2020).

Moreover, online distance learning uses technology to facilitate

learning. The teacher and learners must have an access to internet to

undergo classes. All instructions are done through the use of internet.

The learners and the facilitator of learning can have much interaction

rather than in modular learning because the learners can actively

participate in the class discussions and the facilitator can give feedback

of the learner’s performance immediately.

TV and Radio-based classes uses the converted self-learning

materials to video lessons for the sake of Television-based classes and

converted self-learning materials to radio script for the Radio-based

classes.

The benefit of blended learning is that it enables students to

set their own learning paces. Additionally, students have access to a

variety of materials and resources. Students can select a task that

best fits their learning style and level of understanding.

The success of blended learning, however, is allegedly difficult

to define, according to several professionals and scholars. The

knowledge teachers have learned from training and seminars they

have attended always influences how the strategy is implemented.

For Blended Learning to succeed, teachers' willingness to adopt the

methods is still essential. Because technology is a supplement to

education, evaluating its effectiveness is difficult. In actuality, a lot of

Filipino educators are untrained and new to blended learning.

Therefore, it is crucial to teach students the differences between

face-to-face and online interactions so that professional

development is adequately boosted. One issue that frequently arises

in the Philippines is the fact that most professional development

activities must be content-based, practical, and followed up on after

being implemented in the workplace in order to be successful.

Therefore, Blended Learning can be implemented with the aid of a

diverse delivery method, instructional techniques, learning theories,

learning styles, and competences (Castelo, M.,2020).

In the K–12 curriculum, the lack of instructional materials is

still a widespread issue for schools across the entire archipelago. One

of the objectives of the new curriculum is also the DepEd's provision

of teaching resources to all teachers. Are DepEd prepared for the

new normal as a result? Are the resources and tools sufficient to

adopt a novel strategy? What are the department's plans for

combating this pandemic? These are the unanswered questions that

the general public has regarding the future of the educational

system.
 The country's educational system may be saved by the

adoption of blended learning, which has become the new norm as a

result of COVID 19. Teachers will find it simple, and children will love

studying throughout the pandemic, with the right planning and

policy in place to put the suggested method into practice. The

government must, however, supply the necessary facilities in order

to put the Blended Learning into action. However, if the government

is unable to afford to provide millions of pupils with the necessary

supplies. It is time for our educational system to change to a more

sophisticated approach given the advancement of technology. Thus,

with all the tools provided by Blended Learning, learners can excel in

skills other than traditional literacy. Another quality recognized is

intercultural awareness through worldwide ties. Additional, enough

supplies of tools and materials, Blended Learning-supportive lesson

designs, and input from instructors and students are also strongly

advised.
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Submitted By: KHERON LEA S. RAMOS Submitted To: REY CUIZON, PHD