Digital Education as a New Normal – How prepared are we as parents, teachers, students?

Reshaping Philippine education AGAIN considering that were just beginning to adapt K-12 is definitely a big question, seeking possible answers and effective solutions.

Not just both public and private institutions itself, but of course everyone involved is greatly affected – administration, principals, subject coordinators, teachers, students, and even parents are forced to adjust to the new normal, the fast-paced changes that the global pandemic brought to the planet.

But before we dig into digital education, here’s a quote from Mr. Arvin G. Derecho on his talk on Vibal’s ‘Teach at Home Webinar Series’ saying, “Ignorance of your own resources and what you could possibly do are not an excuse to stop and wait”. The context explains that coping up with the fall of the global economy is not a good reason to delay education, for there are various choices we could have to get through education (would be discussed later on in this article).

Homeschooling, unschooling, deschooling already existed globally, even in our country; but not everyone is welcome to adapt this kind of education. Thus, leading us to ignore and promote the existing practices – the reason why it tends to surprise us of the new paradigm shift of education.

To help us better understand those education practices, here are some studies and journals:

Parents who plan and teach without being asked to by the child are homeschoolers. Not only do parents learn from teaching their kids, the kids gradually build upon basic knowledge while learning how to learn independently.

Parents who teach only if the child asks to be taught something, to “teach herself” are unschoolers. Unschooling is trusting that your children are at least as clever and capable as you are.

SOURCE: (Unschooling or Homeschooling: What’s the Difference? By Gail S. Withrow)
[see: http://www.mhea.com/features/unschool.htm ]

Deschooling does not simply move the school to home—it rejects the school and its authoritarian nature completely. It aims at the full development of human beings who ‘own’ themselves… Many homeschooling families reject the school system yet maintain authoritarian family structures and in fact implement authoritarian pedagogical techniques with the home.

SOURCE: (Holding Tight to the Tail of a Shooting Star: An Autoethnography of Unschooling as Just Education. Purcell, William H. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2019. 27547537.)
[see: https://search.proquest.com/openview/59b95777d4097ad0243fd23148462449/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y ]

Here are some of the unschooling blogs, websites, and influencers in 2020 that might help you be guided:

• Tina Santiago Rodriguez     
  Filipino professional writer and editor who introduces home-schooling guide          
  Founder of the award-winning blog TrulyRichandBlessed.com     
  
  
  check out: https://blog.nationalbookstore.com/first-time-homeschooling-parents-guide-homeschooling-philippines/

• The Filipino Homeschoolers         
  [see: http://www.filipinohomeschooler.com/ ]                
  

• Living with Eve [watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axJVTbSx_q8 ]
  

More of the concept of learning digitally at home, the advantages of having these education practices are as follows:

1. Observing distance learning would provide safety and security against the global pandemic that would benefit students, parents, and teachers.
2. Students would enjoy self-paced and student-centered learning comfortably at home, guided by parents and regulated by teachers.
3. Exposure to new teaching-learning strategies and approaches, and new digital instructional materials that are an opportunity to timely cope up with the global advancements of education.                    

Facing reality, learning digitally at home also have disadvantages:

1. Teachers and students who have limited gadgets, computers as well as internet connection is to be expected, especially around rural and provincial areas.
2. Working parents would have a hard time monitoring their child’s progress.
3. Irresponsibility upon usage of gadgets and internet would tempt students; such as searching answers on Google or through social media groups, long hours exposure to gadgets, and the like scenarios.

Addressing these conflicts, here are some of the solutions that educational institutions look forward to:

• Aside from online education and online platforms, students and teachers can also rely on modular activities which include downloadable videos, images and pdf for lecture, and printable answer sheets.
• It would be a great help to invite parents to lend some time to monitor the progress of their children, once in a while.
• Organizing weekly and daily plans for tasks and realistic deadlines.
• Firming teachers and parent partnership in educating learners.

Ahead of the coming school year, the Department of Education and other private educational system spearheads online courses and trainings through webinars and online workshops. Crafted especially for educators and parents, these platforms serve as a guide to arm our upcoming new normal of education in the Philippines.

Now, to enclose our thoughts about preparedness, let’s try to think about these:

• What can you do as a teacher/coordinator?         
  Hone your teaching skills through training courses and webinars offered online for free.
  Apply your learnings and collaborate with your ideas that could be helpful and effective.  
  Start investing for gadgets and the internet that you could use for your online class.

• What can you do as parents?     
  Engage in free webinars online which discusses about your child’s online learning.
  Guided by the information acquired, you would be able to know reliable educational systems you could trust for your child’s online class.
  Start investing for gadgets and the internet that your child could use.
  Make sure you lend time to monitor your child’s progress.

• What can you do as a student? 
  Stay updated with educational trends.
  Familiarize yourself with reliable educational tools that might be of use for your online class.
  Communicate with your parents about deciding what educational system would be the most convenient and effective for your online class.