DISTANCE learning in the region continues with the Department of Education (DepEd) tapping the more responsive strategy in teaching.
The mode of learning in public schools for this school year 2021-2022 will be more hybrid as compared to last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Getting more hybrid would mean more use of online and offline platforms through gadgets such as cell phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, TV sets, and radios.
DepEd 8 Information Officer Jazmin Calzeta said that last year, the region focused more on the modular form of learning.
She said DepEd had distributed sets of modules to students during the school year, and it was the main mode of learning of the 1,265,851 registered school children.
The education department is yet to complete its assessment on the learning method used during the height of the pandemic in place of a regular teaching process – face-to-face/classroom method.
Had the abnormal teaching method forced upon by the health pandemic been effective or not remains to be seen.
Hybrid learning mode
In a phone interview with Opinyon, Calzeta said DepEd will step up the use of online and offline platforms. For divisions with convenient access to existing broadcast outlets, radio and television-based instructions will be used.
Early on during this year’s enrolment phase, the students with their parents were made to choose what mode of learning they prefer more convenient and effective amidst the limits and constraints Covid-19 has forced upon the current system of learning now entering its second year.
With more and more students and parents preferring the conventional teaching method, Calzeta said the learning experience this time would no longer solely depend on printed modules.
“Other modalities will be used, whichever are workable to our learners.”
Workable modalities
It was learned that many parents have chosen “workable modalities” when they filled up the learner’s enrollment and survey form.
Calzeta said that alongside the printed self-learning modules DepEd will still distribute to students, they plan to complement it with other learning strategies to make learning delivery more effective.
It was learned that the modules available in schools have been converted into DepEd television episodes and radio-based lessons.
Calzeta said completed episodes have been on air over IBC 13, GMA7, Cignal, GSat, Grace TV, Solar, Planet Cable, Pacific Kabelnet, Mabuhay Pilipinas TV, and PCTA members, and the instructional materials are simultaneously played in radio counterparts.
Meanwhile, the government-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that in the previous school year, DepEd TV produced 1,107 video lessons in the first quarter and 320 in the second quarter, aligned with the most essential learning competencies.
Online mode
The online class will also be provided with computer and internet access.
Calzeta said all the teachers have been supplied with 34GB sim cards. The tool, she said, enables teachers to get internet access at all times. DepEd central office is the one paying the internet dues.
Lower number of enrollees
To date, the region listed 1,153,274 enrollees, or 91% of the total enrolment last year of 1,265,851.
Calzeta, however, said that the number of enrollees will pick up even higher than the last school year by the end of the enrolment extension set on Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, DepEd Eastern Visayas Regional Director Ma. Gemma Ledesma has thanked all education stakeholders for providing resources to ensure learners’ continuity amidst the pandemic.
“Education is a shared responsibility by our school, home, and community. Let us unite for our children to provide fair and quality education.”
The Eastern Visayas region has 4,178 public elementary and secondary schools, with 50,325 teachers assigned to six provinces and seven cities.