Bryan de Jesus
May 27, 2024
Cartoon by Clarence Ruiz Mercado/The Communiqué
For almost two months, students have endured scorching temperatures, with heat indices reaching an absurd value of 45°C in areas such as Virac, Catanduanes, Capiz, and numerous locations nationwide.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), heat index refers to how the heat feels or is perceived by the human body, taking into account factors like relative humidity and air temperature. At danger levels of 41°C to 51°C heat indices, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion are likely to occur, and continued exposure could also cause heat stroke.
But having weathered the sweltering heat, the chilling embrace of the oncoming typhoons approaches.
This month, PAGASA anticipates two tropical cyclones in the Philippines. Typhoon Aghon, the first cyclone of the year, has already arrived and begun to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility or PAR. Several areas in Eastern Luzon were placed under Signal No. 2, leading to another round of class suspensions due to heavy rainfall.
Soaring temperatures amidst the extreme El Niño conditions also compelled the nationwide suspension of face-to-face classes. The scorching heat rendered classrooms unsuitable for learning and posed significant health hazards to students.
This rapid shift from extreme heat to typhoons feels both sudden and jarring. As typhoons make successive landfalls in the country, the likelihood of a repeat scenario in the coming months looms large.
Classes were and will probably continue to be suspended or conducted using asynchronous methods to protect the health and safety of students, teachers, and non-teaching personnel.
However, this raises the question of the overall effectiveness of the asynchronous or online learning setup.
Behind Online Learning
Since the introduction of the asynchronous learning modality in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, many students have faced significant challenges: unstable internet connections in rural areas, an unregulated environment, a lack of interaction with teachers and classmates, and perpetuating complacency due to the lack of urgency and discipline to learn caused by these specific circumstances.
These are all common and observable issues at the surface level and can be argued to be somewhat solvable.
A student’s discipline is not always related to the environment in which they live. It can be conceded that it is the student’s choice at the end of the day to forego their academic activities and responsibilities in favor of common distractions at home.
The student’s academic integrity still lies within their conscience; they must be rational in every choice.
The online setup only allows them a little leeway for some of their less desirable choices in life. Even if these points are all true, and assuming that some students strive solely to learn, some of the more pressing issues related to the asynchronous modality cannot be denied.
One of the main issues regarding asynchronous learning that is often discussed is the unreliability of the Internet for many students.
Unequal access to internet connectivity and the technologies or gadgets students utilize exacerbate educational inequality. These technological gaps unintentionally leave financially disadvantaged students behind, widening the educational divide further.
Even if the government provides necessary gadgets to disadvantaged students, their usefulness remains uncertain due to persistent internet issues, and considering that this is a third-world country, it is not feasible to cater to the needs of every student.
With the lack of assistance from the government and the institution, the burden of providing a conducive learning environment now falls to the parents or guardians of the students. Younger students' parents may need to juggle work and household responsibilities to supervise their children at home, a task typically handled by teachers but now conducted behind the screen.
The absence of a teacher’s direct supervision may also create gaps in academic skills that the parents cannot fill due to work commitments or lack of teaching expertise. Additionally, financially disadvantaged parents or those struggling to balance multiple responsibilities may struggle to adequately support their children's learning.
Even the physical aspect of their location plays a part in the effectiveness of the asynchronous modality. Factors like noise, space, family dynamics, and geographical location can all impact students' ability to learn and engage with their studies.
Defenders of online learning may argue that using asynchronous modality is efficient and flexible. It may even be argued that it is the future of education.
Solid arguments are provided, such as the long-term benefits of integrating technology into a learning setup and the fact that virtual learning can be tailored to the individual’s needs and learning approach.
However, the most common theme among these arguments is that the asynchronous learning modality aligns more with the evolving demands of a globalized world. They are so focused on the big picture that they neglect the basics of how education works.
For education to work, there should be a mutual responsibility between the students and the teachers, but that connection is lost when a screen is placed between them. Human interaction is the most nuanced part of education. Human connections are what make learning.
Technically, when talking to a screen or a computer as a student, there is still a degree of interaction going on, but that in and of itself is not enough to make the students opt into the system right in front of them. They crave genuine human connection, which only traditional learning can provide.
Also, consider that the change to asynchronous is sudden and in the middle of a school year. The pandemic days are long gone; online classes only come sporadically, and students cannot simply adjust with a wave of a hand, unlike before, when entire academic years were conducted virtually.
Thinking Beyond Online Learning
At the end of the day, students are not mentally conditioned. Exams and activities may be passed and submitted, but that is not the end of an academic experience. Intimacy cannot be developed in the virtual world, and it is not the same after talking to an inanimate object.
Now that students have fresh experiences with traditional education and asynchronous learning, they can finally decide what is best for them. Despite how unique and innovative technology provides some education options, it can never substitute for the traditional setting.
Going back to the bottom line of this dilemma, the fast-changing climate is a paramount concern. The perceived effects of this extreme change in temperature on education cannot be understated, and it poses a risk to students and teachers alike.
It should be recognized that this issue does not exist in a vacuum. Many contributing factors still make it challenging to conduct face-to-face classes, but simply canceling classes is just a shallow and short-term response to this multifaceted climate change dilemma.
What happens next year? How about the year after that? Are we just going to condition the students to partake in this asynchronous modality because there is no clear solution?
Education and other related departments should prioritize thorough study and proactive measures to help the country and institutions address these challenges, including proper budget allocation for infrastructure improvement. Suspension of classes is just among band-aid solutions to a perennial issue. What's crucial are sustainable solutions that could address the root cause rather than causing additional problems.
It is clear that suspending face-to-face classes is ultimately for the student's well-being. However, disparities and access to asynchronous learning are real problems that should be addressed if they want to incorporate this type of modality.
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