Remote learners need remediation, teachers say
When the teachers were asked over their remote learning experience: “Will the students need remediation?” - ninety percent answered yes, across all levels of basic education.
This is based on the research project, “Bridging the Gap in Remote Teaching and Learning,” conducted by the team of Dr. Celina P. Sarmiento, member of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The said endeavor, which is an NRCP-funded project, is a collaborative effort by the members of the Governmental, Educational and International Policies Division of NRCP and invited researchers.
The project sought the voices of 28,859 Department of Education (DepEd) teachers nationwide in a cross-sectional study, where most participants came from the regions outside of the national capital. The study highlights the teachers’ experiences and coping mechanisms in the learning environment brought about by the new normal; and the emergency assessment and instructional delivery mechanisms being implemented.
In the 9th NRCP KTOP Webinar titled “Emergency Remote Teaching Experiences brought by COVID-19” held on July 21, 2021, Sarmiento, the principal investigator of the study, pointed out that the immediate demand for remote teaching during the pandemic has directed teachers to hastily alter their practices. “Kahit sabihin po na na-move na natin yung klase from June to October, you know, but it still takes time to develop the skills needed to deliver remote teaching effectively,” Sarmiento explained. She added that remote learning assumes a certain level of student independence, something that was not really accounted for in the old normal.
Sarmiento mentioned that several remote learning spaces which were setup in place in various modalities to facilitate the teaching and learning process, such as full printed module, distance learning that is online, or in some cases TV-based, and radio-based learning. Their research found that over 90 percent of teachers in the study experienced
printed module scenario of remote learning, wherein modules are distributed to the students, and feedback come by way of learning or answer sheets. Other forms of remote modality all fall below forty percent, with TV-based and radio-based being among the least popular options.
Not surprisingly, over 70 percent of the teachers said that it was their first experience to teach remotely. And despite the availability of training on remote learning, which are often free and conducted virtually, a lot of teachers were able to attend to only one or two training. One possible cause for this low participation in training is the unavailability of internet connection, since most of the teachers are from the rural areas where connectivity is an issue. The research also finds that teachers had to spend their own personal money, from their meager salary, to spend for mobile data, laptop, or smartphones, in order to keep up with the demands of remote learning. Despite the gaps, though, over 60% of teachers feel hopeful, when asked over their level of confidence in a remote environment.
(Photo credits: Photo grabbed from DOST-NRCP KTOP webinar) Dr. Celina P. Sarmiento said that teachers are forced to pay more and endure slower or unstable internet because a better connection is not available in their location. Some teachers had to climb on the roof just to get a signal or get internet connection.
Essentially, their findings likewise shed light on students learning from the teachers’ perspective. Most teachers responded that students learn less (53.72% learning somewhat less and 37.47% learning much less) in the emergency remote teaching environment brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an alarming finding in consideration of the fact that even before the pandemic hit, the Philippines already lag behind other countries in international assessments. In fact, the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicates that Filipino students score ‘significantly lower’ than any other country that participated in Grade 4 Science and Math.
In connection to this, survey results imply that most students are not in a good condition to learn. Expectedly, 34.52% believes that majority of the students are having problems and 27.70% believe that most students are struggling; while only 28.92% thinks that students are doing well. Thus, to catch up with the learning losses, remediation is necessary to ensure that learners are able to achieve expected standards of quality.
Despite the challenges, the teachers took the COVID-19 pandemic as a learning opportunity. In fact, more than half of the respondents envision that the schools will be different and that practices developed in delivering education remotely will stay even if COVID-19 is of the picture.
Sarmiento reflected that similar to Filipino frontliners, the Filipino teachers put their welfare at risk to teach millions of Filipinos during the pandemic. Hence, the teachers need to be empowered by increasing their knowledge and expertise, and by providing
them with the materials and the technology they need, so that these do not have to be deducted from their salary.
The KTOP-COVID webinar series can also be viewed in the Facebook page Research Pod. (By Geraldine Bulaon-Ducusin, DOST-STII)
