BLENDED LEARNING IN EDUCATION: THE NEW WAY TO GO AMIDST THE PANDEMIC

Rose Ann S. De Rama

There is no denying the fact that the COVID -19 has rapidly spread throughout the world and can be readily seen by the rapidly increasing number of cases reported every day. Those in the frontlines have not been spared. Even medical practitioners have their own share of mortalities forcing them to request a 14-day return to ECQ particularly in the Greater Manila area. As such, there is now a paradigm shift in all sectors of society. The education sector, for one, is among the most affected with sudden stoppages of classes with some schools in danger of permanent closure due to very limited enrolment. As we know full well, education is a basic right of every individual. It is not just a privilege given to a chosen few. For this reason, it is a must that education must continue. While President Duterte has said that the traditional method of face-to-face learning has to be discontinued to prevent widespread contagion of the virus, the good DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones has come up with the idea of online learning modalities so as not to disrupt the continuity of education. This will be done through the DepEd COMMONS, an online platform for Public School teachers to support distance learning modalities which will be crafted to continue the delivery of basic education to our children. DepEd COMMONS maybe the best way for education to go in these trying times, crafted by teachers with expertise on their field, it may not be complete or perfect and full of limitations. But the challenge of the times calls for it to be applied and tested, DepEd COMMONS was designed to solve problems arising from class suspensions and the like .It will give access to online review materials and Open Educational Resources (OERs) which will be used as alternative forms in their teaching learning process which is different from the usual face-to-face encounter. Of course, teachers will have additional workload because they can retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the content by blending it with a learning management system to deliver an effective distance learning modality. They are also encouraged to make their own OERs to manage and customize those that are already uploaded. In the end, teachers and student alike will only DEPED COMMONS to thank for because they have learned a new way to teach despite the tragedy that is COVID19. This will then become the NEW NORMAL or the true normal in education.