DESIGNING LESSONS IN DISTANCE LEARNING

The key components for designing lessons discussed in DepEd Order No. 42 and taken up in
Lesson 2 Activity 1, also apply when designing for other learning delivery modalities (LDMs),
such as distance learning (DL). To recall, these are:

1. Clearly articulated lesson objectives

2. Well-selected and logically sequenced presentation of learning resources and
activities to help learners meet the objectives
3. Appropriate and timely assessment activities that provide relevant information and
feedback for both teachers and learners

Course Design, Content, and Delivery

In particular, these three components should be clear, easy to find, and provide all the
information needed by the learner because the teacher is not always there to guide the
student at all times, especially when lessons are delivered via distance learning modality.

Lesson objectives should be clearly communicated. It provides the student direction, so that
they can go through the materials and activities with these goals in mind.

Instructional activities or learning tasks are the heart of the lesson. Consider the learner’s
characteristics (skills and needs), the learning materials and resources available, and the
sequencing of learning tasks in order to enable the learner to achieve the lesson objectives.

Formative assessment tasks embedded in the lesson can also be used by the teacher to modify
the lesson (e.g., reteach a concept, provide more examples, etc.) before the lesson ends.

Key Component 1: Gathering Lesson Objectives from MELCs

As a response to the pandemic, the Department has streamlined the K to 12 Basic Education
Curriculum into the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs). The MELCs are a
primary reference for teachers to decide on what to teach. Teachers are encouraged to
contextualize the MELCs in order to accommodate the varying contexts of teachers, learners,
learning environment, and support structures while also considering both the content and
performance standards.

Key Component 2: Choosing Learning Resources (LRs) and Learning Tasks

Once the target learning competencies have been identified from the MELCs and set as
lesson objectives, you now have to consider the available LRs and materials that you can use
to deliver instruction. The primary LR that shall be used is the self-learning modules (SLMs) in
print or digital format. The digital format of the SLMs shall be made available through the LR
Portal and DepEd Commons. The SLMs were developed following the Alternative Delivery
Mode LR Standards and are designed to provide ample time for mastery and sufficient
practice to ensure that the targeted MELCs are achieved.

Aside from the SLMs, other supplementary learning materials and resources can be used to
help you deliver the lessons. These include, but are not limited to, printed materials such as
textbooks and learner materials (LMs), leveled readers, teacher-made learning activity sheets
and other assessment materials, internet-based resources, MELCs-aligned teacher-made
audio or video resources, computer-based or phone-based activities, and educational TV
and/or radio broadcasts.

The choice of learning materials and resources will depend largely on what your learners can
access and use more comfortably, considering their ages and capabilities. It is recommended
that teachers present lessons in more than one format in order to address the diverse
learning profiles of learners when it comes to understanding and perceiving information.
Even learners who have synchronous online learning sessions with the teacher, for example,
can benefit from having offline versions of materials presented in the sessions that they can
review or access at their own pace and time.

Curated LRs available at the DepEd LRMDS Portal can be downloaded and made available
to learners as needed. It is important that the chosen materials are educationally sound,
thoroughly evaluated, and quality assured by teachers before they are presented to learners.

The LRMDS Educational Soundness General Evaluation Checklist found in the Guidelines
and Processes for LRMDS Assessment and Evaluation may be of help in selecting LRs to be
used or included in your lessons.

Once you have gathered the appropriate LRs and materials, you can now plan and sequence
different learning tasks or activities that will be undertaken by your learners to achieve the set
learning outcomes.

Consider the following guidelines when planning and sequencing learning tasks for your
lesson:
1. Design with your students’ learning profiles in mind. These include the student’s age
and grade level, access to technology and resources, capacity for independent study,
as well as his/her family’s capabilities, among other things.
2. Encourage active learning and student engagement in any modality. Consider
different ways to keep learners engaged throughout the lesson, such as chunking
lessons into smaller portions to help them stay focused. You can also provide flexible
options for taking in new information (via a variety of LRs), as well as flexible options
for presenting what they have learned (via a variety of formative assessment tasks).
Providing them options increases agency and motivation.
 3. Integrate the use of technology into different parts of a lesson to support the
attainment of the learning objectives. Various instructional strategies and methods
can be delivered using ICT equipment, peripherals, and applications. Teachers can
plan learning opportunities that allow learners to access, organize, and process
information; create and develop products; and communicate and collaborate with
others using ICTs.
4. Choose technology that is well-suited to the needs of the subject matter and the
students. When introducing new technologies, make sure support is provided for
learners to be familiar with their use before actual learning and assessment activities
take place.
5. Provide differentiated instruction — interesting, engaging, and challenging activities
— through on-level, above-level, and below-level tasks to various groups of learners.
This allows routes of access at varying levels so that every learner is appropriately
challenged and comes away with pivotal skills and understanding. Use of ICTs in
lessons is also one way of differentiating instruction.
6. Plan for and implement supportive tasks at each phase of the lesson. These include
making sure you have open communication channels with your learners so they can
clarify tasks before the lesson proper and so you can provide feedback and support
during the lesson; and administering evaluations and giving feedback after the lesson.
Support can also come from fellow learners in synchronous and asynchronous
learning sessions, as well as from their learning facilitator or household partner.

Key Component 3: Assessing Learning

Lesson plans should embody the unity of instruction and assessment. While planning
lessons, teachers need to be able to identify reliable ways to measure learners’
understanding. This means that you need to communicate to learners what they are expected
to learn; involve them in assessing their own learning at the beginning, during, and end of
every lesson and use data from their assessment to continually adjust instruction to ensure
attainment of learning outcomes.

Explore tasks and tools that enable you to monitor, assess, and facilitate your students’
learning, and at the same time enable your learners to reflect on what they have learned and
communicate their insights to you and their classmates. Consider various touch points such
as text messaging, voice calls, or face-to-face interaction (if possible and allowed) to monitor
learner progress and provide timely feedback on learning.

Learner’s assessments may be through portfolios that include learning outputs such as
written work, products, and performances evaluated using rubrics. Include the testimonies of
parents/guardians and learning facilitators regarding the learner’s progress. In DL, teachers
should allow learners to work on their outputs at their own time. They shall submit the
portfolio within the schedule that the teachers set.
References

DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016. Policy Guidelines on Daily Lesson Preparation for the K to 12 Basic Education
Program

Guidelines and Processes for LRMDS Assessment and Evaluation (2009). Retrieved from https://lrmds.deped.
gov.ph/docs/LRMDSGuidelines.pdf

Singapore Management University Center for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.). Lesson Planning | Centre for
Teaching Excellence. SMU. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://cte.smu.edu.sg/approach-teaching/
integrated-design/lesson-planning

Tan-Choi, A., Tinio, V. L., Castillo-Canales, D., Lim, C. P., Modesto, J. G., & Pouezevara, S. R. (2020).
Teacher’s guide for remote learning during school closures and beyond. Quezon City, Philippines:
Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development. Retrieved from https://
tpdatscalecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Teachers-Guide-for-Remote-Learning-FINAL-
April-2020.pdf