Name: Mark Joshua M.

Eslana
Instructor:
Subject:

Our country, including the rest of the world, is going through challenging times where
lives are at stake and things are at a halt. In March 2020, everyone witnessed the
spread of the deadly coronavirus also known as "Covid-19." According to World Health
Organization (WHO), Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused
by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the Philippines, from January 3, 2020 up to November 26,
2021, there have been 2,829,618 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 47,875 deaths,
reported to WHO.

COVID-19 has rapidly affected our day-to-day life, businesses, disrupted world business
movements, and education. In a world plagued by a pandemic, students globally
struggle with financial support, maintaining a work-life balance, and many more.

It really isn’t that tough to identify the difference between traditional and "new normal"
learning because in terms of approach, both the mediums of education don’t have
major differences. However, at the time of quarantines and viral outbreaks, it would
seem that online learning is the only possible way to continue learning at a distance.
This, however, seems to hold on to a mistaken assumption. It should be emphasized
that online learning is just one mode of distance education.

Stories of students working at night, asking to be excused due to poor connection or

unavailability of a gadget, asking around for donations have been viral on our social
media accounts. Unfortunately, some of those struggling students have even resorted
to selling nude pictures or videos to support their online education. In other words,
online classes are very challenging. Aside from the country’s rate of poverty and the
poor internet connection, issues of financial and technological resources are the definite
factor that continues to make online classes difficult for the majority of Filipino learners.

Because no one has seen this coming, most educational institutions do not have their
online platforms, and if they have one, these platforms are often underdeveloped and
sometimes would crash multiple times a week. However, issues still arise because even
some of the teachers are not well-versed on these platforms- and it is not their fault,
therefore, they cannot also assist students who are having issues with online learning.

Lest we forget that a lot of students don’t have classroom-like settings to do the online
classes. Students residing in congested areas would need to shoulder the extra burden
of background noise that can discourage focus and, of course, learning. This new
normal of learning has challenged all of us. Our concern should be heard as a cry for
help and a call upon different sectors of our respective government and society. We
should not be viewed as a typical “ reklamador” but rather an expression of universal
burden felt by students amid the pandemic.