Online Education- The Future?

The different crisis we are facing right now, pave the way we do certain things. It brings us to
unprecedented chapters or events of our lives that we are all need to adapt. Changing our behaviours
and paradigms can be difficult for most of us. However, change is inevitable. To live easier in a particular
place or situation, we must learn to embrace and adjust.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, our education system has been confronted of the
different challenges it brings. Our traditional school settings seem being put to an end. Teachers are now
doing task they have never ever imagined before, doing all of those even beyond their call of duty-
constantly beating the clock for untimely ‘deadlines.’

In order to carry on educating the learners, new set of skills must be learned quickly and
abandoned old ways of doing things. Face to face class is no longer possible, hopefully at least for now.
Then, to keep us get connected the internet plays an important role.

Learning online can be a powerful tool or avenue when used properly and cautiously.
Knowledge and information is all at our fingertips. Almost everything you and I need to know is readily
available with the internet. Practically, it will certainly change the way we teacher teach and the way
learners learn. As educators, we are now giving much more of our attention on how we can help to
facilitate learning in this new virtual world of learning.

However, we need to find the right balance. Migration of the learning environment inside this
box can be very fragile. Young learners are most likely prone to suffer from information overload and
the tendency to go on sites that they are not yet supposed to be or not should be. Once they are online,
they naturally incline themselves on the things that interest them which will only distort and divert their
full attention, causing superficial learning and may only lead to further confusion. In addition to that,
these young minds eventually tend not to be able to distinguish true or false information and even
worse, easily lead to believe on fake news. Being cautious on its implications must be considered.

On the other hand, not all learners can afford learning in a virtual set up, not all can have the
gadgets, and not all are tech-savvy. Good for those well off students that their parents could easily
provide them with all the convenience they need and even spend more money to have somebody to
assist or tutor them. It really breaks my heart knowing that some students cannot join in the same boat.

Why not provide them with options? Why not add more teachers as an alternative to
occasionally meet the needs of these less fortunate students who are actually in need of instructional
support. How can we fairly give them grades if we all try to put them in a situation in which a fish is
judge by its ability to climb a tree!

As a matter of fact, to truly help improve the teaching learning process, traditional or online, I
think it is now the right time that our schools must strongly consider the reality of student-teacher ratio.
No matter how smart technologies we have today, if we can’t even memorize the names and faces of
our students it won’t make a lot of difference. And how can we truly impact their lives if we cannot
spend sufficient time to really get to know them-their goals, strength and academic challenges. We
cannot make them successful if we simply dictate to them our own definition of success without taking
time hearing their unique voices.

On a final note, online education is quite essential yet let us not dare to put all our eggs in one
basket. Let us try to find other ways. Otherwise someday, students and teachers will send avatars to
their online classrooms, and inexplicably just be doing their own thing other than learning what they
supposed to learn.

RYAN L. PURISIMA
Teacher 1