Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

To preserve inclusive opportunities and equal access to

quality education amidst this time of pandemic, leaving no one

behind, various modalities have been introduced to us as we’ve

settled for the new learning system proposed by the sectors of

education. The interference that this COVID-19 pandemic has made

caused a paradigm shift from our traditional face-to-face mode of

teaching and learning to these new existing modalities.

Since the Covid-19 has sprouted in existence, there had been

a lot of changes in various fields and industries. Education is

no exemption to that and instead, one of the most affected

sectors. According to the final report published by the National

Student Clearinghouse Research Center on fall attendance during

the COVID-19 pandemic, overall, college enrollments fell 2.5

percent this fall, according to the final figures. This is double

the rate of decline announced in the fall of 2019. This fall,

higher education lost almost 400,000 students. Meanwhile,

community college enrollment fell the most, and freshmen

enrollment fell 13.1 percent, roughly in line with the previous

estimate. Community college attendance is down 10.1 percent,

compared to 9.5 percent in the previous survey. Overall, public

colleges lost 4% of their attendance, which is alarming

considering that public schools recruit seven out of ten

students. This contains reports from the majority of the

country's educational institutions which clearly shows how

affected is the field of education by this crucial situation.

Apart from that, this pandemic also paved the way for the need of

educators to modify their ways of delivering education which then

has awakened questions and uncertainty with regards to its

possible effect on the learners.

According to an article by (Heap, T. 2017) students can have

more versatility when studying online. They can function to suit

their work schedule (and hobbies) with their coursework more

easily. This is especially true if a student is taking an

asynchronous class in which there would be no need of logging in

at a certain time for a live session but can learn and

communicate with the instructors and fellow classmates at their

own speed, for example, via the discussion forum. According to a

survey conducted by The Learning House (Heap T, 2017), 44 percent

of online students reported changes in their jobs standing, such

as securing a full-time job within 12 months of graduation, and

45 percent reported a salary rise. That concludes that a student

can gain more experiences, skills, knowledge, and an ability to

manage and balance his time once he has passed the course of his

class.
 However, contrary to the initial statement, studies say that

although there is an impressive growth and development of ICTs

and despite the falling prices of personal computers,

smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets, there is still a

significant disparity among students in terms of material

equipment and internet access. Furthermore, even though suitable

technologies are present and accessible, students may still lack

the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively use these

technologies to enhance their learning experiences. Students, in

particular, often fail to use different time-management,

presentation, word-processing, collaboration, and other types of

resources for personal learning purposes according to (Zounek, J.

and Sudický P. 2013). In addition to that, studies also says that

the student's ability to learn online is contingent on having

unrestricted Internet access. Online students can be unable to

chat, send assignments, or access study materials if technical

issues arise. As a result, the student can become frustrated,

perform poorly, and lose interest in learning.

The contradiction of the statements regarding the effect of

this pandemic to the education leads to the thought that the

place and the person itself is an important factor that can vary

what impact this alteration would cast. School reform is followed

by questions. That despite all of the recent studies commending

online education, scholars appear to be skeptical of its

feasibility. That supports the need of computer-assisted teaching

to be further researched. Cost-benefit study, user interface, and

student achievement are also being closely weighed when

determining if online instruction is a viable substitute for

classroom teaching. This decision-making process will almost

inevitably continue as technology progresses and students demand

better learning opportunities.

Provided the sudden shift in our educational system and

patterns with the way we deliver our teaching and learning at

this time, there is no defined certainty as to how efficient are

all these strategies we currently are using in trying to prevent

the quality education from being disrupted. There still is a need

to measure the ups and downs of this new form of learning through

various conventions in order to determine the impact of this

pandemic both on the educators’ teaching and the students’

learning. This study is purposed to give broad description of the

impact of COVID-19 pandemic to the learners across Northern Samar

and educators along with it.

A thorough study about our ways and strategies in teaching

and learning is definitely necessary. Apart from having been able

to determine the statistics of the learners learning and academic

performance, the educators as well will be provided enough

enlightening on how effective their ways and systems are. This

way, they will be able to see which ones are the strength of

their methods and which ones needs modification. More than the

knowledge it can give us, it could also be applied in the process

of providing the educational systems further modification in thee

purpose elevating its development and efficiency in providing the

learners the education they aspire to have.

 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

There also are numerous studies that have been conducted in

order to assess the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on outdoor air

quality around the world according to (Muhammad et al., 2020).

The large majority of these findings demonstrate that drastic

shutdowns in major cities lead to fewer and less varying amounts

of air pollution in the built environment (Gruener et al., 2020;

Zhao et al., 2020; Mahato et al., 2020; Sharma et al., 2020;

Mbandi et al., 2020). However, most of the findings are still

concerned with reducing outdoor levels and a relatively small

number of studies have evaluated the effect of lock-outs on

community response to urban emissions (Williams, 2020; Zhu et

al., 2020). This is notable since, due to infiltration of

contaminated air, susceptibility to outdoor air emissions happens

in non-outdoor microenvironments (MEs); for example, housing is

believed to dramatically change community exposures (Taylor et

al., 2014).

ONLINE LEARNING

According to (Wahab, A. 2020) in response to increasing

fears about the dissemination of COVID-19 and demands to suppress

the Corona Virus, a growing number of tertiary institutions

around the world have suspended face-to-face classes. The Corona

virus has shown new flaws in educational programs all over the

world. When we face uncertain futures, it is obvious that society

needs scalable and resilient education systems. For this

research, a meta-analysis approach was used, and relevant

literature was reviewed to catch the nature of ongoing learning

in these extraordinary times. According to the findings,

universities all over the world are increasingly embracing online

learning, also known as E-Learning. Aside from that, other

findings also show that staff readiness, trust, student

usability, and encouragement all play important roles in ICT

integrated learning. This exploratory paper suggests that staff

members use technology and technical gadgets to improve learning,

especially during these extraordinary times. The findings also

suggest that online and remote learning are necessary during

periods of lockdowns and social distancing caused by the COVID-19

pandemic. It also serves as a solid foundation for future study.

As a growing number of students pursue online education,

computer-assisted teaching is changing the pedagogical landscape.

Colleges and colleges are already touting the benefits of Web-

based education and are quickly introducing online courses to

meet the needs of students all over the world. “Increases in the

number of online courses offered by universities have been very

drastic over the last couple of years,” according to one report

(Lundberg et al., 2008). Statistics on Web-based education are

also being disseminated by think tanks. “In 2010, the Sloan

Consortium discovered a 17 percent rise in online students over

the previous year, outpacing the previous year's 12 percent

increase” (Keramidas, 2012).

Online education is not a modern phenomenon, contrary to

common opinion. The University of London launched the first

correspondence and distance learning educational programs in the

mid-1800s. Since this type of educational learning was reliant on

the postal service, it did not appear in the United States until

the late nineteenth century. The “Society to Encourage Home

Studies,” which is considered the first official correspondence

educational program, was established in Boston, Massachusetts in

1873. Since then, non-traditional learning has evolved into what

is now considered a more viable online learning option. Distance

learning courses have unquestionably improved in speed and

accessibility as a result of technological advancements; now

students all over the world can attend classes from the comfort

of their own homes.

The instructor normally manages classroom dynamics in

teacher-centered, or passive learning. Students listen, take

notes, and ask questions as the instructor teaches and remarks.

Students typically decide classroom dynamics in student-centered,

or active learning, as they independently evaluate content,

create questions, and ask the teacher for clarification. The

instructor, not the pupil, is listening, formulating, and

reacting in this situation (Salcedo, 2010).

Change in education is accompanied by questions. Despite all

of the recent studies praising online education, academics

continue to doubt its effectiveness. The usefulness of computer-

assisted instruction is still being studied. When deciding

whether online education is a suitable replacement for classroom

teaching, cost-benefit analysis, user experience, and student

success are now being carefully considered. As technology

advances and students seek improved learning opportunities, this

decision-making process will almost certainly continue.

So far, the “literature on the effectiveness of online

courses is extensive and divided” (Driscoll et al., 2012).

According to some reports, “online learners can leave more

easily” and “online learning will lack input for both students

and instructors” (Atchley et al., 2013). Student retention,

satisfaction, and performance can suffer as a result of these

flaws. Distance learning, like traditional teaching, has its

defenders who say that online education produces students who

perform as well as or better than their traditional classroom

counterparts (Westhuis et al., 2006).

To truly assess the medium produces better student

performance, the advantages and drawbacks of both instructional

modalities must be thoroughly fleshed out and analyzed. Both

modalities have been shown to be relatively accurate, but as

previously mentioned, the question is whether one is genuinely

superior to the other.

With technological innovation, students now expect to

be able to access high-quality programs from any location and at

any time. As a result of these demands, online education has

emerged as a viable and appealing choice for business

professionals, stay-at-home parents, and other similar groups.

Aside from versatility and accessibility, numerous other face

value advantages, such as curriculum selection and time

performance, have increased the appeal of distance learning

(Wladis et al., 2015).

ONLINE LEARNING AND TRADITIONAL LEARNING

For starters, prospective students want to be able to

get a good education without having to give up jobs, family time,

or travel money. Instead of being required to be in a specific

place at a specific time, online educational students can connect

with teachers, address peers, study materials, and complete

assignments from any Internet-accessible location (Richardson and

Swan, 2003). This form of versatility provides students with

much-needed autonomy and, as a result, helps to make the

educational experience more appealing. According to Lundberg et

al. (2008), “the student may choose to take an online course or a

full online-based degree program because online courses provide

more flexible study hours; for example, a student with a job may

attend the virtual class after working hours by watching

instructional film and streaming videos of lectures.”

Furthermore, more study time will lead to improved

class performance—more chapters read, higher-quality articles,

and more time for group projects. There have been few studies on

the relationship between study time and performance; however, it

is often assumed that the online student would use any extra time

to increase grades (Bigelow, 2009). Since grades are the only

performance measure used in this study, it is critical to note

the correlation between flexibility and student performance.

Second, online education provides more curriculum

options. Students who study in conventional classrooms are

required to take classes only at universities within a reasonable

driving distance or to relocate. Web-based education, on the

other hand, provides students with electronic access to a variety

of universities and course offerings (Salcedo, 2010). As a

result, students who were previously restricted to a few colleges

in their immediate vicinity can now reach many colleges around

the world from a single convenient venue.

Third, through online education, students who do not

normally engage in class can now express their thoughts and

concerns. Quieter students may feel more relaxed participating in

class conversation without being heard or judged because they are

not in a classroom environment. As a result, average class scores

can rise (Driscoll et al., 2012).

Classroom teaching, on the other hand, is a well-

established instructional medium in which teaching style and

structure have been perfected over centuries. Face-to-face

training has many advantages that online instruction does not

have (Xu and Jaggars, 2016).