Shift and Thrive - A Guide To Learning Modalities in The New Normal - Digital Copy W1

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SHIFT AND THRIVE
A G U IDE TO L E AR NING M ODALI TI ES
IN TH E N EW N O RM AL
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Ma. Rita Atienza
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Philippine Copyright 2022 RBSI Shift and Thrive: A Guide to Learning Modalities
by Rex Book Store, Inc. in the New Normal
2022 Edition
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Published, copyrighted, and distributed by Rex Book Store, Inc. (RBSI) with main office at 856 Nicanor Reyes Sr.
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Contents
Preface v
1 How Do We Plan This Transition Back
to Campus Strategically? 1
2 Choosing a Learning Delivery Model 11
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An Overview of Blended, Hybrid, and
Hyflex Learning 12
Pandemic Learning Delivery Models 18
Variants Needed! SA
Learning Delivery Models for the
Transition Back to Campus Phase
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3 Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:

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Transition Blended Learning Models 31
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Assumptions 32
Analyzing Curricular Implications Using
3 Content Questions + 1 More 33
Analyzing Pedagogical Implications Using
2 Doing Questions + 1 How 38
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4 Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:

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The Hyflex/Concurrent Model 40

Analyzing Curricular Implications Using
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3 CQ + 1 40
Analyzing Pedagogical Implications Using
2 DQ + 1 41
A Few Valuable Tips! 43
5 Putting It All Together 46

Conclusion 47
The Importance of Being Agile 49
References 50
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Preface
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The Philippines is one of only a handful of countries in the world where
the vast majority of students have been learning from home for more than two
whole school years. SA
In March 2020, educators in the Philippines scrambled and endured
countless challenges to come up with the Learning Continuity Plans (LCPs) for
their respective schools. They struggled to put in place the logistics, policies,
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procedures, and structures for these LCPs and worked hard to see the smooth
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and efficient implementation of these plans.

Despite enormous difficulties, school leaders and teachers—through
two school years—have somehow gotten used to these policies, procedures,
and practices under their LCPs. Some would even go so far as to say that they
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have settled into their daily routines and have started to feel some sense
of stability, as fragile as this may be. So when the Department of Education
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(DepEd) started to take measures in December 2021 to get the nation’s over
26 million students back to their campuses, it was natural for educators to feel
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all the anxiety and uncertainty come flooding back.

What You Can Expect to Find in This Primer
This basic primer hopes to provide school administrators and teachers
a guide in making decisions and drawing up a new set of plans to pivot back
to onsite, in-person instruction. This transition period will be a time of new
upheaval and uncertainty. It will be a “grand return” to campus in the sense
that it will involve making complex logistical plans and provisions in anticipation
of the various possible scenarios that may come up—or for the possibility of
something totally unforeseen. Schools will once again have to be agile and
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flexible, ready for any and all eventualities. In this primer, we will refer to this
transition period as the Transition Back to Campus Phase.
Ultimately, the details and other decisions for this transition need to
be made by each school for itself. There is too much at stake, so a one-size-
fits-all solution that will never adequately fit a specific school’s context is not
the way to go. This primer hopes to give you some starting points for critical
conversations with fellow educators in your schools that are critical to making
informed and strategic decisions. In this primer, you will find:
f important background knowledge
f some suggestions in the form of best practices culled from
available research
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f some cautionary notes about traps to avoid
f a lot of questions that must be answered
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This primer will also prescribe a general sequence of steps to follow to
draw up your plans to reopen your campuses more strategically.
Chapter 1 explains the importance of undertaking this planning process
systematically and strategically. It introduces a possible process to do this
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and then explains in greater detail the first two steps of the process, which
lay the groundwork for gaining more clarity regarding the assumptions and
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considerations that will affect decisions made regarding your school’s plans.
In Chapter 2, we will discuss the different learning delivery options that are
available, and we will start off this discussion by explaining the definitions
of these delivery options that will be used in this primer. In Chapters 3 and
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4, you will be in a position to start thinking about curricular and pedagogical

implications of the blended and hyflex learning delivery approaches. Chapter
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5 discusses some implementation strategies, keeping in mind that your school

must always remain agile.
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This primer will NOT give educators a definite and prescriptive set
of steps, for nobody has such a thing. We will draw from the best practices
that have been shared by schools—mostly from other countries that have
been able to return to campus or carry out some hybrid form of instruction.
However, these only provide the roughest guides because these best practices
will have to be contextualized to fit the Philippine scenario and each school’s
specific context.
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Chapter 1
How Do We Plan This Transition Back
to Campus Strategically?
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Before deciding on the learning modality or approach to be used by your
school for the transition phase back to campus, the school must first step back
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and make “big picture” plans for the move. “If you don’t have a plan, then you
are planning to fail.” This common saying is sage advice, especially for big and
consequential initiatives, such as orchestrating the return of all the members
of your school community safely and efficiently back to campus during very
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uncertain times.
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In March 2020, during the sudden pivot to emergency remote teaching,

educators were caught unaware and, with no time to come up with a plan,
ended up in a crisis management situation, dealing mostly with urgent matters
that continued to crop up daily. As things started to stabilize, school leaders
and teachers started to shift their attention from what was most urgent to
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what was most important, for example, how to engage students more fully or
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how to ensure teachers’ and students’ wellness.

As we move into this Transition Back to Campus Phase, however, many
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schools are actually back in the same situation as they were in March 2020,
panicking about how to comply with DepEd guidelines, how to find out the
trends in the vaccination status of their students, how to find out which
parents will allow their students to come to school, where and how to put hand
sanitizers, and so on. The planning process is typically triggered by hearing that
other schools have started to make their own plans. Decisions may be based
on what neighboring schools have decided to do.
Schools need to go about their planning in a more strategic manner.
Here is a general set of steps to follow in coming up with your Transition Back
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to Campus reopening plans. Notice that choosing the type of hybrid modality
to adopt is NOT the first step in the process. Many other considerations have
to be made before deciding on the appropriate learning delivery approach or
modality for your school.
Pause and Identify Explore learning

reflect on parameters Sound out the Finalize
delivery
lessons and approaches and stakeholders logistics and
learned. implications. implications. involved. other details.
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Figure 1. Steps in Creating Your Transition Back to Campus Plan
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Step 1. Pause to reflect on your experience as an educator (and/or as an
educational institution) during the past two years and what you have learned
about effective teaching during this time.
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Some of you might be saying, “Whoever heard about a set of steps, a

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process, that has barely begun and is already asking you to pause?!” or “Can
we not immediately get down to planning the details of this transition?”
We strongly recommend that you resist the temptation to do exactly this.
Remember that this transition phase that we are entering is actually the
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completion of one phase and the start of a new phase. As the phrase suggests,
we are in a time of transition. And it is critical at such forks in the road to
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carefully reflect on what to bring with you from one stage of the journey to the
next and what to leave behind.
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In a way, during the lockdown, we had to start from scratch, without

most of our normal procedures and ways of teaching, and we were forced to
bring with us into the new remote environment only those things that we
felt were truly important. Thus, we trimmed down to what mattered most ...
f curriculum (which DepEd aptly named the Most Essential Learning
Competencies [MELCs])
f schedule of class periods for those who went online
f grading requirements
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We also built a heightened awareness of ...
f student context
f the need to closely monitor where each student is and to help
each student cope
f each teacher’s responsibility to ensure student wellness and
wholeness
f new ways of engaging students
f new strategies of instruction and assessment in which students
have to be more involved in their own learning
Some of us have realized that certain pre-pandemic practices we left
behind may no longer be needed or advisable as we move forward. For
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example, let us not bring back . . .
f dumping an overwhelming amount of content on students, to the
point where the students are choking on all the information we
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are force-feeding them without allowing them time to chew and
digest this information
f the predominance of “one right answer” type of summative
assessment
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All these are things that we could consider adopting and strengthening
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in the Next Normal or things that we have left behind during the pandemic
that we may want to leave behind forever. All these are new insights about
what effective teaching consists of, which we gained during this lockdown
period. Some of these insights emerged from successful practices, and
some emerged from practices that failed dismally during emergency remote
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teaching.
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Neglecting to pause and reflect on lessons we learned during this

lockdown period may lead us to quickly slip back into pre-pandemic ways of
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teaching and learning, some of which we now know are not worth keeping.
Think about it—we blame the pandemic for a myriad of “ills in education”—
disengaged students, students’ lack of mastery and deeper understanding,
heavy workload, students’ stress and anxiety, problems with grading and
assessment, and so on.
We need to realize, however, that these were problems that already
existed even before learning from home. They were just hidden in plain
sight, meaning that if you were to peep into most classrooms, it would look
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like instruction was proceeding normally and effectively. During in-person
instruction, one could see the teachers “teaching,” even if many teachers
were actually merely transmitting information with some class discussion
sprinkled in. After transmitting this information, teachers and students would
then consider the content as successfully “covered.” Students’ disengagement
was hidden because they had to stay in their seats and listen—or pretend
to—until the bell rang. Students’ lack of comprehension was hidden because
some students were participating in the class discussions. Students “hid”
their anxiety and stress because, looking around, everything seemed to be
proceeding smoothly, which may have led them to believe they were the only
ones feeling this way. In emergency remote teaching, these “ills” were all
revealed.
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Let us NOT let these slip back into the school’s ways of teaching and
learning during the Transition Back to Campus Phase without first deciding
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which ones are worth keeping. If we don’t decide which ones to cut and which
ones to keep, these “ills” will slip back and get further entrenched in the way
we teach.
The world has changed. We, the educators, have changed. And our
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students have changed. Education has to change, too. As early as during the
Transition Back to Campus Phase, new ways of teaching and learning have to
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be put in place. You may never get another chance.

Your Own Reflection
What lessons have you learned about effective teaching during the
pandemic? Will you bring these with you to your school’s New Normal?
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Step 2. Identify your school’s non-negotiable underlying parameters

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governing the reopening of your campus.

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What non-negotiable parameters will serve as the principles underlying

the aims and nature of your transition? What principles will frame how you
will make the move? These are important to identify because they will help
you make the important decisions for the move. These will also be the general
criteria against which any formal evaluation of your plans can be made in the
future.
Many of these parameters will be based on your reflection in Step 1 on
what lessons you have learned about what constitutes effective teaching and
learning in your school in the past two years.
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To help you think through your school’s own set of parameters, here are
some common parameters or principles that schools have adopted. Remember
that your school community will be drawing up its own set of parameters.
1. The safety and wellness of all members of the school community
are paramount. All members of the school community must
practice empathy and compassion during this time.
2. The quality of education offered by the school, that is, the
achievement of the school’s vision, mission, and goals, as well
as the achievement of student learning outcomes, must be the
primary considerations in decision-making.
3. Steps must be taken to consult the members of the school
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community to the extent possible and to maintain transparency
and open lines of communication. All members of the school
community are expected to do their part for the success of the
4.
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school’s Transition Back to Campus Plan.
Plans must be drawn up in ways that keep the school agile, able to
efficiently move across modalities, depending on alert levels and
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other circumstances, and in compliance with local and national
government requirements.
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SAFETY AND ACHIEVEMENT OF

WELLNESS SCHOOL GOALS
AND LEARNING
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EMPATHY AND OUTCOMES

COMPASSION
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CONSULTATION
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FLEXIBILITY
OF AND AGILITY
STAKEHOLDERS
Figure 2. Parameters of the School’s Transition Back to Campus Plan: Some Examples
It is important for school administrators to identify the school’s non-

negotiable parameters in consultation with stakeholders so that all members
of the school community are aware of these and commit to these.
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After identifying these parameters, school leaders must then discuss the
implications of each of these principles on implementation. Let us explore
what some of the implications for the principles mentioned above might be.
Parameter: The safety and wellness of all members of the school
community are paramount. All members of the school community must
practice empathy and compassion during this time.
Implications:
Under this parameter, your school may decide that it will be a school
policy to retain as much of the school’s pandemic Learning Continuity
Plan as possible during the transition. This means less readjustment for
teachers, students, and parents, thus contributing to wellness. This also
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makes it easier for planning purposes because planning can focus on
how to modify the school’s current Learning Continuity Plan for the
transition phase instead of coming up with entirely new plans.

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The school may also make it a policy to explicitly designate
personnel to regularly mingle with students to ask how they are and to
require middle-level management to practice flexibility and compassion
in dealing with the teachers and staff under their supervision to the extent
possible. One implication, depending on school resources, is training
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of teachers and other staff on Psychological First Aid to supplement
Guidance Office support for students.
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Some schools may have a different set of implications for a

parameter such as this one. We must think about these carefully and
hold serious conversations involving key stakeholder groups to identify
the implications of each parameter depending on the school’s context.
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Examples of Implications
1. Retain as much of the school’s current Learning
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Continuity Plan as possible, moving into the

SAFETY AND Transition.
WELLNESS 2. Designate personnel to regularly mingle with
students to ask how they are.
3. Middle-level management should practice
EMPATHY AND compassion with faculty and staff under their
COMPASSION supervision to the extent possible.
4. Train teachers and other qualified staff on
Psychological First Aid to augment Guidance Office
support for students.
Figure 3. Possible Implications of “Safety and Wellness” and “Empathy and Compassion”
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Parameter: The quality of education offered by the school, that is,
the achievement of the school’s vision, mission, and goals, as well as the
achievement of student learning outcomes, must be the primary considerations
in decision-making.
Implications:
For schools to carry out this principle, one implication could be for
the schools to carry out a simplified curriculum mapping process to come
up with valuable information. To generate various types of important
information, this mapping process may include the following:
– for each subject and grade level, a checklist of required standards/
competencies per quarter
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– a map of each of the competencies actually covered every quarter
and the level of proficiency of each student on these competencies.
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This map will be helpful in identifying learning gaps, if any, of
students that need to be addressed as soon as possible. If many
students in the grade level have similar learning gaps, this can
indicate competencies that need to be revisited by the teachers in
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the subsequent grade level.
– an inventory of required standards and competencies that were
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removed due to time constraints or because circumstances would

not allow these (e.g., science laboratory or Physical Education [PE]
skills). Decisions can then be made about which of these need to
be added back to the curriculum. Content to be added back to the
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curriculum should be done very carefully and selectively.

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For schools that will eventually decide to go into hyflex learning,

an approach in which teachers will simultaneously teach a group of
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students in person and a group of students online, teachers need to be

given enough time to revise their units of instruction for hyflex learning.
Preparations should commence immediately, and a good percentage
of the summer in-service period should be devoted to pilot testing,
training, unit design, and so on. The school must also immediately look
into bandwidth and other technical issues related to the delivery of
instruction in hyflex mode.
Remember that these are only some examples of the implications
of making a commitment to offer quality education even during the
transition phase. The school’s context will determine which measures to
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put in place should the school choose this as one of its non-negotiable
parameters.
ACHIEVEMENT 1. Conduct a simplified curriculum mapping process to
generate important data to inform decisions about
OF curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
SCHOOL GOALS 2. Decide how to identify and address learning gaps, if
AND LEARNING any.
3. Give teachers enough time to prepare for the
OUTCOMES learning modalities the school will adopt for the
transition phase.
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Figure 4. Possible Implications of “Achievement of School Goals and Learning Outcomes”
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Parameter: Steps must be taken to consult the members of the school
community to the extent possible and to maintain transparency and open lines
of communication. All members of the school community are expected to do
their part for the success of the school’s Transition Back to Campus Plan.
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Implications:
Under this parameter, your school may decide that it will be a
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school policy to hold regular town hall meetings. Town hall meetings with
students, for example, can help the administration to remain responsive
to students’ needs and readiness. Perhaps students can even be asked
to come up with ideas for solutions to some problems. Frequent town
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halls with parents should be held, as well as regular faculty meetings to

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ask teachers how they are coping with the changes and how well the
Transition Back to Campus Plan, if at all, is working.
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Since both the school and the parents will have to make decisions
quickly and be resilient amidst changing health and other social contexts,
it is important for the school to forge strong home-school partnerships.
This need was downplayed before the pandemic, but both educators
and parents now realize that both have an important role to play, and
they must find ways to work together.
Adherence to this parameter may also imply that the alternative
channels of communication that were put in place between home
and school during remote emergency teaching should be maintained
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and even enhanced. Communication via email, online parent-teacher
consultations, and secure class social media groups that worked well
during the pandemic should be continued, in addition to the option of
in-person consultations or meetings or hard copy circulars and letters to
parents.
1. Hold regular town hall meetings with
students, parents, faculty and staff, and other
CONSULTATION stakeholders.
OF 2. Forge stronger home-school partnerships.
STAKEHOLDERS
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3. Maintain the alternative channels of
communication that were put in place during
emergency remote teaching.
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Figure 5. Possible Implications of “Consultation of Stakeholders”
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Parameter: Plans must be drawn up in ways that keep the school agile,
able to efficiently move across modalities, depending on alert levels and
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other circumstances, and in compliance with local and national government

requirements.
Implications:
One implication could be for schools to draw up two sets of
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classroom routines and protocols—one for remote modalities and

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another for in-person modalities. Students should know both sets

of protocols and routines so that they can easily shift to any learning
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approach, as dictated by current government alert levels.

Measures to easily identify and isolate persons who may have been
exposed to a student, teacher, or another individual who tests positive
for the virus should be put in place. By carefully arranging schedules
and venues, schools can keep a small group of the same students and
the same staff together in what is commonly referred to as a bubble or
pod. Restricting individuals to the bubbles they belong to will mean that
should someone in the bubble become sick, only the individuals in that
bubble need to shift to a remote modality.
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1. Draw up two sets of protocols and routines—
FLEXIBILITY one for remote learning modalities and
AND AGILITY another for in-person modalities.
2. Designate bubbles for easier management of
exposure to the virus of an individual in the
school community.
Figure 6. Possible Implications of “Flexibility and Agility”
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An Important Note

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You can see how starting with your parameters and identifying their
implications will better ensure that you first think about and lay down the most
important plans.
Note that you will need to keep going back to these implications and make
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necessary revisions as you start to flesh out the details of the rest of the plan. This
is a natural part of any design process. The design process is an iterative one, and
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the designers will need to tweak parts of the plan as they put in place more and
more pieces of the entire design.
Your Own Reflection

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For each of your school’s non-negotiable parameters, what implications

come to your mind? Which ones need to be acted on immediately?
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Steps 3 to 5
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Steps 1 and 2 are the important steps that lay the groundwork for the
process of drawing up your plans for transitioning back to campus. Steps 3 to 5
are as follows:
Step 3. Explore different options for learning delivery approaches and
their implications.
Step 4. Sound out the stakeholders involved.
Step 5. Finalize decisions involving logistics.
Steps 3 to 5 will be discussed in the subsequent chapters.
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Chapter 2
Choosing a Learning Delivery Model
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In the previous chapter, you have read about two important steps that
we recommend be undertaken by your school to properly lay the groundwork
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for coming up with an effective Transition Back to Campus Plan for your school.
The first step is to reflect on the lessons you have learned about effective
teaching during emergency remote learning. You have probably gained a lot of
insight about what practices and strategies work best for students and have
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identified which of these you want to bring with you into the transition phase
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and on to the New Normal or Next Possible. You have also identified some pre-
pandemic practices and strategies that you don’t want to return to.
The second step is to identify your school’s non-negotiable underlying
parameters governing the reopening of your campus. Having drawn up these
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parameters, you now have a framework within which you can innovate—as
long as you comply with these non-negotiable principles, you can innovate as
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much as you want!

The third step is to explore different options for learning delivery
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approaches and their implications. In this chapter, we begin by giving an

overview of hybrid and blended learning and discussing definitions and some
features of these two types of learning delivery models. Because the situation
the world finds itself in is so unique, educators have to modify these learning
delivery models to fit their contexts, so we will also discuss learning delivery
models that emerged during the pandemic and the ones that are emerging
during this transition period.
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THE NEXT
Pre-pandemic Pandemic Transition POSSIBLE
An Overview of Blended, Hybrid, and Hyflex Learning

We will start by clarifying the pre-pandemic definitions of basic terms
that we will be using in our discussion of these different options of learning
delivery approaches.
Why are we describing these definitions as pre-pandemic definitions?
Read on and we will explain why at the end of this section!
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Blended Learning
The International Bureau of Education of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (IBE-UNESCO, 2013) comprehensively
described blended learning as: SA
structured opportunities to learn which use more than one
teaching or training method, inside or outside the classroom,
through which at least part of the content is delivered online. This
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definition includes different learning or instructional methods
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(lecture, discussion, guided practice, reading, games, case study,

simulation), different delivery methods (face-to-face or computer
mediated), different scheduling (synchronous or asynchronous)
and different levels of guidance (individual, instructor or expert
led, or group/social learning). More commonly, blended learning
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refers to a combination of face-to-face teaching and technologies

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(Adapted from: Seel 2012). It involves changing traditional

schooling methods and organization by taking advantage of the
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new technologies (pp. 8–9).

One can see that this is a very general definition that covers any
“structured opportunity to learn” that uses both online and onsite teaching
methods. In this description, notice that there are many different aspects to
consider in planning for blended learning, including instructional methods,
delivery methods, scheduling, and levels of guidance. It is this enumeration
of these different aspects that makes the IBE-UNESCO (2013) definition very
useful.
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A widely cited definition of blended learning from Horn and Staker
(2014) is in agreement with UNESCO’s definition. Horn and Staker (2014, pp.
34–36) define it as:
. . . any formal education program in which a student learns:
1. at least in part through online learning, with some element
of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace;
2. at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location
away from home;
3. and the modalities along each student’s learning path within
a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated
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learning experience.
One must not overlook two important phrases in this definition. First,
“with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or
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pace” reminds us that one big affordance of technology is to allow greater
personalization of learning. For example, a teacher may assign students a
reading and because of the affordances of technology, he allows them the
choice of accessing this content via print, a video, a comic book version, etc.
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Note that it is giving the student some control or choice that makes this
a blended learning experience. If the teacher provides time during classroom
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instruction for the whole class to read some pages in the textbook and then,
after this time, asks the whole class to view a video on their tablets, this is not
blended learning because the students have no choice at all on how they learn.
According to Horn and Staker (p. 36), this is a “technology-rich classroom” but
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not a blended one because technology is not used “to serve each student the
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right level of content at each moment of instruction.”

The other important phrase is “connected to provide an integrated
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learning experience,” which means that onsite and online learning activities
must be well-integrated into one cohesive lesson, not just a series of disjointed
activities.
Hybrid Learning
In a report discussing the place and functions of distance, online, and
blended learning in the emerging world of digital learning, Skrypnyk et al.
(2015) speak of the varied terms currently in use (e.g., blended learning, mixed-
mode, hybrid, or online-supplemented learning), pointing out that “while
blended learning is perhaps the most commonly used phrase, essentially all
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these terms describe the merging of online technologies with f2f [face-to-face]
teaching” (p. 61).
Other authors, however, make distinctions between blended and
hybrid learning. Siegelman (2019, as cited in Singh et al., 2021, pp. 141–142)
explains that although blended learning and hybrid learning are often used
interchangeably, there is a difference. In a blended learning course, “online
resources are not used to substitute for in-person class time; rather, they are
intended to enhance and build upon the concept discussed in the classroom.”
He explains that in a hybrid learning course, online components do substitute
for in-person class time.
In hybrid learning, therefore, technology can be used to deliver
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instruction in ways that do not require students to be in the classroom for all
class days. Konopelko (2021) explains it very simply:
Hybrid learning is all about where students are sitting. In a
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hybrid model, there are some students in the classroom and some
students at home. This can work in a variety of ways — students
attending school on alternating days, synchronous classroom and
at-home learning, and more — but at its core it’s a model that
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defines where students are.
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Blended learning, conversely, is about the activities the

students are doing as part of their learning. It’s about educators
incorporating educational technology into their activities and
lesson plans.
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Table 1 describes the different types of learning delivery models

according to location of students, time considerations, and use of technology.
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Table 1. Types of Learning Delivery Models according to Location of Students, Time,

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and Use of Technology
Learning Delivery Approach/ Integration of Technology in

Location Time
Model Instruction
In-person Instruction
According to Technology is used onsite

Onsite school/class mostly as a substitute
schedules format for analog materials.
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Blended Learning Technology is used onsite to
give students more control
over their learning, engage
students, and allow them to
According to
make personal connections
Onsite school/class
to content, self-paced
schedules
assessment, etc. Technology
may also be used for
students’ assignments and
flipped learning.
Distance Learning (Modular) Asynchronous
(students’
Example: Alternative Learning
choice of
Systems
location, time,
and pace), with
Offsite or without Minimal use of technology
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periodic
teacher
interaction
and onsite
Online Learning
SA
assessments
Lessons are available on
a learning management
system or other online
Asynchronous (students’
learning platforms.
choice of location, time, and
Instructional and
R
pace) and/or Synchronous
communication technologies
(teacher holds a class via
also allow student-content,
videoconference)
FO
student-teacher, and
student-student interaction
and enhance engagement.
Hybrid Learning On some
days, all
students
Onsite days
T
in the
follow class Instruction is delivered using
class are
schedules. Blended Learning methods
O
onsite.
Offsite days are during onsite days and using
On other
according to Online Learning methods
days, all
students’ time during online days.
N
students
and pace.
in the
class are
online.
15
Hyflex Learning Also called CONCURRENT
TEACHING:
(Usually for Higher Education or
Non-formal Education) · Concurrently: The
teacher is in the
classroom and holds
class in person for
the students who
For each opt to attend onsite.
class day, The teacher is
students concurrently live (via
According to videoconferencing) to
can select
school/class students who opt to
to attend
schedules attend online.
onsite or
offsite/ · The teacher may give
online. asynchronous activities
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to students online.
· The teacher may also
opt to hold certain
classes fully online (in
SA synchronous mode
and/or asynchronous
mode).
Note. In the Philippines, alternative learning systems “are modular and flexible. This means that
learning can take place anytime and any place, depending on the convenience and availability of the
learners” (Department of Education, n.d.).
R
Hyflex Learning (Concurrent Teaching)

FO
Note that Table 1 also describes Hyflex Learning, a learning delivery

model in which onsite and online students concurrently undergo the same
instructional activities. Beatty (2022) defines hyflex courses as “multi-modal
courses which combine online and onground (classroom-based) students.”
T
Hyflex has been called a variety of names. It is also known as concurrent

O
teaching. In hyflex learning, the teacher can be teaching onsite students in

person in the classroom. Concurrently, some students are viewing the class live
N
and participating in the class via videoconferencing app or tool. The teacher
must be adept at delivering instruction so that both onsite and online students
undergo the same or very similar activities concurrently.
In addition, a key element of hyflex learning is giving students a choice in
how they participate in the course, which is the aspect to which the “flexible”
in HyFlex refers to.
16
In HyFlex courses, students can choose from one of three
participation paths:
1. Participate in face-to-face synchronous class sessions
in-person (in a classroom)
2. Participate in face-to-face class sessions via
videoconferencing . . .
3. Participate fully asynchronously [via the school’s
learning management system or learning platform]
A HyFlex class makes class meetings and materials available
so that students can access them online or in-person, during or
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after class sessions. All students, regardless of the path taken, will
achieve the same learning objectives (Columbia CTL, n.d.).
Beatty (2022) explains that “[o]ften the initial impetus for developing
SA
a Hybrid-Flexible approach is a very real need to serve both online and on-
ground students with a limited set of resources (time, faculty, space) which
leads to a multi-modal delivery solution.”
Why Are We Categorizing These as “Pre-Pandemic” Definitions?
R
Distance, blended, and/or online learning environments were designed
FO
as options for students in higher education or adult learners in continuing

education scenarios to pursue education even from a distance and at their
own time and pace. In the 1840s, Sir Isaac Pitman created the first distance
education course, and the different types of blended and online learning
have since evolved as technology evolved. In the 1990s, “online learning also
T
started gaining popularity, as students were able to complete their course

O
work asynchronously without coming to campus and being physically present

in the classroom” (Nortvig et al., 2018; Jones, 2019, as cited in Singh et al.,
N
2021, p. 145).
During the pandemic, however, distance, remote, blended, and online
learning environments were no longer just options or educational innovations.
All students—even the youngest students—were now forced to learn from
home under whatever arrangements the school could create that best fit the
circumstances they found themselves in. During the pandemic, the terms
remote learning, blended learning, and online learning were often loosely
used. The same terms were often used to refer to many different ways that
learning was being delivered. For all these variations, the key factors became
17
where, when, and how students were allowed to learn based on the state of
transmissibility and severity of the virus.
Your Own Reflection
Review the learning delivery approaches or models in Table 1. Which
ones were you able to use pre-pandemic, whether as a teacher or student?
How effective were they, in your opinion? What makes you say this?
THE NEXT
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Pandemic Learning Delivery Models
During the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, schools shifted to
various emergency remote teaching models. As educators were suddenly
SA
thrust into the whirlwind of figuring out how to ensure the continuity of
learning for their students, educators loosely used labels to describe the
unique conditions of learning in their schools, thus adding to the confusion.
“Online learning,” in most schools, meant delivering instruction fully in
R
an online learning environment with classes conducted synchronously or
asynchronously. Another school used the same label to refer to a learning
FO
modality in which students learn primarily from hard copy learning packets
and materials, which are sometimes supplemented by short videos made by
the teachers and posted on a private video-sharing channel.
In hindsight, we can identify all the learning models that were used
T
during the lockdown as remote emergency teaching.

O
Hodges et al. (2020) find it important to distinguish between online

learning and emergency remote teaching. They explain that “‘emergency
N
remote teaching’ has emerged as a common alternative term used by online

education researchers and professional practitioners to draw a clear contrast
with what many of us know as high-quality online education.” They fear that
the overnight pivot into online learning would result in hastily designed online
instruction by instructors who were not trained in online instructional design.
They also fear that this would further aggravate the common perception that
online learning is not of the same quality as in-person instruction.
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In the Philippines, emergency remote teaching consisted of both online
and analog/offline modalities. Table 2 describes the learning delivery models
that were used during the lockdown.
Table 2. Types of Emergency Remote Teaching in the Philippines (2020–2022)
Fully synchronous mode
Online Learning Mixed synchronous and asynchronous modes
Fully asynchronous mode with or without the teacher’s presence

in the form of pre-recorded videos, feedback, or coaching
Learning packets only, with minimal teacher presence and

interaction
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Offline Remote Learning
Learning packets with teacher support via TV/radio/social media
and with in-person consultation when needed
SA
Note. Offline remote learning models were also commonly described as “modular” delivery.
There was no In-person Instruction possible because all campuses were

closed. Blended Learning, the use of technology to enhance the attainment
of learning objectives in the in-person mode of learning, was not possible too
R
during the pandemic.
FO
Some schools went into Online Learning Mode, delivering instruction

synchronously (where teachers and students are interacting in real time),
asynchronously (where instruction is available to students at their own time,
space, and pace), or with a mix of synchronous and asynchronous modes.
T
Schools in which most of the students and teachers had inadequate

internet connectivity, access to gadgets, learning management systems or
O
online delivery platforms, and/or human resources opted for Offline Remote
Learning, often called Modular Learning. These schools delivered learning
N
packets to students, together with a Weekly Learning Plan. Where possible,

teacher support was provided in the form of TV/radio broadcasts of lessons
and/or teacher support via social media or in-person communication.
Your Own Reflection
What learning approach or model did you use during the pandemic?
What were the main benefits and challenges of this model?
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THE NEXT
READ Pre-pandemic Pandemic Transition POSSIBLE
CAREFULLY
Variants Needed!
(Not of the Virus but of the Learning Delivery Model for Your School)
This section is arguably one of the MOST IMPORTANT sections of
this primer. In the course of our work in helping several schools make their
Transition Back to Campus Plans, it has become very clear that each school has
to come up with its own learning delivery approach variant.
It is futile to expect to come up with the learning modality that is the best
fit for your school by learning about the different models in the literature and
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then “force-fitting” one of these for use in your school. We say this because
the existing pre-pandemic models are not intended for a situation that is as
complex, as rapidly evolving, and as replete with constraints as the one we find
ourselves in today. SA
In this primer, we take you through a thinking process that we hope
will be useful in guiding you to design “a variant” that is appropriate to your
R
school’s context. Keep in mind that the discussion from this point onward
largely represents possible scenarios that we are using as examples of how
FO
school leadership may identify key factors to consider in decision-making

and the thinking process involved in finalizing schools’ transition plans.
Here are some important reminders at this point:
f We strongly recommend that you do not worry about the names
T
or labels of the model you will eventually come up with for your
school. It will not matter whether you will adopt a blended, hybrid,
O
or hyflex approach since you are probably going to make so many

modifications to your approaches anyway. These learning delivery
N
models are still important but only as entry points and guides to
start off your thinking process.
f Think out of the box—as long as you adhere to the non-negotiable
parameters you identified in Chapter 1, as well as the critical factors
we will be explaining in this section. Some “variations” thought
of by schools have been so unique and tailored to their schools.
These were “variations” that made it easier for all the members of
the school community.
20
f Even if you contextualize this plan for your school, there will still
be trade-offs to be made. You will have to weigh the different
features and make difficult choices to let go of certain features in
favor of other more important ones. You will not be able to please
everyone nor satisfy all constraints.
Here is the design brief or design challenge for you!
DESIGN CHALLENGE: How do we reopen our campus to all students
in ways that comply with local and national safety regulations, provide
equitable access to quality education for all its students, and abide by
the non-negotiable parameters set by the school?
Basic Considerations:
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f classroom size – How many students can fit in the classrooms
following social distancing protocols of the government?
f class size – Given the number of students that can fit in the
SA
classroom at any given time, what is the best way to divide students
so that all students can be given the opportunity to experience in-
person instruction?
f physical infrastructure resources – Can the school grounds,
R
facilities, and/or equipment service the number of students that
can be on campus simultaneously, given the social distancing and
FO
other health protocols mandated by the local and/or national

government?
f human capacity resources – How many faculty and/or staff are
there to assist in the needs of the students on campus?
For example, one school had small classrooms with folding panel doors
T
between classrooms. With this unique physical feature in the classrooms, they
O
could open the doors, thus ending up with classrooms double the original size.
With this, they decided that instead of dividing each class into two shifts or
N
batches, they would schedule the in-person shift rotation according to section.
Sections 1 and 2 would come to school for two days in a week, and Sections
3 and 4 would come to school on the other two days. Since the whole section
was coming to school at the same time, this solved many potential challenges
of equity of learning experiences for all the students in one section.
The school also had enough human capacity resources to allow extra
teacher assistants to be assigned to the primary grades (e.g., to help in
cleaning used art supplies or bringing children to the bathroom so as to ensure
21
proper health protocols). This made it possible for the primary grades to come
to school using the same scheduling/shift rotation.
Imagine how many permutations and combinations there will be for
these factors! It is very probable, therefore, that the most appropriate modality
for one school will be very different from another school of the same student
population, in the same neighborhood, with the same type of student profile.
This is the general thinking process that the schools have to follow in coming
up with a variant of their very own. We will go into this in more detail in the
following sections of this chapter.
Your Own Reflection
f We are now ready to get down to the business of deciding on the
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details of a learning delivery approach that is best suited for your
school. What insights have you gained about this process? What
questions do you still have at this point?
f
SA
Describe the factors that will influence the type of learning
delivery approach that will be appropriate for your school. Start by
identifying your class size, classroom size(s), physical infrastructure
resources, and human capacity resources. What other factors
would you have to consider?
R
FO
THE NEXT
T
Learning Delivery Models for the Transition Back to Campus

Phase
O
Recall that unlike the pre-pandemic definition, hybrid learning during

N
this transition phase refers to a combination of in-person learning and remote

learning (whether this be online or offline/modular learning). This is because,
due to safety protocols required by the current prevalence of the virus, even
students and schools who do not have access to technology will still need
to work from home. In fact, a UNESCO-McKinsey’s (2020) report on hybrid
learning states that it “is of particular relevance during school partial reopening
and in preparation for potential virus resurgence.”
22
Konopelko (2021) recounts that “before the pandemic, hybrid learning
rarely existed in K–12 schools. It was a model primarily used in college classes,
and even there it was scarce.” Because this is the only way students can safely
and slowly return to campus, Basic Education schools are considering adopting
hybrid learning. Many schools are, in fact, considering adopting the hyflex
learning delivery approach for this transition phase.
Option 1: In-Person Instruction (for Schools with Small Student Populations)
Full reopening of campuses is not yet allowed for most schools since the
return of the full student population will not be compliant with DepEd safety
protocols for social distancing. However, schools with smaller populations can,
in effect, fully reopen if all students can be accommodated in the classrooms
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following these protocols.
Some schools with smaller populations can safely accommodate
the entire student population at the same time if all the students can be
SA
accommodated in morning and afternoon batches. In this way, all students
can be on campus daily. Instruction can proceed daily as in-person instruction
although scheduling constraints will require some school activities to be
scaled back (e.g., some club activities). In this case, teachers will repeat the
R
morning session’s lesson in the afternoon. Students will be given the same
daily assignments.
FO
Ideal for: Schools with small student populations, adequate physical

infrastructure and human resource capacity, and adequate classroom size
Pros:
T
f Student Well-Being: The sooner all students can return to campus,

the better it will be for their social-emotional well-being and even
O
for their physical well-being.

f Curriculum Coverage, Attainment of Learning Outcomes: The
N
daily school routine will make it more possible for students

to cover the required curriculum for each term. Furthermore,
teacher’s presence/coaching and other support systems in the
school make it more likely that students will attain the desired
learning outcomes.
Cons:
f Teacher Workload: It is tiring for teachers to repeat the lesson
twice every day. If the human resources of the school permits, one
set of teachers may handle one batch, and another set could teach
the other.
23
f Health and Safety: Depending on factors like classroom ventilation,
proper implementation of safety protocols throughout the school
day, and so on, the full return to campus may mean a greater risk
that members of the school community can contract the virus.
Members of the school community may feel like things are back
to normal and become complacent. Contact tracing may also be
more difficult should some staff or students contract the virus or
become exposed to someone with the virus.
Don’t Forget!
Flexibility and Agility: All members of the school community should
be fully aware of the protocols for remote learning should the need arise.
Mechanisms to transition to remote learning for one class or for the whole
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school should be in place.
Option 2: Transition Blended Learning – Online or Modular
SA
In DepEd Order No. 17, s. 2022, DepEd has identified Blended Learning
as the modality to be used by schools during the Transition. It has defined
Blended Learning as “a learning delivery that combines face-to-face with any
or a mix of online distance learning, modular distance learning, and TV/Radio-
R
based Instruction.”
Because social distancing requirements of DepEd safety protocols make it
FO
unlikely that all students can be accommodated in their classrooms at the same
time, schools will have to adopt a mix of onsite and remote instruction, with
one batch of students receiving instruction onsite and another batch receiving
instruction remotely. Thus, although this is being called Blended Learning by
T
DepEd, it fits the hybrid or hyflex learning delivery models described earlier in
this chapter.
O
To distinguish between the definition of blended learning before the

N
pandemic and the definition of Blended Learning in DepEd Order No. 17, s.
2022, we will refer to this mode of learning delivery as Transition Blended
Learning in this primer.
Since not all students can be accommodated at the same time, schools
must divide their students into batches or shifts. Batch size will be determined
by the number of students that can be accommodated at a time, in compliance
with social distancing regulations. Usually, this means that there will be two
batches of students in every class. When one batch is on campus (onsite),
the other batch is learning from home (offsite or remote). After a designated
amount of time, the two batches shift learning delivery modes. The students in
24
remote learning mode can be learning online or offline. In this primer, we will
call these learning modes Transition Blended Learning – Online and Transition
Blended Learning – Modular, respectively.
Because the students in one class and in one grade level will be split
into batches, the school must ensure that Beatty’s (2022) four pillars for hyflex
course design are adhered to. These are the four fundamental values that
provide a “solid and consistent foundation for courses and programs” (Beatty,
2022, p. 38). The four pillars are:
f Learners’ Choice – Learners must be able to choose their mode of
participation (e.g., onsite, online, remote modular mode, or fully
asynchronous mode).
LE
However, in this transition phase in the Philippine context,
we are dealing with learners at the elementary and secondary
levels, and we are employing this modality due to COVID-19
SA
restrictions. Thus, rather than saying that we are giving learners
a choice, it is more accurate to say that schools must have the
flexibility to accommodate various students’ cases. For example, if
a family member of the student is severely immunocompromised,
R
the child’s parents may opt not to allow the student to attend
onsite instruction for a few months.
FO
f Equivalency – Whatever learning delivery mode is chosen, learners

must be able to experience, to the extent possible, equivalent
learning activities (although there may be differences due to
the nature of the learning delivery mode being used) and have
equivalent opportunities to attain learning objectives.
T
f Reusability – Teachers must provide all learners with recordings,

O
handouts, notes, and other documentation of onsite class

discussions and activities, as well as documentation of outputs
N
generated by students online.

f Accessibility – Students must have access to the different modes
of learning delivery and must have the technology skills needed to
effectively use the platforms and tools involved in these different
modalities. All course materials and activities must also be
accessible for students in the different learning modalities.
25
Some Scheduling Options
Student batches can be assigned shorter (e.g., being onsite on alternate
days or every two days) or longer (e.g., being onsite on alternate weeks)
rotation schedules.
It is usually advantageous to have one “Learning from Home Day” every
week. Ideally, this can be held on a Monday or a Friday. On this day, learning is
done remotely. However, some types of activities may be done onsite:
f library research (with school approval)
f group projects (with school approval)
f formation activities (with school approval)
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f onsite consultations with teachers by appointment
f special assessments per class/level
f tutorials
f teacher preparation SA
Keep in mind that only certain activities will be allowed onsite on these
days, and there should be a limited number of people on campus. In this
way, an entire class or level may even be accommodated, for example, for a
R
quarterly exam, if this can be given in a large open-air covered court.
FO
Shorter rotation or shift schedules are those schedules in which

students come onsite twice or thrice a week. There may be other variations of
shorter rotation schedules. Coming thrice a week may entail coming to class
on a Saturday.
T
O
N
Figure 7. Example of a Shorter Rotation Schedule
Pro: Greater likelihood of equivalency of curriculum for both groups

Con: Depending on COVID-19 alert levels in the locality, this could mean
increased possibilities of exposure of learners to the virus since
this will necessitate both groups having to travel to and from
school several times a week.
26
Longer rotation or shift schedules are those schedules in which students
come onsite every other week or even every two weeks if new variants of the
virus again require a longer incubation period.
Week 1 Week 1 Week 2 Week 2

Monday–Thursday Friday Monday–Thursday Friday
Figure 8. Example of a Longer Rotation Schedule
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Pro: Students in the offsite group will be able to stay home for a longer
period of time, thus lessening their exposure during their offsite
SA
week. If any cases of COVID-19 are reported among students or
school personnel, less people would have been exposed to the
person who contracted the virus.
Con: There is less likelihood of equivalency of curriculum for both
R
groups since the offsite group will be learning on their own, with
less likelihood of interaction with teacher and peers, for an entire
FO
week. Longer rotation schedules are not recommended unless

mandated by COVID-19 alert levels.
Some Decision Points
T
f Weekly Schedule: Will the school designate one Learning from Home
Day per week? How will the school prioritize and schedule important
O
co-curricular, spiritual, formation, and other non-academic activities?

Decisions on the day’s and the week’s schedule will have to be decided
N
in compliance with government safety protocols, if any, on the length of

time school community members can be on campus to prevent possible
prolonged exposure to the virus.
f Daily Schedule: For both shorter and longer options, it is recommended
that students have shorter school days than pre-pandemic school days.
f Instruction: Both batches should ideally have a chance for in-person
instruction on important topics, especially abstract or technical topics.
Both batches should have in-person opportunities for deepening
understanding of key topics, for example, through whole-class
discussions and small group discussions with classmates. This means
27
that teachers must carefully design the units for every quarter, keeping
in mind the principles of equivalency, reusability, and accessibility. These
decisions will impact how much of the quarter’s content can be covered.
Curricular and instructional implications of batching or shifting will be
discussed in the next chapter.
f Safety:
– Safety Routines for Onsite Students: The school has to draw up
a clear set of safety protocols to be followed by all persons who
come to the campus. The school also has to draw up routines for
students to follow as they go about their work in class, have their
recess and/or lunch breaks, go to the bathroom, and play with
their classmates. Students who will now be on campus need to be
taught what these protocols are and these protocols need to be
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consistently but compassionately reinforced.
– School Bubbles: It may be possible for some schools to restrict
the interaction of school personnel, teachers, and students to a
smaller subset of the school population, known as school bubbles.
SA
These provide an additional protective health and safety measure.
Designating bubbles will make it easier for the school to contain
exposure to any individual who may have been exposed to or
contracted COVID-19. In this case, only the people in this bubble
will have to be isolated, shifting to remote learning mode instead
R
of having the entire campus shift back to remote learning. This
may need to be implemented at the Kindergarten and Primary
FO
levels since the children in these levels may not have completed
their vaccinations yet and are also the most likely to be careless
with mask wearing and social distancing. This may not be feasible
to implement with very big schools.
– Other Safety Considerations: Safety protocols, as mandated by
T
the government, need to be in place in each school. Are there any

O
other safety considerations that need to be taken into account

based on the shifting schedule chosen by the school? For example,
who will be allowed on campus during the designated Learning
N
from Home Day (e.g., athletes from another school), and what
safety protocols must be in place for this?
f Agility: How will the school ensure that one class, one group of students,
or the entire school are able to quickly shift back to fully online or remote
learning mode, should the situation warrant it?
Your Own Reflection
f Given the factors that need to be considered for your school’s
particular context, would the Transition Blended Learning – Online
or Modular Approach be a good starting point for drawing up your
school’s “variant”? Why or why not?
28
f If so, what rotation schedules would be appropriate for your
school’s context? How would you ensure fidelity to Beatty’s (2022)
four pillars?
Option 3: Transition Blended Learning – Hyflex/Concurrent
To more effectively ensure the smooth flow of the course throughout
the quarter, schools may also wish to consider Hyflex Learning or Concurrent
Teaching. In this case, the scheduling options listed under Option 2 still apply,
that is, students may be grouped into shorter (every day or two days) or longer
(every week) rotation/shift schedules.
The difference between Option 2 and Option 3 lies in the way the
course and instruction will be organized and delivered. In the Hyflex Learning
or Concurrent Teaching Model, as explained at the start of this chapter,
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the teacher conducts the lesson with the onsite batch participating in the
classroom, while the online batch is attending and participating concurrently
via videoconferencing. Instructional considerations for this learning delivery
model will be discussed in Chapter 3.
SA
Figure 9 illustrates how such a setup might take place. Because of the
technical requirements and solid Wi-Fi connectivity needed for such a setup,
not all schools may be able to easily adopt this setup.
R
FO
T
O
Figure 9. Hyflex Learning (Concurrent Teaching) Classroom Setup

N
Ideal for: Schools with strong Wi-Fi connectivity, provision for all students
to access learning management systems or learning delivery platforms, and
adequate human resource capacity to support online learning. Teachers and
students must have access to a good internet connection at home, devices,
and suites of online tools for teaching and learning.
Pros:
f All students will have real-time/synchronous access to the
teacher’s lesson as planned for the day. Even those students who
are online can immediately raise questions and participate in class
discussions.
29
f The teacher, too, can interact with all his/her students immediately
and have a better grasp of each student’s progress toward the
learning objectives than with the Transitional Blended Learning
(Online or Modular) modes.
f All the students of one class can interact with their classmates and
will no longer have to restrict their interaction with the students in
their designated batch.
Cons:
f The technical requirements to effectively conduct hyflex learning
classes are complicated. Schools will likely need a solid broadband
connection and other equipment that may entail extra expenses.
Schools will also likely need personnel who can provide technical
support.
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f Teachers need to be trained to carry out hyflex classes. They will
also need to devote a lot of time, probably the entire summer
in-service period, to design and prepare their units for hyflex
instruction.
SA
Over the past few months, educators have found it very difficult to
conceptualize what learning delivery models they might adopt during this
transition period because so many factors remain unknown, especially the
infectiousness of the new COVID-19 variants and the severity of the illness
R
that they could cause. For example, this would have implications on whether
or not safety protocols would have to become even more stringent. This, in
FO
turn, would impact safety protocols for school reopening.

The requirements stipulated in DepEd-DOH Joint Memorandum Circular
001, s. 2021 and DO 017, s. 2022 provide schools with a comprehensive guide
as to important aspects of the transition phase to put in place to ensure that
learning continues even as we slowly migrate back to campus. This has also
T
given us a clearer idea of the different aspects of this migration that a school’s
Transition Back to Campus Plan will need to cover. It has helped narrow down
O
the options for learning delivery models to just three main ones, which we
discussed in this chapter. In the next chapter, we will discuss some curricular
and pedagogical implications of Option 2 and Option 3.
N
Your Own Reflection

f Given the factors that need to be considered for your school’s
particular context, would the Transition Blended Learning – Hyflex/
Concurrent Approach be a good starting point for drawing up your
school’s “variant”? Why or why not?
f If so, what rotation schedules would be appropriate for your
school’s context? How would you ensure fidelity to Beatty’s (2022)
four pillars?
30
Chapter 3
Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:
Transition Blended Learning Models
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In the previous chapter, we discussed the different options for learning
delivery approaches and their implications. We proposed three Learning
SA
Delivery Models for the Transition Back to Campus Phase.
Option 1, In-Person Instruction, is possible for schools with small student
populations if all the students can be accommodated for onsite instruction
daily, following DepEd safety protocols, with or without rotating the students
R
in shifts. Option 2, Transition Blended Learning (Online or Modular), provides
FO
a way for most schools to comply with social distancing requirements. This
means that the students can only come to campus in batches or shifts on
designated days. While one shift is learning onsite, the other shift is learning
remotely, online or offline. In Option 3, the Hyflex/Concurrent Model, the
teacher delivers the lesson to the students onsite, and the online students can
T
participate in the lesson concurrently via videoconferencing.

O
As discussed in Chapter 2, each option has its own pros and cons. For
each option, the school will have to make decisions about weekly and daily
N
schedules, instruction, safety, and agility.

We will now move into the next step in our Transition Back to Campus
planning process. In Step 3, we will explore the different learning delivery
approaches and their implications.
In this chapter, we will discuss curricular and instructional implications
of the Transition Blended Learning Model, particularly the implications of the
different rotation schedules and the batching and scheduling options your
school is considering.
31
Assumptions
Keep in mind as we discuss some curricular and pedagogical implications
for the different learning modalities in this chapter that we are assuming that
your school has already made some tentative decisions or at least has some
ideas about the following:
f which options seem to be the most suited to your school’s context
f how you will divide your students into batches, and what rotation
or shift schedules you will follow
f the daily and weekly schedule of classes
Recall that we pointed out in the previous chapter that it is likely that
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your school will have to contextualize the learning modality that you will
adopt for the transition phase based on your school’s class size, classroom size,
physical infrastructure resources, human capacity resources, and/or other key
features.
SA
Based on your decisions about these, we are also assuming that you
have started to think about what arrangements you need to make regarding:
f staffing implications
R
f facilities, equipment, and materials needed (e.g., technology,
broadband, etc.)
FO
f traffic management, especially when students are brought to

school and during dismissal
f where and how students and school personnel will take their lunch
and snacks, including canteen services and canteen personnel
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logistics
O
f transportation services for students and staff, if any

f school offices and personnel
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f compliance with safety protocols

f medical protocols
Your Own Reflection
If you have not yet discussed these in your school, you may wish to pause
here and just get started on some of these conversations. Remember that these
will just be initial ideas, but it is important for you to begin to narrow down your
choices as we move forward and start to discuss these plans in more detail.
You may use the list above to start these conversations. You may tick any
of the points above that you have already discussed in your school.
32
Analyzing Curricular Implications Using 3 Content Questions + 1 More
Having thought about batching and scheduling options in Chapter 2,
you are likely leaning toward one scheme for your school. It is critical to think
about how this scheme will influence the school curriculum and classroom
instruction. Thinking about this will help you to test the soundness and
feasibility of your favored option or tentative decision, as well as to further
concretize the structures, policies, practices, and other logistical arrangements
related to the scheme you have in mind.
In this chapter, we will discuss curricular and instructional implications
for Transition Blended Learning.
Note that there are so many variations possible for each level, each
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subject area, and even each topic. For example, equivalency issues will crop
up if you use longer rotation schedules for very young students. There may
also be equivalency issues for subjects that have technical material that may
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be easier to understand if the students see the teacher think through the
solutions aloud as he or she works on them on the board. This can also be
true for specific topics in certain subjects. It is not possible to come up with
a comprehensive description of the myriad of possible implications of your
R
choice of batching and scheduling options on your curriculum.
FO
Instead, in this primer, we will take you through the thinking process that
allows you to reflect on and analyze these curricular implications. The thinking
process for this can be boiled down into a “formula” we will call 3 Content
Questions (CQ) + 1 More, referring to 3 questions about the daily lessons and
T
the unit and then 1 more question about the content coverage for the entire
quarter.
O
So as to keep our questions short for easier recall, we will label our
students as “onsite students,” referring to the students who are attending
N
in-person instruction on campus on a particular day, and “remote students,”

referring to students who are learning from home on a particular day, whether
online or offline.
The 3 + 1 Content Questions are:
What are the onsite students taking up?
What are the remote students taking up?
Will it allow all students to successfully achieve the unit objectives?
What content will be completed for the quarter?
33
Trying Out “3 CQ + 1 Analysis”
Let us try the 3 Content Questions + 1 on Option 2 (Transition Blended
Learning – Online or Modular). Keep in mind that there are many other ways
this thinking process can be played out. It is best that your school leaders and
teachers go through the 3 CQ + 1 together. The thinking process described
here is just one example of a trajectory for 3 CQ + 1.
The first step is to answer Questions 1 and 2 by using a 3 CQ + 1 matrix.
Table 3 shows a matrix of the timetable for the delivery of a hypothetical Math
unit, Unit 1 of Quarter 1. In this example, Math classes are offered every day.
Unit 1 has been assigned to cover seven class days, including completion of the
Performance Task.
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The rotation schedule in this school is:
Batch A – Monday–Tuesday onsite, Wednesday–Thursday remote,
Friday remote
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Batch B – Monday–Tuesday remote, Wednesday–Thursday onsite,
Friday remote
R
Table 3. A Sample Timetable for a Hypothetical Unit 1 of Quarter 1
Subject: Math Quarter: 1st Quarter

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Unit: 1 Class Schedule: Daily (M–F)

Number of Meetings of Unit: 7 meetings
Student
M T W Th F M T W Th F
Location
T
Batch Batch Batch Batch - Batch Batch Batch Batch -

A A B B A A B B
O
Onsite
Unit 1, Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 6 Day 7 Unit 2, Day 2
Day 1 Day 1
N
Remote Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch Batch
B B A A A and B B A A A and
(Remote
Batch B Batch
students Unit 1, Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 6 Day 7 Unit 2, Day 2
B
are Day 1 Days 5 Day 1
learning and 6, Day 3
from remote
home ON activities
THEIR
OWN.)
34
Question 1: What are the onsite students taking up?
In this scheme, the teacher delivers the daily lessons of the unit to onsite
students without any regard for which batch of students is present.
Monday and Tuesday:
f Batch A happens to be onsite.
f The teacher delivers the lessons for Day 1 (Monday) and Day 2
(Tuesday) to Batch A.
Wednesday and Thursday:
f Batch B is now onsite. Even if the teacher has a new batch of
students in the classroom, the teacher just proceeds to deliver the
lessons for Day 3 and Day 4.
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f For Batch B, it is almost like entering a theater in the middle of a
movie. You just have to somehow catch up with the story. Even
if the learning packets or the online materials are written very
f
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clearly, Batch B students may still not understand them perfectly.
Does the teacher want instead to start Day 3 with a short review of
Days 1 and 2? Will there be enough time to address any questions,
points of confusion, or misconceptions of the Batch B students?
R
Question 2: What are the remote students taking up?
FO
Monday and Tuesday:

f Batch B students are working on the packets or online lessons for
Days 1 and 2 on their own. Since this is the start of a new unit, it is
possible that Batch B students may not be able to understand the
lessons very well.
T
Wednesday and Thursday:

O
f Batch A students are now learning remotely. They will now be

working on the packets or online lessons for Days 3 and 4 on their
N
own.
Here are a few more thoughts related to Questions 1 and 2.
f On Day 5 (Friday), all the students will be learning remotely. Are
they in a position to tackle the same material, given the difference
in their learning experiences on Days 1 to 4?
f On Days 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday of the following week), as
the unit is winding down and the students start their Performance
Tasks, what will the onsite students do and what will the remote
students do?
35
Try to track how Unit 2 will go, continuing where Unit 1 left off (that is,
Unit 2 will start on a Wednesday and will start with Batch B onsite). Assume
that Unit 2 is a longer unit (e.g., 10 days). Assume that Days 4 to 6 of Unit
2 tackle very complicated technical material. Think about your answers to
Questions 1 and 2 for this Unit 2.
Question 3: Will it allow all students to successfully achieve the unit
objectives?
You must have noticed that this scheme goes against many of the key
practices of effective teaching that guide most teachers.
f At its most basic, one cannot expect learning outcomes to be
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achieved effectively if a lesson designed for a single audience is
delivered to a batch of students in the first half and to another set
of students in the second half.
f SA
Furthermore, all the teachers know that teachers need to
frequently check for student understanding and make numerous
adjustments to instruction so that each student can reach the
R
learning objectives of the unit. The batching and scheduling
scheme in this example does not lend itself to this.
FO
f This scheme will also likely not meet the equivalence and access
pillars of Beatty (2022) that we talked about in the previous
chapters. Clearly, Batch A students are more likely to achieve
the learning objectives of the unit. They start and end the unit in
T
person with the teacher and have time for independent practice
O
and/or deepening in the middle of the unit. Batch B students, on

the other hand, start and end the unit learning on their own.
N
+ 1 More: What content will be completed for the quarter?

For this scheme, it seems that there may be enough time to cover the
required content for the quarter because the teacher is proceeding with the
unit regardless of which batch of students is onsite and without regard for
whether or not the students understand the content. This is especially true on
Days 3 and 4, when Batch B will be attending Days 3 and 4 of the class without
the teacher knowing how well they understood Days 1 and 2.
36
Insights and Conclusions
If you were analyzing the feasibility and soundness of this scheme, what
would some insights and conclusions now be after going through the 3 CQ
+ 1 thinking process? You may decide that this scheme is not feasible nor
sound after all. What could also happen is that you can make this scheme work
for you with a few adjustments to account for any weaknesses or flaws you
spotted in the analysis.
Remember!
f There are so many possible variations that schools can adopt that will
be more appropriate to their contexts. Schools have been very creative
in coming up with out-of-the-box variations that meet their constraints.
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The sample scenario described above is only to help you become more
aware of how you may think through the various options possible.
f Whatever scheme your school decides to adopt, there are trade-offs
SA
that will have to be made. Notice that in the scheme described in Table
3, the scheme is simple and entails relatively less work on the part of the
teacher. It allows the teacher to cover a substantial part of the required
content for the quarter. However, this scheme is much less likely to lead
to student understanding and does not allow for equitable opportunities
R
for batches to achieve the objectives of the unit. If you carry out this
same thinking process to analyze the curricular implications for a longer
FO
rotation schedule, you will notice that a longer rotation schedule “fixes”
the equivalency issue but makes the unit more complicated for teachers
to design and deliver. Completion of the quarter’s content may also be
compromised.
f There will be no perfect solution because the crisis the world currently
T
faces has resulted in the imposition of so many limitations on the way we

live and work. The final decision to be made by the school can be guided
O
by returning to the parameters that the school decided on in Chapter 1,

as well as Beatty’s (2022) four pillars of hyflex course design.
N
Your Own Reflection

Have a conversation with a fellow administrator(s) or teacher(s) about
what modifications you could make to the learning modality your school is
currently thinking of adopting based on the curricular implications that you
have realized using the 3 CQ + 1 thinking process.
37
But wait! There’s more to think about.
Analyzing Pedagogical Implications Using 2 Doing Questions + 1 How

The next step is to zoom in on how instruction will be carried out for the
day. Please note that it is not necessary to do this in detail at this point in
time. Once again, at this point, you are only doing this exercise to give you
an idea of the feasibility and soundness of the option you are leaning toward
before you make a final decision. Teachers should not plan this in detail at this
time since a final decision has not been made. It is important, however, to start
thinking about this and to keep this at the back of your mind as your plans start
to crystallize.
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Do a mental scan of the unit and think about the types of lessons that a
typical unit for your subject area and grade level might consist of. For example,
a common lesson format for a classroom lesson in Science may use the 5
SA
Es: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Teachers may have a
different format for a Science laboratory class. What summative assessments
will be done for the unit? What other activities might take place?
The “formula” we will use now is a 2 Doing Questions + 1 How (2 DQ +
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1) “formula.” For these different types of activities, ask yourself:
What are the onsite students doing?
FO
What are the remote students doing?

How will they do it?
To answer the first question, picture the teacher and the onsite students
T
in the classroom. Let us say, for example, that a teacher’s Explore activities
O
are usually group work activities in which the teacher gives students a mini-
investigation.
N
What are the onsite students doing? This mini-investigation in small

groups can easily take place in the classroom, with the teacher providing some
of the materials and the students working in small groups by arranging their
desks next to each other. The teacher can also go around to check on what
they are doing.
But how will the remote students do this? Can the teacher give them an
equivalent activity that will still lead to the achievement of the day’s learning
targets? Are the insights they will gain from their group mates going to be
critical for this activity? If so, this activity may be best done onsite and could
be postponed to a day when it is their turn to go onsite.
38
For the third question, “How will they do it?” you will need to think
about the details of what the onsite and the remote batches will be doing. For
example, how will the following take place?
f teacher-student guidance and interaction
f student-student collaboration
f checking for understanding and teacher decisions about how
to modify instruction based on the results of the checks for
understanding
f feedback about students’ work
f access to materials
Please consider .. .
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Think carefully about the types of class activities that are most effective
when done onsite (e.g., direct instruction on technical and abstract material,
SA
checking up on student understanding at critical points in the unit, lessons
that require demonstrations by the teacher, important collaborative work for
deepening of understanding, team sports, musical numbers, etc.) and try to
ensure that all students are able to do these onsite.
R
Remember that you are thinking this through for only one subject area.
When your students are divided into batches, they will be either onsite or
FO
in remote learning for all the subjects scheduled on specific days, so it will
be almost impossible to ensure an ideal learning timetable for all subjects.
Remember that there are trade-offs and that, at this point of your planning
process, these thinking exercises are only intended to help you be aware of the
T
various complex aspects that have to be kept in mind and decided on. Detailed
planning for what will be taught will, of course, still need to be done when final
O
decisions have been made.

N
Try It Out!
If you are leaning toward adopting the Transition Blended Learning –
Online or Transition Blended Learning – Modular models, try the following:
1. Analyze the model’s implication on your school curriculum using
the 3 CQ + 1.
2. Explore any pedagogical implications using the 2 DQ + 1 “formula.”
This is best done in teams—the Principal and Assistant Principals,
Subject Area Coordinators, or subject departments.
39
Chapter 4
Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:
The Hyflex/Concurrent Model
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In the previous chapter, we discussed the curricular and pedagogical
implications of various batching and scheduling options under the Transition
SA
Blended Learning (Online or Modular) learning delivery approaches or models.
In this chapter, we will discuss the curricular and pedagogical implications
of the batching and scheduling options under the Hyflex/Concurrent Teaching
Model.
R
Analyzing Curricular Implications Using 3 CQ + 1

FO
The Hyflex/Concurrent Model is quite straightforward, especially as far

as the schedule of rotations is concerned. Recall that in the Hyflex/Concurrent
Model, the teacher delivers the lesson to the students onsite and, via
videoconferencing technology, students online can participate in the lesson
T
in real time. Since the online students can “attend” and participate in the
O
onsite lessons in real time, then there is less likelihood that there will be a very
uneven treatment of content for one batch versus the other.
N
The answers to the 3 CQ + 1 are more straightforward for the Hyflex/

Concurrent Model than for the Transition Blended Learning Model.
Questions 1–3: What are the onsite students taking up? What are the
remote students taking up? Will it allow all students to successfully achieve
the unit objectives?
In this model, our remote students are all online.
Both onsite and online batches are taking up the same content
concurrently, so there is a greater likelihood with this model than with
40
the Transition Blended Learning Model that all students will be able to
achieve the unit objectives.
This will still largely depend, however, on the way the daily
lessons are designed. The teacher will have to ensure that there are
appropriate/equivalent onsite and online versions of some activities
and tasks. The technical setup and broadband connection will also have
to be checked so that everyone can see and hear (and can be seen and
heard by) everyone else and participate fully in all the different activities
throughout the lesson.
Question 4: What content will be completed for the quarter?
The teacher has more control over the pacing of the content for
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the quarter. Strategic decisions can be made by the teacher about which
content can be allotted less time and which can be given more time.
SA
Analyzing Pedagogical Implications Using 2 DQ + 1
To analyze the implications on pedagogy, let us try out the 2 Doing
Questions + 1 How (2 DQ + 1) “formula” on the Hyflex/Concurrent Model.
Recall that the 2 Doing Questions and 1 How are:
R
What are the onsite students doing?
FO
What are the remote students doing? (For Hyflex Model, the remote
students are all online students.)
How will they do it?
Let us try out a 2 DQ + 1 analysis for a few of the more common types of
T
class activities that teachers conduct.

O
Direct Instruction and Teacher-Led Class Discussions (and Other Whole-Class

Groupings)
N
Question 1: What are the onsite students doing?

When teachers give direct instruction (e.g., via lecture and slide
presentations), they usually conduct a teacher-led whole-class discussion
along with it. In this case, the teacher will be in the classroom with the
onsite students and give the lecture as he or she usually does. The onsite
students will listen to the teacher and participate in the lecture by raising
their hands and reciting.
41
Question 2: What are the online students doing?
When teachers give direct instruction, the online students watch
and listen to what is happening in the classroom via videoconferencing
technology.
Question 3: How will they do it?
It will be tricky for schools to set up the video camera(s) and
microphone in such a way as to best capture the teacher, the blackboard
or whiteboard, and the students. Decisions will also have to be made
about whether or not to project the gallery view of the online students
to the rest of the class.
LE
What the online students will be able to see and hear will depend
on the equipment and technical resources that the school has access
to. For most schools, the video camera is usually trained on the teacher,
SA
limiting the teacher’s movement during direct instruction. The teacher’s
notes on the whiteboard may be too blurred for the online students to
see, so some schools opted for the teachers to instead use an online
whiteboard app, which they project on the screen for both the onsite
R
and online students to see.
Another technical issue crops up when students onsite recite
FO
because their voices usually cannot be picked up by the same microphone

being used by the teacher. Schools using the Hyflex Model will have to
find ways to address this. Again, there are trade-offs that the school will
have to make, like balancing constraints and resources available (e.g.,
T
budget available for equipment, classroom size limitations, broadband

strength, availability of technical personnel, and so on). Some solutions
O
that have been proposed by schools are to have microphones around the
room or to have students who want to recite approach one microphone
N
at the center of the room. Ambient noises like those coming from the
electric fans also need to be dealt with.
Many other details have to be worked out. How will the online
students participate in the discussion? Will they be allowed to use the
chat feature on a videoconferencing platform, for example, and will
the teacher monitor the chat? Should they just use the “raise hand”
feature? But this again brings up the question of how well the teacher
will monitor what is going on among online students while he or she is
attending to what is happening in the classroom.
42
Assigning a student to monitor the online students (including
readmitting students who got cut off from the online room) may help.
However, this is not possible for younger students. This may also hinder
the assigned student from listening attentively to the teacher’s lecture
and/or class discussion going on.
Meaning-Making Activities in Collaborative Groupings
When the teachers want the students to reflect further on big questions
and/or important concepts at the heart of the unit, they may ask the students
to work in groups to work on some meaning-making activities (e.g., make a
concept map or fill out a graphic organizer). They may also ask the students
to group together to discuss a controversial issue or view a video and then
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answer open-ended questions about it. They may be asked to collaboratively
annotate a text.
As the teachers are just getting used to the hyflex mode, it is
SA
recommended that the onsite students be grouped onsite, and the online
students be grouped online in breakout rooms. Although it will be possible to
have the online students join onsite groups, it may be difficult for the teachers
to handle logistical issues while they are not yet used to the hyflex setting.
R
What materials will be available to onsite and online groups? How will
FO
the teacher monitor the discussions going on in the onsite and online groups?
How will the students submit their outputs and/or present their work to the
class, especially if the outputs involve showing their concept maps or other
products?
T
Working Together on a Product or Performance

O
Since this type of class activity also involves working in groups, the same
considerations for group work just discussed apply. However, this may present
N
a problem for online students since working on a product or performance will

be challenging even in breakout groups. Special apps may help in some cases.
The best solution will be to work out the timetables for the unit so that all
students will have opportunities to work on these onsite.
A Few Valuable Tips!

As explained in the previous chapter, planning the timetable of class
activities for a unit need not follow the chronological sequence laid out in your
pre-pandemic syllabi or in the textbooks. This may entail a mindset shift among
43
teachers, but it will be worthwhile to do this even after the transition phase.
Often, this will lead to more powerful planning of the sequence of activities of
the unit.
To do this, organize your unit around the big questions, ideas, or
themes of the unit. This may result in a unit with three to four big chunks.
Then, think carefully about the types of class activities that are most effective
for each chunk. This may help you be more flexible or fluid about the lesson
sequences. For example, one teacher felt strongly about the importance of a
certain thinking routine that was best done onsite. Figure 10 illustrates how
the teacher handled the situation.
LE
SA
R
FO
Figure 10. An Example of Flexibility in Lesson Sequencing for Hyflex Instruction

T
Yesterday, both batches were doing the same lesson chunk. Today, while
O
the onsite students (let us call them Batch A) are doing the thinking routine in
class, she had the online students (Batch B) move on to an activity for the next
N
chunk (which means that Batch B would move ahead to the next chunk). This
will enable Batch B to do the thinking routine onsite tomorrow, while Batch A
(now online) can start Lesson Chunk 2.
Think carefully about which activities are important to do onsite (e.g.,
direct instruction on technical and abstract material, checking up on student
understanding of critical points in the unit, lessons that require demonstrations
by the teacher, important collaborative work for deepening of understanding,
team sports, musical numbers, etc.) and arrange the timeline so that all
students are able to do this onsite.
44
There are also some activities that are best done online (e.g., using
some powerful apps collaboratively). Once again, teachers will have to make
decisions about whether or not they will have all students do this from home
and how the timetable can be worked out to allow this.
Try It Out!
If you are leaning toward adopting the Hyflex/Concurrent Model, think
through its curricular and pedagogical implications for your school’s context.
This is best done in teams—the Principal and Assistant Principals, Subject Area
Coordinators, or subject departments.
LE
SA
R
FO
T
O
N
45
Chapter 5
Putting It All Together
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By now, you have completed the first three steps of the Transition Back
to Campus Planning Process.
SA
Step 1. Pause to reflect on your experience as an educator (and/or as an
educational institution) during the past two years and what you have learned
about effective teaching during this time.
R
Step 2. Identify your school’s non-negotiable underlying parameters
governing the reopening of your campus.
FO
Step 3. Explore the different learning delivery approaches and their

implications.
By now, you have gathered much of the significant background data
that you will need for you to be able to make more final decisions for your
T
Transition Back to Campus Plan.

O
Step 4 of the process involves consulting the different stakeholders involved.

Set a timetable for this process. Different stakeholders should be
N
consulted in the process while pointing out to them that due to the many
constraints posed by this complex migration of all school operations back to
campus, it will be difficult to come up with the ideal scenario that will please
all the stakeholders.
The school should have a count of how many of its personnel and
students have undergone all the required vaccinations and booster shots.
Other medical data might be good to have on hand. Medical experts can be
46
consulted by the school on what kind of information will be needed. The school
should also find out how many students will be able to attend onsite classes.
The school will have to comply with the guidelines on the alert levels for the
city in which the school is located and on current policies issued by DepEd and
the IATF regarding the attendance of students in onsite classes.
Consultations with the school owners, Board of Trustees, top
administration, and technical consultants will have to take place. An important
part of these consultations will involve technical requirements for schools that
will adopt the Hyflex/Concurrent Model. These will have financial implications.
It will also take time to purchase the equipment and test this out.
The fifth and last step is to draw up the final Transition Back to Campus
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Plan. This is the time to finalize decisions, as well as the logistics and other
details, and start to implement the plan.
Some examples of other considerations and decision points that have to
be thought through are:
f
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staffing/workloads (e.g., need for designated teachers or staff to
be on duty to watch the children during snack time or for more
maintenance staff to ensure wiping down of surfaces regularly,
R
number of preparations for teachers handling Transition Blended
Learning Modes, etc.)
FO
f physical space (e.g., scheduling of recess time to prevent crowding

in the canteen and in the playground)
f traffic management on campus (e.g., staggered dismissal time to
prevent crowding in certain areas)
T
f transportation services to and from campus, if any

O
f clinic services
f cleaning services
N
f upskilling issues (e.g., for teachers and support academic staff for
hyflex delivery modes, for library staff who could be assigned to
help the faculty make online and onsite versions for the Hyflex
Model)
f detailed safety protocols to be properly disseminated
Conclusion
As you finalize the Transition Back to Campus Plan for your school, here
are some important reminders that will better ensure that you come up with a
realistic, feasible, sustainable, and agile plan.
47
Don’t lose sight of the big picture.
First, resist the temptation to just dive into the details without zooming
out once in a while to take stock of the big picture. Instead, keep returning
to the non-negotiable parameters that you drew up in Step 2 to see if you
are still being faithful to these. You will have to “keep diving” in to thresh
out the details and then “come up for air” to see if you have floated away to
some unknown location or, in this case if you are straying away from the non-
negotiable parameters you have committed yourselves to in Step 2. Planning
is an iterative process, and you will have to keep making adjustments to the
details to see to it that you are being true to the bigger goals of the school.
It is also important for you to use a systems thinking mindset throughout
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the planning process. There are so many moving parts in this big move back to
campus. When you make adjustments to one part of the system, make sure to
check how it affects the other parts.
Don’t make a “once-size-fits-all” plan. SA
Especially in a plan as complicated as this, we have to continue to remain
flexible and compassionate. We are sure wellness is one of the non-negotiable
R
parameters that many schools chose in Step 2. Differentiation to meet various
needs may be messy, but during times of crisis such as this, we have to be
FO
ready to be flexible. We will have to make wise decisions as we try to strike a

balance between the needs of the many and the few.
You will probably need to make numerous revisions to the plan as you
move forward. Usually, we want to make sure that once our plans are in place,
T
we will no longer need to make revisions unless absolutely necessary. This still
holds these days. One way to look at it, however, is that there will surely be
O
more occasions that fall under the “absolutely necessary” exception since we
are once again moving into uncharted territory.
N
Don’t forget the lessons you have learned from teaching during the
pandemic.
Although you have reflected on the lessons you have taken away from
teaching during the pandemic and written these down, don’t leave these behind
when you go back to campus and slowly move to full in-person instruction. It
may be tempting at this point to finally get back to the way things were, but
we recommend that you take time to rethink these lessons learned and find a
way to implement these as you make your learning plans for the Next Possible.
48
The Importance of Being Agile
The nature of the current crisis makes it all too possible for schools to
have to go into a fully remote learning mode once again. It is also possible that
one group in the school (one bubble) would be required to go into isolation
for a while because a student or school personnel contracted the virus. Thus,
the school must be ready for this eventuality. Materials for all units must be
available in case there is a need for all the students in a bubble to learn from
home. Protocols, procedures, and policies must be drawn up and consistently
enforced for both the onsite learning environment and the remote learning
environment.
The adventure is not yet over. Although crafting the Transition Back
LE
to Campus Plan is a long process and a very complex one, it is worth the
investment of time and effort. Without a plan, so much could go wrong, and
it may even be more difficult to be in damage control mode. Even worse,
SA
everyone in the school community suffers. Thus, the planning work is critical.
With the whole school community pitching in, it will be doable, and everyone
will feel ownership of the plan. Most of all, everyone benefits as schools start
to truly put the students at the center of all decision-making.
R
Good luck to everyone, and see you on the other side!
FO
T
O
N
49
References
Beatty, B. (Ed.). (2022). Hybrid-Flexible course design: Implementing student-directed hybrid

classes. Ver. 1.90. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/pdfs/print/
hyflex/_hyflex.pdf
Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). (n.d.). Hybrid/Hyflex teaching and learning.
Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/
teaching-with-technology/teaching-online/hyflex/
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Department of Education. (n.d.). About alternative learning system. Retrieved June 6, 2022,
from https://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/inclusive-education/about-alternative-learning-
system/
Department of Education. (2022, April 6). DepEd Order No. 17, s. 2022 Guidelines on the Progressive
ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DO_s2022_017.pdf SA
Expansion of Face to Face Classes. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.deped.gov.
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020, March 27). The difference between
emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review. Retrieved April 12,
2022, from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-
remote-teaching-and-online-learning
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Horn, M. & Staker, H. (2014). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. Jossey-Bass.
International Bureau of Education-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
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(2013, September). Glossary of curriculum terminology. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/glossary-curriculum-terminology/b/blended-learning
Konopelko, D. (2021, Aug. 31). From hybrid to blended learning: Using tech to improve students’
experience. Edtech Magazine. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://edtechmagazine.com/
k12/article/2021/08/hybrid-blended-learning-using-tech-improve-students-experience
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Singh, J., Steele, K., & Singh, L. (2021). Combining the best of online and face-to-face learning: Hybrid
and blended learning approach for COVID-19, post vaccine, and post-pandemic world.
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Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 50(2), 140–171. 10.1177/00472395211047865

Skrypnyk, O., Joksimovic, S., Kovanovic, V., Dawson, S., Gasevic, D., & Siemens, G. (2015, February).
The history and state of blended learning. In Siemens, G., Gasevic, D., & Dawson, S. (Eds.)
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Preparing for the digital university: a review of the history and current state of distance,
blended, and online learning. Athabasca University. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/313751703_The_history_and_state_of_blended_
learning
UNESCO in collaboration with McKinsey and Company. (2020, July). COVID-19 response – hybrid
learning: Hybrid learning as a key element in ensuring continued learning. Version 2. In
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2 Choosing a Learning Delivery Model 11

3 Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:

4 Curricular and Pedagogical Implications:

The Hyflex/Concurrent Model 40

5 Putting It All Together 46

and efficient implementation of these plans.

all the anxiety and uncertainty come flooding back.

4, you will be in a position to start thinking about curricular and pedagogical

5 discusses some implementation strategies, keeping in mind that your school

In March 2020, during the sudden pivot to emergency remote teaching,

how to ensure teachers’ and students’ wellness.

Pause and Identify Explore learning

Some of you might be saying, “Whoever heard about a set of steps, a

In a way, during the lockdown, we had to start from scratch, without

Neglecting to pause and reflect on lessons we learned during this

be put in place. You may never get another chance.

Step 2. Identify your school’s non-negotiable underlying parameters

governing the reopening of your campus.

What non-negotiable parameters will serve as the principles underlying

SAFETY AND ACHIEVEMENT OF

EMPATHY AND OUTCOMES

It is important for school administrators to identify the school’s non-

Some schools may have a different set of implications for a

Continuity Plan as possible, moving into the

removed due to time constraints or because circumstances would

curriculum should be done very carefully and selectively.

For schools that will eventually decide to go into hyflex learning,

students in person and a group of students online, teachers need to be

halls with parents should be held, as well as regular faculty meetings to

other circumstances, and in compliance with local and national government

classroom routines and protocols—one for remote modalities and

another for in-person modalities. Students should know both sets

approach, as dictated by current government alert levels.

Figure 6. Possible Implications of “Flexibility and Agility”

Your Own Reflection

For each of your school’s non-negotiable parameters, what implications

much as you want!

approaches and their implications. In this chapter, we begin by giving an

An Overview of Blended, Hybrid, and Hyflex Learning

(lecture, discussion, guided practice, reading, games, case study,

refers to a combination of face-to-face teaching and technologies

(Adapted from: Seel 2012). It involves changing traditional

new technologies (pp. 8–9).

right level of content at each moment of instruction.”

Blended learning, conversely, is about the activities the

Table 1 describes the different types of learning delivery models

Table 1. Types of Learning Delivery Models according to Location of Students, Time,

and Use of Technology

Learning Delivery Approach/ Integration of Technology in

According to Technology is used onsite

Hyflex Learning (Concurrent Teaching)

Note that Table 1 also describes Hyflex Learning, a learning delivery

Hyflex has been called a variety of names. It is also known as concurrent

teaching. In hyflex learning, the teacher can be teaching onsite students in

as options for students in higher education or adult learners in continuing

started gaining popularity, as students were able to complete their course

work asynchronously without coming to campus and being physically present

during the lockdown as remote emergency teaching.

Hodges et al. (2020) find it important to distinguish between online

remote teaching’ has emerged as a common alternative term used by online

Table 2. Types of Emergency Remote Teaching in the Philippines (2020–2022)

Fully synchronous mode