Blended Learning: Education's New Normal During COVID-19 Pandemic

             We are living amidst what is potentially one of the greatest threats in our lifetime to global education. The Coronavirus have gone too far considering the fact that our country is still fighting it for the last 7 months. Many things have changed since the lockdown started. Establishments such as malls, fast-food  chain restaurants, etc. and other public places have stopped operating for a while. Many lives were taken by this virus and it continuously spreading. The biggest problem that we are facing amidst COVID-19 Pandemic is education that causes more children and youth to be out of school. But still, opening of schools were pushed but with rules that were needed to follow.

            "Education is the key to succes." That's the best line we could think of when we are learning. But then, the COVID-19 outbreak happened. So the government decided to push our education through online. There are many benefits of learning online. You can be a student in school. Online learning gives you freedom to learn anything from anywhere, beyond geographical boundaries.  We dont need allowance unlike how we used to when there are face-to-face classes. Online learning has been a great means towards continuous learning. Some schools have done it successfully, while some faced major concerns and issues from students, parents, and even their own teachers. That's why they came with blended and modular learning. When we say modular learning, it is basically learning through the use of printed modules. And blended learning on the other hand, is the combination of both online and modular learning. But then, the main problem here is that, many students don't access to internet and some can't afford to buy gadgets for online learning. When it comes to modular, students are getting frustrated because of some topics are hard to understand. They're having difficulties towards learning through module.

            Given the reality of the country, or even schools, in terms of digital divide, the best thing to do is to provide multiple pathways to education continuity. Taking into cinsideration the context of every student, teacher, and family, those pathways need to address their teaching and learning needs. Aside from online learning, there are learning packets that can be used such as modular learning through the use of modules which is reminiscent of the correspondence mode of distance education way back years ago. We aim for multiple pathways to learning or instruction, assessments and maybe even the grading systems will have to be reviewed to serve their main goals at this point of pandemic