There are a lot of different buzzwords bandied about around the world for the incoming online education surge caused by the coronavirus.

Whether it’s distance learning, online classes, or my favorite descriptor, “emergency remote teaching,” the idea is that people are using technology to make up for the current problems with trying to get an education in the middle of the pandemic. (FAST FACTS: DepEd’s distance learning)

I have no problem with the ideals of a distance education, but I don’t think a “one size fits all” approach will get this done properly.

A distance education or online learning approach isn’t easy, but we need to do it and improve on it regardless of the initial problems the country might face.

So many variables to learning and teaching

As a person who writes about technology, my initial inclination is to realize how the technological divide will absolutely divide students up by social strata into haves and have-nots… but the problem isn’t just about having a gadget to get your teaching and instruction from.

The truth is the practices of learning AND teaching in the physical space are impacted by so many variables that I will admit here and now that I gave up trying to be a teacher some 10 years or so ago out of my anxiety and inability to rein in the unknown.

Remote learning compounds the number of variables an educational institution (or the government) has to consider, aside from the general logistics of getting gadgets. (READ: How much would online distance learning devices cost?)

For instance, according to this article, educators also have to figure out the following:

• How students will be taught (completely online, partly online with workbooks, web-enabled face-to-face classes)
• Are you teaching live classes, or a mix of live or recorded classes?
• How will you pace classes?
• How many students per teacher or instructor?
• What pedagogy, or teaching method, will you choose to teach your class for the day (exposition, collaborative workshopping, exploratory methods, etc.)?
• Related to pedagogy, what do you expect from students in their role as learners?
• What are class assessments for in this case (gauge learning, use tests to support individual students, check if the student or class can move on, etc.)?
• How will you provide feedback to students and parents?

As we move towards teaching younger students and people with different learning speeds, moods, and needs, the variables increase, and the potential for failure also looms larger. (READ: Distance learning: A looming crisis for students with special needs)

Yet we must persist

Educators in the Philippines are likely working their butts off to figure out how to adapt teaching in a pandemic to their individual locales, and I commend them for doing the difficult work. Meanwhile, the president has also gone and said that he doesn’t think the country is ready for this.

And yet, we must persist, especially when it comes to teaching the young who are in the formative years. They will be the most affected by delays in schooling. ([ANALYSIS] School opening 2020: Immediate concerns, longer-term structural reforms)

As tired as this sounds, the alternative is to set back developing minds in the future because we didn’t try in the present, and it’s an admittedly risky gamble.

Students are going to have to learn to be empathetic to their teachers. Teachers, parents, and guardians meanwhile have to share the burden of teaching our kids while the coronavirus rages on. 

Not just in letters and math, mind you, but also in teaching the value of being kind to others as the world makes its way through a pandemic.

We will get through this, but we all have to lift this weight of responsibility together if we intend to get past the pandemic as a community.

Teachers will iterate on Department of Education plans, students will need to get their brains in gear and keep their hearts open, and parents will have to do double-shifts as breadwinners and teachers as well. 

It’s not going to be the easiest road, but at the very least, if we can teach others to be kind, and share our knowledge and expertise with others, even remotely, then maybe we will get through this crisis with far fewer nicks and scratches than we should. – Rappler.com