In 2011, Messenger, a spacecraft, reached Mercury's orbit and gathered information about its geography, constitution, and dense atmosphere. In 1977, Voyager made its debut with the goal of exploring Jupiter and Saturn. These breakthroughs are the proofs that it’s in our nature to conquer distance for knowledge. We have been sending experts to places that are light years away and still come back for more. It’s our kind of black hole. When these planets are rotating in their orbits, we thrive to learn. Now that it’s our planet that seems to stop on its track, where is the black hole that pulls us into an infinite abyss of ideas? The nearest one isn’t light-years away. We are just looking for the wrong dimension.
Our archnemesis in this distance learning is the internet connection. According to a recent poll, the most common difficulty for instructors, students, and parents in remote learning is an inconsistent internet connection. In a study performed by iOptions Ventures Corporation, "unstable mobile/internet connection" was chosen by more than half of parents, 84 percent of instructors, and 71 percent of students as one of the obstacles faced in remote learning. The unstable internet connection limits our participation in the class discussion. Our academic performance is up to its performance as well. It forms a direct proportion when it shouldn’t lead into that relationship in the first place. Teachers are affected by this phenomenon as much as we are. They have to find a feasible alternative to communicate and deliver lectures to us, students. It’s like a virus, widespread and a threat to our way of life, in this case, in our education.
In online classes, the use of gadgets is significant. It is the only means of communication now that we are under a lockdown. Some of us may lack the capability to provide for one. After all, the pandemic has stripped us off of our sources of income. The current situation of the economic sector is of a kind to cause great distress and that doesn’t guarantee a fund for a gadget because there are other priorities that we need to consider such as food, water supply, electricity, house rent, and other bills. Some students sell their sexually explicit images and films to raise funds for remote learning devices. There were more than 279,000 incidents of online sexual exploitation of children in Metro Manila from March 1 to May 24 last year. This represents a 264 percent increase over the 76,561 cases reported during the same period in 2019. Usually, the gadget comes last like a reward or a gift. But that might just be the greatest gift a learner could wish for in this situation.
Students also acknowledged the difficulty in remote learning when it came to their learning environment, according to research published in the Asian Journal of Distance Education. Students, in particular, who need to go to online stores, become sidetracked. They also don't feel their houses to be favorable to learning. The classroom is our second home. In its fingertips is the shelter for brilliant minds. It has a lot of edges and sides but it could pass as a sphere… like a planet because it holds all the necessities we need in learning. Comfort, silence, and privacy are just some of the things only this place can provide. Studying in the comfort of our homes could have been better if just like in a classroom, we have our own study space where we can focus. The noise around our houses is enough to distract us and that’s the last thing we need in this difficulty. The gossips aren’t the ones that appear in exams, are they?
Even though modular learning seems to be more convenient and more appealing than online learning, learners also have difficulty in keeping up with school works in this learning modality. The learning materials have vague lesson contents. This proposes a dilemma to students who are incapable of attending discussions and are self-studying. Thus, lack of guidance contributes to this problem. Per the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, up to 54% of Filipino household heads do not have a high school diploma while according to the Pulse Asia poll, 34% of parents or guardians have little or no time to guide their children.
Foremost, the effect of this new learning modality on the mental health of students is alarming. As shown in a poll, kids and parents of 36 to 41 percent and 31 to 41 percent, respectively, noted poor mental health consequences of children due to remote learning. Mental and emotional stress, anxiety, sadness, and panic attacks are among the mental health issues raised by student responders. Just recently, to protest an academic break, some 400 students from Saint Louis University and other student groups in the city conducted a lightning protest and a candle-lighting ceremony in front of the university's main entrance. This is related to several of the students allegedly engaging in "self-harm". This aggravates because, as an education undersecretary for curriculum and instruction pointed out, the department has already compressed the supposedly 15,000 learning skills to less than 10 every quarter on every grade level.
In a space exploration where distance prevails, the voyagers need to establish a great connection with the space station. They need to have the equipment required for the data collection to be performed. A spacecraft is also a must so, they can arrive at their destination without any delays. Senior officers or instructors should be there to guide them. Lastly, the information they will acquire from the journey shouldn’t be rushed and reduced because the data they will gather is vital to human life. The same goes for distance learning. It’s a no-brainer because the distance is present in both events. It is said that in Newton’s third law, “the only way humans have ever figured out of getting somewhere is to leave something behind”. It will take us time to choose what that something will be but education is out of the options. It is not something you leave behind but for us to carry it with ease, the system may consider a change. Perhaps, start with listening to the voices of the majority. Because education shouldn’t weigh like a whole planet in the first place. It is something you can take with you anywhere… even in between the stars.
Comments