Different Learning Modalities
Learning must not stop with Covid19. Thus, the government through the Department of
Education continue to provide quality and accessible education for all in order to serve millions
of young learners in the entire country. In fact, there were series of guidelines released by the
department in order to prepare everything and everyone for the school opening. One of the
directives issued was the DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2020 dated last June 19, 2020.
DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2020 or the Adoption of the Basic Education Learning
Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) for School Year 2020-2021 in Light of the COVID-19 Public
Health Emergency was developed to provide clear guidance of the education interventions that
will respond to basic education challenges. These challenges were in a form of questions which
include, “How will the students learn?”, “Who will teach them? “Do they have to go to
school?”, “What if they catch the virus?”, etc. Now this is where the different learning delivery
modalities were introduced.
School opening will not necessarily mean traditional face-to-face learning in the
classroom. The physical opening will depend on the risk severity grading or classification of a
certain community pursuant to guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH), the Inter-
Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the
Philippines and the Office of the President (OP). This was also found in the guidelines which
says, “No Face-to-Face Classes Until Safe”.
Based on the Enclosure to DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2020, learning delivery modalities
that schools can adopt may be one or a combination of the following, depending on the COVID-
19 restrictions and the particular context of the learners in the school or locality.
1. Face-to-face. This refers to a learning delivery modality where the students and the
teacher are both physically present in the classroom, and there are opportunities for active
engagement, immediate feedback, and socio-emotional development of learners.
In areas under the Moderate and High-risk severity grading, this is not possible.
However, there are learners with disabilities whose conditions require face-to-face
instruction. This will be the subject of further discussion within DepEd, with partners,
and with parents.
Face-to-face option may also be feasible in very low risk areas such as the geographically
isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict affected areas (GIDCA) with no history of infection
and with easily monitored external contacts, but with teachers and learners living in the
vicinity of the school.
Any face-to-face learning delivery must have proper risk assessment and must adhere to
the health protocols in place. Potential learning spaces in the community near the school
may be explored to add spaces for the conduct of classes with the appropriate social
distancing.
2. Distance learning. This refers to a learning delivery modality where learning takes place
between the teacher and the learners who are geographically remote from each other
during instruction. This modality has three types: Modular Distance Learning (MDL),
Online Distance Learning (ODL), and television (TV)/Radio-Based Instruction.
a. Modular Distance Learning involves individualized instruction that allows learners to
use SLMs in print or digital format, whichever is applicable in the context of the
learner, and other learning resources like learner’s materials, textbooks, activity
sheets, study guides, and other study materials. Learners access electronic copies of
learning materials on a personal computer (PC), tablet PC, or smartphone. CDs,
DVDs, USB storage, and computer-based applications can all be used to deliver e-
learning materials, including offline ebooks. The teacher takes the responsibility of
monitoring the progress of the learners. The learners may ask assistance from the
teacher via email, telephone, text message/instant messaging, etc. Where possible, the
teacher shall do home visits to learners needing remediation or assistance. Any
member of the family or other stakeholders in the community need to serve as para-
teachers.
b. Online Distance Learning features the teacher as facilitator, engaging learners' active
participation through the use of various technologies accessed through the internet
while they are geographically remote from each other during instruction. The internet
is used to facilitate learner-teacher and peer-to-peer communication. Online learning
allows live synchronous instruction. It requires participants to have a good and stable
internet connection. It is more interactive than the other types of distance learning and
the responses are in real-time. The learners may download materials from the internet,
complete and submit assignments online, and attend webinars and virtual classes.
This
is practiced effectively by using a Learning Management System or related
technologies. The DepEd Commons and DepEd Learning Resource (LR) Portal fall in
this category.
c. TV/Radio-Based Instruction utilizes SLMs converted to video lessons for Television-
Based Instruction and SLMs converted to radio scripts for Radio-Based Instruction.
Distance learning modality is most viable for independent learners, and learners
supported by periodic supervision of parents or guardians. The challenge will be in
dealing with learners not capable of independent learning. This is the subject of
further discussion within DepEd, and with partners and parents.
3. Blended Learning. This refers to a learning delivery that combines face-to-face with any
or a mix of online distance learning, modular distance learning, and TV/Radio-based
Instruction. Blended learning will enable the schools to limit face-to-face learning, ensure
social distancing, and decrease the volume of people outside the home at any given time.
Critical for implementation will be the production of the needed teacher’s and learner’s
learning materials (DepEd LR Portal and DepEd Commons will be maximized), as well
as the support of media institutions like TV and radio stations.
4. Homeschooling. This is an ADM that aims to provide learners with quality basic
education that is facilitated by qualified parents, guardians, or tutors who have undergone
relevant training in a home-based environment. It allows families to educate according to
their personal faith, philosophy, and values, and to adjust learning schedules around
family schedules and circumstances. However, there remain several issues in its
implementation, including the supervision of licensed teachers and alignments with the
curriculum. Thus, this modality will be the subject of a later DepEd issuance before its
expansion.
