AFTER A year of distance learning riddled with inaccessibility concerns and learning loss, Loyola Schools (LS) students and faculty now face a worrying future of a permanent shift to flexible learning.

When the LS transitioned to remote learning last year, the University faced numerous challenges such as conducting thesis and the National Service Training Program online.

These concerns, among others, continue to alarm LS students as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced last May 21 that they adopted a policy to continue flexible learning “this school year and thereafter.” According to CHED Chair Prospero de Vera III, this ensures students’ safety in case of another pandemic and capitalizes on the investments made in last year’s transition to the new learning setup.

While the LS has not permanently implemented flexible learning, the longevity of the current health crisis has posed questions on the future of the LS’ education system and whether it will adopt the policy beyond the pandemic.

Flexible learning ‘here to stay’

Last year, the LS administration launched the virtual campus Ateneo Blue Cloud, which includes the University’s primary learning management system Canvas. This particular subscription cost over Php 25 million, according to Vice President for the Loyola Schools Maria Luz Vilches, PhD.

While this setup allowed students to attend classes from their own homes and asynchronously study at their own pace, many still had unstable internet connections, lived in unconducive learning environments, and lacked necessary gadgets.

Meanwhile, in preparing the faculty for online classes, the Ateneo Science and Art of Learning and Teaching (SALT) Institute spearheaded the Adaptive Design for Learning (ADL) Course to train LS faculty on online course design and delivery. For this year, the Ateneo SALT also launched an additional initiative called the ADL Learning Exchange to reflect on the previous year of online classes last July 14, 21, and 28.

Regarding adjustments in academic policies and programs, The GUIDON has reached out to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Josefina D. Hofileña for updates on this matter, but she has not issued a response as of writing.

Moreover, Information Technology Resource Management Office (ITRMO) Director Sandra Francesca Lovenia shares that the ITRMO constantly evaluates the current technology used in the LS to ensure that the information systems are efficient for online classes.

Should the LS permanently shift to flexible learning, Lovenia asserts that this long-lasting change in mode of learning is an issue that goes beyond the University. Nationwide efforts such as addressing the digital divide, for example, must be done to ensure that no student would be left behind during the transition.

“Lahat ng schools, lahat ng faculty, lahat ng students (All schools, all faculty, all students), are they really ready for that setup?” she asks.

Learning lost

Despite these adjustments, LS students have expressed their concerns over the sudden shift to the online setup last school year. For One Big Fight for Human Rights and Democracy Convener Heather Andres, the extended implementation of flexible learning was not expected. They and their blockmates lament the difficulty in adjusting to the new system of learning, citing that online resources such as LS One were not disseminated extensively.

“I rarely hear my co-freshies last year bring up utilizing LS One for help. […] [How] to navigate these sites weren’t really shown sa start of the school year,” they say.

Meanwhile, Kabataan Partylist – Katipunan Chairperson Marco Mañaol believes the current setup negatively impacted the University’s quality of education. Despite the LS administration’s efforts to provide aid such as pocket wifi for students, Mañaol and his peers express that the environment was still not conducive to learning.

“Marami talaga ‘yung pinapagawa ng profs pero di naman na-re-retain ‘yung lessons (The profs assign a lot of work but the lessons are not retained),” he says.

Andres and Mañaol also noticed that online learning has negatively impacted the morale of students. For Mañaol, he believes that they have become more indifferent to the pandemic. On the other hand, Andres cites instances of students filing Leaves of Absence due to low morale.

Given these struggles, Andres and Mañaol collectively call on the administration to improve the online setup. They stand firm that remote education does not only affect LS students but the country as a whole.

In particular, school closures in the Philippines and other developing Asian countries have caused learning loss among students—a phenomenon referring to stunted academic progress due to disruption in a student’s education. These losses have prompted students to air their sentiments about the lack of learning they experienced in the online setup.

However, Development Studies Professor Mark Abenir, DSD, disagrees with the concept of learning loss. He argues that some were able to adapt to the new setup because there is learning involved.

“One could argue that [students are] learning how to be resilient, creative, or how to use different platforms in order to continue with their learning. There is also a shift from standardized tests to assessments that demand higher order thinking skills,” he says.

Instead, Abenir believes that students are experiencing a phenomenon called “interrupted learning,” where learning is hampered by external factors such as the pandemic and the lack of proper resources for online learning.

Accessibility is key

Mitigating learning losses and interrupted learning largely depends on the resources that are made available to both students and faculty alike. Abenir emphasizes that students from lower income families who have no access to gadgets, unstable wifi, and no conducive learning environment have greater disadvantages.

“[This] causes a lot of stress for students [and] a lot of hesitation for them to engage in online learning,” he emphasizes.

For Andres, the problem with remote learning is not the mode itself but how ill-equipped the Philippines is to aid students from low-income backgrounds. Thus, the new policy is a “big slap in the face” to millions of students.

“Let’s face it, distance learning is anti-poor. It’s really not fit to stay in a country like ours,” they assert.

According to Abenir, the problems of interrupted learning go beyond the LS. Citing that internet access is now a right, he believes that government institutions such as CHED should work to provide access to all locations—especially now that Ateneans are located in different provinces.

“[M]ayroon ding factor ang geographical disparities where children are located. Kaya kailangan ma-work out ng government to provide Internet access to different areas in the Philippines [and] whether they are in remote places [so] they would be able to connect [and not get left] behind in education,” he says.

Interrupted learning also poses ill effects on the country’s development. Abenir believes the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the inefficiencies of the country’s systems, which must be addressed through education.

Ultimately, he thinks that the LS must accommodate both the needs of students and the likelihood of flexible learning in the future to provide quality education that is suitable for all contexts.

“Education is not a private good but a public good. Ito ‘yung importansya ng (This is the importance of) service learning and community engagement [where] students [learn that] the value of education is not [only] for themselves,” Abenir says.