User:RayJustin05

Education in the New Normal

Much has been written about the new normal in the society as the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to spread in different countries around the world. The new normal will involve higher levels of health precautions. Fearing another wave of infections, governments will continue to enforce strict measures to contain the spread of the virus. Digital technology will play a greater role to ensure that essential sectors such as business, banking, health, food services, and communications will continue to run their transactions in order to avoid a possible national economic breakdown. While these are just a few of the possible scenarios that will happen in the new normal, we can, however, definitely say that the new normal is anything but ordinary.

In the education sector, schools and universities are now scrambling to enable digital and technical infrastructures that will support whatever form of virtual learning that they will most likely to adopt. Right now, online learning has been pushed further and deeper as a solution that addresses the challenges of learning continuity amidst school closure at this time of the pandemic. Video-conferencing, which is being used to replicate face-to-face instruction, has even made Zoom a household name. Access and usage to video-conferencing tools, as well as to learning management systems, have spiked tremendously as teaching and learning continue within the virtual corners of their online classrooms. 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. In the end, it seems like the new normal is about online learning and having the digital platforms and tools to support and enable learning.

Yet, this new normal that is too much focused on technology tools or online learning needs to be reconsidered and evaluated. Can we step back for a moment and think about those who will be marginalized and underserved in the new normal? Can we remind ourselves that our digital and telecommunications infrastructure cannot even decently connect every device in the country to the Internet? Can we wake ourselves up to the reality that not all students, parents, and homes have access to devices at home? Can we pinch ourselves to realize that a lot of Filipino families will undoubtedly use their hard-earned money to buy food and other basic needs that will help them go through the day instead of purchasing data to get online? And the harsh reality is that, even before the pandemic began, this has been the situation for a lot of us in the country.