‘Online class is not a joke’: Flexible learning is a challenge for professors, too

by Merlina Hernando-Malipot, Manila Bulletin, 6 May 2021

With the conduct of face-to-face classes still prohibited amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in the country, teachers – at all levels – are holding classes through alternative delivery modalities.

At the tertiary level, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) instructed both public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to implement flexible learning to ensure that education will continue.

Flexible learning, CHED said, is a “learner-centered approach that is deeply-rooted in the needs of the students” which should provide them with “most flexibility” while learning through the use of digital and non-digital tools.

To ensure the safety of students and faculty, most HEIs are holding online classes as among the learning delivery modalities under flexible learning. However, this mode also poses challenges to professors in various private HEIs and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

No joke

“Online class is not a joke, it’s actually more difficult,” said Prof. Rene Luis Tadle who teaches at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) under Department of Philosophy during the “THURSDAY HABIT” organized by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality, and Relevant Education (SEQuRe Education Movement) on Thursday, May 6.