VIRTUAL CLASSES IN EL

SALVADOR, A HUGE
ISSUE FOR STUDENTS
WITH LACK OF
INTERNET CONNECTION.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS.

Josselyn Idalia Quintanilla Granados

SUNDAY | NOVEMBER 28TH, 2º21
VIRTUAL CLASSES IN EL SALVADOR, A HUGE ISSUE FOR STUDENTS WITH
LACK OF INTERNET CONNECTION.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research is to analyze the government's provision

of computers to students, as well as to study the opinions of experts on the subject,
of communities with Internet connection problems, and to propose a connection
solution for students. The pandemic has prevented students from learning
effectively. We intend to analyze the situation by reading articles related to this
topic, interviews with the Minister of Education Carla Hananías, interviews with
experts in internet connection, as well as the study of real cases of communities or
families that are known to have no access to energy and much less to the internet
for the use of computers. This action-research is written because there have been
many cases of deficiencies in the use of electronic devices provided by the
government, not only in the use but in the maintenance of these, although the
intention is excellent, there are still cases that although they have the computer or
tablet does not repair the fact of having an effective learning. The Government of
El Salvador provides computers without really analyzing the situation that many
families face, this implies that although they give computers the problem is not
solved 100%.

For this action research, a sample of 19 students from fourth to sixth grade
of the school "José Arle Cuadra" has been taken. Taking into account that they are
students from the rural area, that not only support tools are required, but also the
students need to have access to internet, signal and electricity to receive their
classes and do their homework, the teachers in their 95% have their computers but
without signal in the School Center to continue teaching their subjects and continue
training, that is why both sectors need a good internet connection. Although most
of them already have the tool, they do not know how to use it, and that is one of the
biggest problems.
 INTRODUCTION

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual classes in El Salvador became an

important tool to follow the learning process of students, however not all students
had the necessary resources to continue with the process, many were left without
communication with the teacher and with that the consequence of almost losing the
year, some students preferred not to continue. Some teachers opted to print the
learning guides with their own money, but that did not solve the whole problem
because they had to risk contagion by having to go to the students' homes every
week.

In view of this, the Minister of Education with the Government of El Salvador

opted to start equipping teachers with computers, training them for better teaching
and manipulation from an electronic device, and therefore the students, but this
would not be the end of a problem, because most students do not have electricity.
In this action-research point out the problems that many students face and what
are the possible proposals for a solution to the situation of connection problems.
 KEY WORDS

Computer, internet, methodology, study, students, education, Ministry of

Education, teachers, family, connection, electricity, schools, virtual classes,
learning, teaching, problems, electronic, guides, process, proposal, Minister,
pandemic, platforms, homework, rural area.
 IDENTIFY THE ISSUE

In a world where we are facing a pandemic that never seems to end, will
virtual classes be the best option to follow the teaching and learning process when
there are problems with internet connection? This situation arises considering the
situation that many Salvadoran families face. It is necessary to study, analyze and
propose solutions for students who mostly have decided to stop studying because
they do not have the necessary resources.

The main issue of this action research is the fact that many students do not
have internet connection, and this has many factors, it can be due to lack of
electricity, and this is more common in rural areas of the country, and this leads to
very high places or with many trees that make it difficult to have a good network
connection. The problem of internet connection exists, and in many areas of the
country but the greater percentage is in the rural area than in the urban area. In the
urban area it is rare that there are connection problems, but there are families with
few resources to have residential internet and maintenance of a computer.

If the pandemic situation continues and become an everyday occurrence, it

is important that the connection situation be resolved. The government proposes
that every computer has internet included, or that the internet companies have
internet packages in cell phones, however this is not accurate, since many times it
is not the fact that the student does not have the resources to have internet, but
that in his place of residence there is no stable signal, or the signal is null, even if
the computer has internet, the signal is not effective. It is more important and
urgent that they put connection antennas in the communities forgotten by the
government, this would not help the students but the population in general. But
here we find another issue, and that is that these forgotten communities do not
have electricity and if there is no electricity there is no possibility of having an
effective maintenance of the computer, the proposals may be many, but the most
important may be the antenna for a better signal, and that electricity is installed in
these houses, this beyond a political publicity as many takes advantage of the
situation.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Remote learning is ineffective under current conditions, it’s states by

(Publica & Sociales, 2021) Without a doubt, the group of people who have been
most affected by this pandemic have been the students, and even more so those in
basic education, because although they know how to use a cell phone, they do not
know how to use it for academic purposes, much less use a computer; students
only see electronic devices as a source of unlimited games. Facing this situation
that many students do not have access to the internet, learning and teaching are
very limited to continue with the effective academic process, the government
proposes that with 5 evidences of work the student will have passed the year but
that clips the wings of teachers to teach properly, students stay in their place of
comfort and do not learn anything.

Virtual classes in El Salvador are not as advertised in the news, it is not a

world of wonders. As Carla Hananía (2021) states, "the computer is just another
tool in the multiplatform teaching strategy". MINED officials thought that with the
delivery of computers everything would be fixed, although they say that they
already contain Internet, it goes beyond that, it is also accompanied by the signal
and many students in rural areas had to climb a tree to get a signal or a hill
knowing the dangers that can lead to that.

The connection to the Internet is one of the main problems, "focusing on

computers is a mistake" it states by (Grafica & Hananía, 2021). The Minister of
Education herself emphasizes that focusing on computers is a mistake, but yet she
contradicts herself by thinking that giving computers solves the fact of the
deficiencies in education due to the pandemic. One cannot omit the fact that the
delivery of computers is a great help for Salvadoran students and for families a
help that avoids spending on a computer for their children, as many families cannot
afford one. But this is not a miracle help that student are able to continue with their
educational process.

The purpose of this action research is to investigate, propose some

solutions to help or improve some situations of Salvadoran families who still have
children studying in basic and middle education. A computer does not eliminate the
academic deficiencies, some students do not know how to manipulate the device,
how to turn it on, clean the computer, what networks should not enter and what
should not be downloaded, much less use the Microsoft platforms, which is what is
being worked on to solve some tasks that are left in schools. The internet
connection is a broad and complicated topic to deal with, but we must talk about it,
otherwise, many problems will never be solved.

More than 90% of households in rural areas do not have internet connection
(Moran & Gomez, 2021). And although the government requires teachers to submit
evidence from students under specific platforms, students are unable to do so. So,
teachers plan from their own economy to provide working guides to students.
Since, if they do not have internet connection, much less to make copies, there are
no places nearby to acquire them. Although some families prefer to go to the city to
have better internet connection, but not everyone can do it.

We cannot talk about students with connection problems without ignoring

teachers with serious problems with technology. When there are problems on both
sides, there is a greater risk of school dropout. And although 90% of affected
families are from the rural area, there is a 10% in the urban area, there is a higher
percentage of dropouts in the rural area than in the urban area, however joining
both areas it is a very serious problem. Many prefer to migrate to another country
or another department, leaving students who do not continue their education.
Leaving gaps in the schools and their learning.
 Now, touching on the mental health that students are carrying because of
connection issues, many who dropped out of school and turned nothing in at first
were relaxed, but now knowing that they have dropped out one year and will be
older the next when they continue have become frustrated, others that even though
they have internet connection many times it fails them, and they have developed
episodes of anxiety. It is estimated that, technology in the classroom is here to
stay, as stated by (Abernathy, 2021) "Online learning will not be the next big thing,
it is already the big thing now". In previous years we saw so far away a time when
we were going to depend on the internet or teachers seeing their worst enemy in
technology, now it is a great ally depending on how it is used.
 METHODOLOGY

Due to the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research was conducted
mostly with information whose source was the Internet, also used Internet
documents from reliable sources, newspaper reports and interviewed the Director
of the "José Arle Cuadra" School Center that allowed us to obtain the necessary
data for the action research. Having used the data collection method allowed us to
collect information from the sample used, 19 students from fourth to sixth grade of
the "Centro Escolar José Arle Cuadra", of the Caserio Chambalita, Municipality of
Chinameca, department of San Miguel. Taking many bibliographic sources, which
provided us with information, news and real situations about the distribution of
technological tools and the follow-up given to the project of closing the digital gap
in El Salvador. Likewise, there is an Action Plan specially designed to contribute in
a positive and respectful way with the actions already used by the current
government and to provide solutions to those situations that have not been
resolved to improve the student experience of Salvadoran children and youth in El
Salvador.
 DESIGN

The strategy already used by MINEDUCYT will be taken as an example, since it is

focusing on the situation of computer delivery by MINEDUCYT. From this situation
this Action Plan will follow a research development, data collection will be done first
through interviews with the director of the School Center and some students taken
as a sample of those who got computers on December 7, so we can know the
knowledge they have about the management of technological equipment, data that
will be added to the information obtained from reliable internet sources on the
subject of research as newspaper interviews with Carla Hanania, official
documents, etc. In addition to focusing on the main problem, which is the lack of a
good internet connection and electricity in the homes of the rural area of the
Educational Center, which hinders the effective teaching-learning process in
students.
 SAMPLING

In 2020, the delivery of computers to public sector teachers began, in February

2021 the delivery of computers to public sector students in El Salvador began,
although at first it was proposed that the first students to receive a technological
device would be third grade being that way they would receive tablets, from fourth
grade to high school students would be receiving computers, HP and DELL brand,
so to date more 180 thousand students have already received their computers in
the 262 delivery points that were enabled , one per municipality of the country,
which are equipped with an internet system that is supposed to allow them to
connect to the different virtual platforms where they will receive their classes,
although this is not the reality for those who do not have a signal or electricity, it is
the In the case of the students of the Jose Arle Cuadra School Center, this is not
an advantage or a benefit since the fact of living in a rural area the signal is poor,
therefore Internet connectivity is almost nil. The main problem for those who
already have them is the lack of a good internet connection and having the
electricity to charge the machine, as a result of this there is the school dropout that
has occurred in recent times at the Jose Arle school Block.
 MEASURES

The Action Plan measured the level of effectiveness of the Computer Delivery
program, to find those situations that need to be addressed to improve and not limit
the students in their learning process. This is a work that goes hand in hand with
the data obtained from information not only from the websites, but also from the
testimonies of the sample of students and teachers in this research. Some of this
data was collected by interviews with some students who already had their
computer and with the director about the limitations that this new experience
implied. Most of the students were very afraid of damaging them, not giving them
proper maintenance, others did not even know the importance of taking care of the
device, leaving it almost forgotten on the day of delivery, but most have a common
enemy and it is internet quality that does not It allows them on many occasions to
carry out their work and because they are of scarce economic resources they could
not pay for residential internet, and more than half with electrical energy problems.
 ACTION PLAN

ELECTRIC POWER AND INTERNET FOR EVERYONE.

In order to support the improvement of the Action Plan that the Ministry of
Education has implemented to date with the closing of the digital divide in El
Salvador, the following project is presented that is expected to provide medium and
long-term solutions to provide a better education to those students who are in the
learning process, who have been affected not only during the COVID-19 pandemic,
but permanently to improve the education process in our country and in the Jose
Arle Cuadra School Center in particular . Continuation of the current plan will be
needed, but now with some improvements that are explained in the following
phases. Taking into account everything obtained in the research, it is observed that
the main problems caused by the limitation of a good internet connection are 2: the
lack of internet connection and the lack of electricity in most homes.

Stage # 1 INTERNET ANTENNAS CONSTRUCTION.

Now that the majority of students have their

technological device, it is proposed to the
Government of El Salvador that not only for the
benefit of the Jose Arle Cuadra School Center
they work by connection to a stable internet, if
not for all those schools that do not have a
signal stable due to the lack of power lines and
internet signal antennas, for which it is proposed that in each rural area an internet
signal antenna be built so that schools and students benefit from working on the
different platforms.

SCENARIO # 2 ELECTRICITY FOR EVERYONE.

As a second proposal for the

Government of El Salvador, it is
mentioned that, although all the
students already have their computers
and tablets, the problem is not solved
since most of them don’t have
electricity, to begin with, a sense should
be made to collect a number of houses
that do not have the service and then
build an electric plant that generates energy for those families who need it, since it
is needed for computer maintenance.
 References
Abernathy, D. J. (2021). Subitus. Obtenido de Subitus: https://www.subitus.com/10-frases-
celebres-educacion-en-linea-aprendizaje/

Grafica, L. P., & Hananía, C. (3 de Julio de 2021). Laprensagrafica.com. Obtenido de

Laprensagrafica.com: https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/MINED-advierte-de-
atrasos-en-compra-de-computadoras-20210702-0077.html

Moran, M., & Gomez, K. (30 de Junio de 2021). Diario Digital Contra Punto. Obtenido de Diario
Digital Contra Punto: https://www.contrapunto.com.sv/brecha-digital-el-tropiezo-para-la-
educacion-en-el-salvador/

Publica, P., & Sociales, E. (Junio de 2021). Educación y pandemia: efectos y perspectivas a futuro
en El Salvador. Obtenido de Educación y pandemia: efectos y perspectivas a futuro en El
Salvador.: https://fusades.org/publicaciones/NPPDES_Educacio%CC%81n%20y
%20pandemia.pdf