Name: DANILO R.

BOLOS JR
Course: Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership
Subject: PHDEL 604
Professor: Rex Linao, PhD

The Nature of New Trends in Learning

COVID 19 Pandemic made Educational Technology unavoidable and must be

widely accepted, embraced and continually enhanced to cater our learners needs.

According to the article published entitled Edtech and Covid 19: Digital Trends
Changing the Educational Sector in 2021, coronavirus lockdown caved the way of
new technologies to greatly impacted the educational system. It reshaped education
from traditional way of learning into the new trends that mostly remote and required
less personal interaction among learners and teachers.

The different digital trend that was presented, in my opinion, was already
present and used by some people years ago but it was not given emphasis and just
being used as option in some cases of solving teaching and learning conflicts such
as home schooling for the son of a prosecutor whose life is in danger due to his
father’s profession. Until Corona Virus 19 was discovered affecting millions of people
around the world that makes this digital trends a must to continue the learning of
people in the midst of pandemic.

Video Assisted Learning as stated by the author, provides self-paces courses

that fits to the needs of the learners. Well as much as I would like to agree but self-
paced learning is only applicable to learners who are already knowledgeable enough
to understand the content of the videos. It is for higher learning application already.
Using video assisted learning in basic education needs more guidance from the
teachers since videos may contain information that needs to be clarified. Some
videos need further explanation from their teachers for more understanding.

As what I have read in the article entitled pros and Cons in using Video in
eLearning, video assisted learning is expensive; time consuming to script, record
and edit; low quality video is more distracting than useful; use more bandwidth and
takes longer to load; logistics in scheduling the recording, editing and resources
needed and video storage is difficult because some media platform has specification
on video that may be uploaded to be shared to the learners.

I do agree with the author about video assisted learning that it provides a long
lasting learning materials as long as it is properly stored and shared. Even if the
original copy will be corrupted, you may find another copy if it is stored in different
platforms like google drive, vivo cloud app or youtube app.
 I usually send my important files like video learning materials on messenger
addressed to myself because whenever I need to see it or download it on another
computers or cellphones, I just open the messenger on the browser and download
videos I send to myself. I am also using google drive to store my files.

Video Assisted leaning is very helpful in our students learning since it is

interactive and could be used without internet connection because it could be shared
via Bluetooth and share it application alike. Actually, we are using it in our school at
present because our school was situated in the farthest part of Baguio District,
Davao City where cellphone signal is very scarce. We usually download educational
video from internet that paralleled with the competencies and standards of our
modules.

But only few of our learners have cellphones and gadgets that could store and
view videos to help their learnings. This is the reason why even this digital trend is
very helpful and as much as we would like to; it could not be widely used in our
school.

Covid-19 made a drastic change not only to our daily living but also in terms
of education. We are introduced to many online platforms to make education
possible despite not having face-to-face interaction. These platforms are useful not
only to the students but also to the teachers. Teachers are trained on how to use
these before the classes starts to equip themselves to the new normal. Using of
these online platforms enhanced our knowledge on technologies. We are now able
to reach out our students without meeting them face-to-face.

Google classroom and Zoom are two of the common online classroom used
by the students and also by the teachers in teaching. Both applications are easy to
use. The teachers and students can easily access to the given link. It also welcomes
a large number of participants which is convenient to a teacher with many students.
The links should be sent to a private group chat so that the only the students can
have an access to it to protect privacy. Students are also required to submit their
outputs online. Students don’t need to go outside and go to school to submit their
outputs.

Remote learning is advantageous during this time of pandemic but there are
also disadvantages. In using the online platforms, Zoom has only has limited time in
using since it is a US based platform we are don’t have full access in using it. The
teacher will cut the class and start a new one when the time runs out. It might be a
hassle to the students and to the teacher. Google Meet is convenient to use and can
be easily accessed the only problem is the network connection. When your internet
connection is poor you can’t access both online platforms. Remote learning is helpful
but it is not applicable for all especially to those who live from a remote area where
gadgets even electricity is not present. In online learning we also need an internet to
access but not all places have strong internet connection. Not all students can afford
to buy new gadgets and pay for internet bills. Online submission doesn’t assure us
that the receiver receives the one we submitted. Once it was lost we can’t recover it.
If we don’t have a copy we need to go back to the start. Also, the teacher can’t
monitor the progress of the students. Cameras are sometimes asked to turn we don’t
know if the students are listening to the discussion.

Remote learning is really helpful to both teachers and students in facilitating

learners. It might have disadvantages but it can be improved in the future. It must be
improved and also the high officials should look into the students who can’t access
these online platforms. The mode of learning they must implement should be
applicable to all students to make learning more accessible. It is not just for the
teachers but also for the future of the students. Since children are our future we need
to mold them when they are still young.

I do agree with what the author stated that when the learners enjoy they
learned faster like what I have read in the article Top 10 List for Using Gamification
Techniques to Engage Your Learners that gamification is fun and engaging; easier
learners to retain knowledge; drives behavioral change; create function between
learners, online and offline and it creates recognition by giving reward, certificates or
prizes for the winners.

The article also suggested 10 ways in using gamifications and those are first,
you must set the main success criteria so that the learners will have the birds eye
view on what they will going to expect after playing the games, second is that the
game should be launched in style that is capturing to the attention of the learners by
using colorful pictures, vivid videos and child friendly characters, third is keeping the
learning objectives close so that they will not be out of focus that the game will help
them on learning new things not just completing the game, forth is that use levels for
learning journey that starts from easy to difficult level to add excitement and
challenge to the game, fifth ,is that learners must see their progress at all times to
see how far they have gone in each levels, sixth is that the game must build
community among learners by comparing their levels or helping in one task of by
giving lifeline to other learners when they need help, seventh is that competition
must be encourage among learners by showing the leader board to see who is doing
better, eighth is that the learners will receive badges for every task they have
finished, ninth is that the learners must receive certificates or diplomas that they can
download and print to be displayed in wherever they want to show their progress and
lastly, after the games played by learners, all result, reactions, difficulties
experienced by the learners while playing the game must be analyzed and given
action to improve the game.

Although gamification has plenty of positive attributes in developing learning,

we cannot deny that there are also cons to this strategy and that was presented in
one online article entitles 4 Pros and Cons to Gamified Learning. It states that
gamification decreases learners’ attention span because gamification is a fast pace
activities and give immediate feedback on learners that they may expect the same
pace to all other activities and may lose interest on games that needs time to finish.
It also states that gamification is very costly as in making one game needs
equipment cost, software cost, and training cost for instructors. Most of the times
these costs are passed down to learners that only those who can afford may
subscribe. Another cons stated in the article is that gamification is difficult in
assessing learners progress since you may need another application to consolidate
your learners output and progress which most of the games for learning doesn’t
provide. Lastly, the article states that game logistics needs comprehensive planning
and logistics.

In my station, it is our dream to use gamification to provide a more interactive

learning to our learners but considering the materials and cost of implementing such
strategies cannot be realized. Only few of our learners have gadgets that can be
used in gamification and applications for games that could be used is expensive.

The idea of the author about immersive learning that it reduces cost and
expenses in providing learning among the learners is true and very concise as
immersive learning can provide education to plenty of learners at the same time. As
stated in one of the online article entitled Bringing Learning to Life through Immersive
Learning, immersive learning is reaching a greater variety of learners through an
environment that involves as many as our five senses as possible particularly our
vision, sound and touch rather than through the traditional mechanism of print, video
and audio. Imagine studying while looking on a 3-D periodic table or mixing elements
and waiting for its reaction while being just in their own houses. Looking how a
cheetah run from different angles.

Virtual Reality is one of immersive learning strategies that is very

comprehensive in providing learning. It is very useful in studying mechanical parts of
an automotive as learners will have 360-degree view while the parts are moving. But
most of the Virtual Reality applications are expensive and very hard to produce. It is
hard to find samples in the internet that could parallel with the learning objectives
that our learners need to learn. The equipment in using it is also expensive that only
few could afford. The trainings for the instructors is also expensive.

According to the Top 24 Educational Trends of 2020 by edsys.in, Virtual or

Augmented Reality is top 2 because knowledge retention improves drastically when
learning involves audio, video, and visuals which is lacking in traditional lectures.
This is one reason why schools have accepted virtual reality with both hands. In fact,
virtual reality is not only about seeing something but about experiencing the subject
which helps students to learn with better understanding. Teachers can find this as a
feasible option to teach them complex concepts with comparatively a lesser time with
the additional benefit of knowledge retention. It also takes learning to the new level
as learners just experience the subject.

Virtual reality is also top 2 in the article entitled Top 5 Educational Trends to
Look out for in 2021. Immersive VR experiences require a VR headset. This has a
digital interface which projects images, creating a real or virtual world that users can
see and interact with. It also includes gesture controls and easy-to-use teacher
controls.

While some VR headsets are undoubtedly expensive, Google Cardboard and

similar alternatives offer a more affordable VR experience – the user only needs to
insert a smartphone into the viewer. AR, on the other hand, can be accessed simply
through a smartphone or tablet.
 In a similar way, the technology projects images, sound and video using the
device camera and is displayed via the screen. However, rather than immerse the
viewer in another reality, it layers these images on top of what can be seen on the
camera. As a simple example, Google search allows you to see different animals in
your environment, so you could be looking at a panda sitting next to your desk! Try it
yourself by searching for “panda” on your smart device. Students engage with digital
technologies like VR because it inspires them to think beyond the four walls of the
classroom.
New trends in education mostly inclined with the use of technologies and as
what I have read in Benefits and Trends in Education, Technology is not just
changing industries and corporates but also the world of education. There is
substantial growth in usage of modern technology in educational institutions as they
continue to invest heavily in this medium to make courses more accessible and
enhance learning. There is a vast number of technological innovations related to
education which are subsequently improving the online education sector as well as
pushing the boundaries of innovations.

Technology can have coordinative effect in the way of learning and teaching
and the emergence of it can push educators to leverage and understand these
technologies to be used in classrooms. While educators have come across several
new technological methods of teaching, implementing them in reality has been far
off.

To sum it up, new trends in education provide a wide range of teaching

strategies that provides meaningful learning to our learners. Whether its video
assisted learning, remote learning, gamification or emergent learning, it is very
important to learn these trends to cope up with the changing environment specially
this pandemic time.

Although these trends are very helpful but considering the actual situation of
our educational system in the Philippines, this trends are very hard to fully utilized.
Only those who can afford to buy equipment and gadgets can benefit. Add up the
slow internet connection that the internet providers could provide and the area that
the connection could reach, mostly those living in the far flung areas have nothing
could do but use the traditional way of learning.

References:
https://accelerole.com/10-tips-gamification-techniques/?keyword=gamification
%20techniques&creative=481846085909&gclid=CjwKCAjw_o-HBhAsEiwANqYhp8Vr-
TBrcGEaRG1KaakLYigVYZAMMKTssWqIxEhfcn-gFtUk7xPTZxoCHqIQAvD_BwE

https://tophat.com/blog/gamified-learning/

https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/bringing-learning-to-life-through-immersive-experiences-
codex3774.pdf

https://www.edsys.in/educational-trends-for-2019/

Charlotte Stace December 8, 2020 https://blog.pearsoninternationalschools.com/the-top-five-

educational-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2021/
Hussain Fakhruddin | March 8, 2017 https://teks.co.in/site/blog/guest-post-benefits-and-trends-
of-technology-in-education/