Face to Face: Remains to be the most effective mode of learning

Ever since the lockdown started because of the Covid19 virus, the schools have
closed and transitioned to digital learning. Because of that, the students were forced to
continue their studies digitally and in the comforts of their home. In this period of
learning, we are faced with a lot of struggles not only with surviving this pandemic, but
also with overcoming obstacles in learning. Personally, I also experienced both
problems. The government should reconsider the resumption of Face-to-Face classes.

In digital/online learning, there are dangerous effects of distraction in academics

such as mixing school responsibilities and house chores. Multi-tasking of learners has
affected learning as proven by Alexander Dontre in his research entitled “The influence
of technology on academic distraction: A review.” He added that reduced teacher
supervision is the major cause of this as in recent years, educators have gradually
transitioned many classes to the online learning environment. What if they had been
taught Face-to-Face and strictly supervised the students’ academic progress? We
would never be sure if it’ll have a good outcome but the chances aren’t low.

Related to distraction, lack of interaction continues to be observed and has

brought concerns to the schools. Because of Online Distance Learning, students don’t
have an opportunity to interact with other students, especially if they got transferred in a
different class and don’t know much of his/her classmates. Karen Ouzts mentioned in
her article “Sense of community in online classes” that growth in online courses
continues to spark faculty concern about the quality of instruction affecting the lack of
interaction among students, social processes, and social presence thought to promote
socialization of students into a profession. Physical interaction and actual learning
experiences are still the best teachers. I believe social interaction is very important
because it is mostly required to some extent. For example, there are certain school
assignments/activities that require social interaction like group reports, video
documentaries, etc.
 Continuing this setup also has risks of cheating among students. According to
Arden Miller and Adena D. Young-Jones in their study “Academic Integrity in”, within the
academic community, it shows that cheating is more likely to occur in online classes
than face-to-face classes. The overall consensus agreed that cheating is easier in
online classes (57.2% found among respondents). This shows that students sometimes
cheat on their exams if by chance they lack motivation to study and don’t know the
answer to the questions. I know that the resumption of Face-to-Face classes increases
the possibility of students getting infected by Covid19 and could worsen the situation of
this pandemic by spreading the virus unknowingly. But there are many other ways to
spread the virus too, not by just resuming the Face-to-Face classes. Although the virus
could still spread, we could always reduce the risk of it by following the Covid19 protocol
by always wearing a face mask, face shield, and always maintaining a distance from
others.

Distraction, less interaction, and cheating is proven to affect the development of

students in the long run, which is why we need Face-to-Face learning to come back.
Truly, if we continue with this means, we may not be able to progress effectively. What
we need to do is to help control the virus that is the cause of all this. Once we all
manage to stop this, we can then move forward again in life in its normal setup.
REFERENCES:

A. Miller. 2012. Academic Integrity: Online Classes Compared to Face-to-Face

Classes. Missouri State University. Retrieved from:
http://people.missouristate.edu/ardenmiller/swpa12.pdf.

K. Ouzts. 2006. Sense of Community in Online Courses. Learning Community.

Retrieved from: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.467.6094&
rep=rep1&type=pdf.

A Miller, AD Young-Jones. 2012. Academic Integrity online classes compared to

face-to-face classes. Journal of Instructional Psychology 30 (3). Retrieved from:
http://people.missouristate.edu/ardenmiller/swpa12.pdf.