Contemplating on the Mascian Way of Learning

Today is the 8th day of March 2023. Nothing much unusual has occurred today, but in
seeing the effects of the recently announced transport strike for the week, I considered thinking
about a deeper problem that, despite having little effect on most students nowadays, actually
hampered the me and my schoolmates’ learning.

During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was slowly becoming clear that the
normal dealings of Filipinos were about to be hampered by the said global matter. Numerous
activities and establishments were shut down, and one of them was the vital system of education.
With that, such a phenomenon resulted in the shift to distance learning, whether it be online or
modular, but it was the former in the case of our school. This eventually became the replacement
for the traditional method of schooling (Mateo, 2021). However, I was oblivious to a certain
complication that it featured: online education can decrease a learner’s capabilities.
Of course, this kind of statement doesn’t only come from my experiences during these
last 2-3 years, as there are research articles that directly concur with it. Ranging from the general
academic performance reduction (Ghosh, Pulford & Bloom, 2022) to its specific causes like
negative impact on study habits, mental health, and personal troubles (Aristeidou & Cross,
2021), it is undeniable that distance learning isn’t the best alternative for students who cannot
attend face-to-face classes. Be that as it may, it was the only viable and widely-known practice
that suited the worldwide situation, so it was implemented nonetheless.

In any case, most students in the country returned to the conventional manner of the five
days of face-to-face classes for around five months now (Magsambol, 2022), the exception of us
Mascians and other learners who continue to take online courses. As a result, it could be said that
the lack of the latter often solves the issue at hand.
Nevertheless, the fact that distance learning will always exist means that its innate
problems are also bound to remain, so a definite solution is still necessitated to improve the said
system. This is because the remedies to several issues that concern oneself usually lies on the
individual characteristics one has. Therefore, there will always be some who are bound to fail in
the circumstances of proper time management, study practice, technological access &
experience, and self-discipline; factors generally considered to be associated with online learning
success (Waschull, 2016).

All in all, the subject matter of distance learning is a topic that takes diverse thoughts
regarding it which showcases its improvable nature for many learners in the world.
 References:

Mateo, J. (2021). Distance learning becomes new norm for Philippines education.
Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/01/03/2067819/distance-learning-
becomes-new-norm-philippines-education
Ghosh, Pulford & Bloom (2022). Remote learning slightly decreased student
performance in an introductory undergraduate course on climate change. Retrieved from
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00506-6
Aristeidou & Cross (2021). Disrupted distance learning: the impact of Covid-19 on study
habits of distance learning university students. Retrieved from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680513.2021.1973400
Magsambol, B. (2022). After over 2-year hiatus, PH public schools return to full face-to-
face classes. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/after-over-2-year-hiatus-philippine-
public-schools-return-full-face-to-face-classes/
Waschull, S. (2016). Predicting Success in Online Psychology Courses: Self-Discipline
and Motivation. Retrieved from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15328023top3203_11