Page 23 - DepEd Newsletter 2020

Open High School Program (OHSP) was added as anoth- to contextualize the 21st learning theory so as to fit the
er ADM program. Examples of these are Project EASE school and its stakeholders’ milieu. World Bank (2020)
(Effective and Affordable Secondary Education), Home has suggested that countries need to plan for a multi-fac-
Study Program or Blended Learning. eted remote learning model.

According to the ADM research conducted in the divi- Under the DORP program, three modes of learning were
sion, most of the school stakeholders in all the districts provided for the learners to be able to continue their
in general, with the exception of majority of the school schooling even without attending formal classes. One is
stakeholders in La Trinidad and Tublay Districts foresee the modular system wherein students are given learn-
blended learning as the most plausible teaching and ing modules which they can bring home for self-study.
learning delivery mode at this point in time. Another one is an internet-based learning which is an
online learning and the blended technology which is a
It is worth mentioning, however, that although internal merger of the modular and internet-based modes of
stakeholders preferred blended learning, the external teaching and learning (SEAMEO INNOTECH, 2012).
stakeholders placed home study on the top list of their
preferred teaching and learning delivery mode. None- The ADMs/FLS are implemented in response to a variety
theless, still, blended learning has been chosen by 40 of challenges, such as overcrowding, teacher shortages,
percent of the total respondents’ population making lack of instructional materials, and remoteness/ inac-
it as the most preferred teaching and learning delivery cessibility of schools. As SEAMO INNOTECH (2015) has
mode by schools stakeholders in the Schools Division of concluded, in the aftermath of a calamity, as what we are
Benguet. That is, the stakeholders prefer a combination experiencing right now, communities may suffer any and
of home schooling and home study. Simply saying, the all of the above, which points to the potential of ADMs to
respondents prefer that teaching and learning exist sustain education in emergency contexts.
as a product of collaboration between parents and the
school institution since in blended learning, although In relation, the ADM research results further reiterates
teachers facilitate the teaching and the school has the that: “As blended learning appeared to be the most pre-
provision of modules, parents, at times, can now become ferred alternative teaching and learning delivery mode
teachers and may choose materials for learning and by Schools Division of Benguet stakeholders, Schools
schedule of assessment. Division Office may review Department of Education
existing Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) programs prior
Although surveys have found that a majority of faculty to this pandemic to bank collected strategies used in the
still believe that online learning or distance education is ADM programs which can be adopted in the Division’s
inferior to classroom teaching (Jaschika & Letterman, Learning Continuity Plan and which are applicable in
2014) and although the Philippines is still behind in terms blended learning.
of technological infrastructure (Salac & Kim, 2016),
teaching and learning must still proceed. World Bank Among the existing ADM programs, to name some of
Group (2020) stressed on the importance of protecting which, for review include e-IMPACT (Enhanced Instruc-
students and preventing learning loss as the first policy tional Management by Parents Community and Teach-
in every country as loss of learning of learners will not ers System, MISOSA (Modified In-School Off-School),
only affect the educational system but the economy as Home-Schooling Program, Dropout Reduction Pro-
well in the long run. gram (DORP), and Open High School Program (OHSP)
(DepEd, 2011, 2012; SEAMEO INNOTECH, 2012, 2015,
Furthermore, as blended learning appeared to be the 2019). Besides, the Schools Division Office may consider
most preferred alternative teaching and learning deliv- Alternative Delivery Mode practice in other countries
ery mode by Schools Division of Benguet stakeholders, implemented during the pandemic like China’s Bei-
Siemen’s (2004) Connectivism Theory indicating that jing Normal University’s, in partnership with UNESCO,
learning comprises of different series of nodes to connect “Disrupted Classes, Undisrupted Learning” Program
hundreds of network is hereby encouraged to be incul- (McAleavy & Gorgen, 2020)
cated in the Schools Division of Benguet Learning Conti-
nuity Plan Development framing. As “no one size fits all”
plan is applicable in relation to teaching and learning
this time, each school in the Division is recommended

Schools Division of Benguet LEARNING CONTINUITY OPERATIONAL PLAN Page 17