Republic of the Philippines

Saint Mary’s Angels College of Pampanga

Olongapo – Gapan Road, San Pedro, Sta. Ana Pampanga
S.Y. 2020-2021

EFFICACY OF MODULAR AND VIRTUAL LEARNING DURING

THE PANDEMIC IN EDUCATING THE ELEMENTARY
STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT SCHOOLS IN THE
MUNICIPALITY OF ARAYAT, STA.ANA AND MEXICO IN THE
PROVINCE OF PAMPANGA

A Thesis Presented to the faculty of Graduate school at Saint Mary’s Angels

College of Pampanga

Sta. Ana Pampanga

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Bachelor of Elementary

Education

Irish Dhianne S. Capaniarihan

Princess Trix K. Dizon

Cristine Joyce M. Fuertez

Mariah Celestine R. Venzon

March 2021
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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

School is the foundation of every profession in this world. Education gives us

knowledge of the world around us and changes it into something better. Education can

only achieve if we are persistent enough to fulfill our goal in life. At the same time, we

know that many students experience various adversities during this pandemic in their

lives including poverty, economic opportunities and difficult school resources that make

it difficult for them to take advantage of the opportunity to learn at school during this

pandemic. Pandemic is not a hindrance to continue the schooling of every student.

During this pandemic, educating the elementary students was the best thing to do while

students are in their safety zones or in their homes. That is why modular learning and

virtual learning in now taking place in the Philippines. Modular teaching is more

effective in teaching learning process as compared to ordinary teaching methods because

in this modular approach the students learn at their own pace. The students feel free to

learn in their own style. Education is a vital medium obtaining fundamental information

aptitudes. It is more than fair learning from books. It is an exertion of the more seasoned

era to exchange their life shrewdness to their descendant. Our world is always changing

and creating so it is exceptionally vital to instruct and bring up shrewdly individuals who

might get it the issues of advanced and unravel them in legitimate way. Educating the

students virtually is a new potential condition and a new challenge to our teachers during

this pandemic. The development of virtual learning is to extend the learning and to
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achieve an effective education despite of the pandemic that we’re experiencing

nowadays.

Education is one of the important rights of every person. Since then, it is one of

the rights that is forbidden by the Spaniards to the Filipinos especially on women but

granted by the Americans in the time of their colonization. However, as time goes by,

right for education became the one of the important right to be considered in every

constitution and law all over the world and especially in the Philippines. Educating the

students in this pandemic requires attention because of the fact that they are studying in

their homes and answering the given modules to them. In the municipality of Arayat,

Sta.Ana and Mexico, Province of Pampanga, are all in modular and virtual learning. One

of the functions of modular and virtual learning is to “fill the gap” and see the

“effectiveness” of education despite of the challenges during this pandemic that will be

used in this study. Because of the pandemic, parents serve as the teacher of their child as

they are studying at home. Also because of the fact that some of the parents didn’t study,

they are not that knowledgeable enough to teach their children so for their child to learn

some parents are hiring tutor to teach their children in elementary grades. They can’t

teach and focus to their children didn’t study and also have their responsibilities to do at

home and others are working to provide the needs of the family and to support the

maintenance and fees of their children in school.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem of the study is: How effective are modular and online/virtual

learning?

Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is modular and online learning?

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2. How effective does modular and online learning to students during pandemic.

3. What are the advantage and disadvantage of modular and online learning to

both teachers and the students?

4. How peaceful is the environment at home while learning?

5. How helpful are your teachers while studying at home and online?

6. What are the problems encountered while studying online?

Significance of the Study

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of modular and online learning.

Online learning is very common but became more rampant since the pandemic. The key

purpose of this research is to find out the challenges encountered by the teachers, parents,

students and school administrators in the implementation of Modular Distance Learning

and Online Virtual Learning in the Philippine public and private elementary schools.

Also, this study aims to ascertain the methods, interventions or solutions of every

educational institutions as well as the government in providing assistance to students,

parents and teachers who are having difficulty in this new learning modality.

Students. They are the elementary students that will serve as the direct recipients

of this research output to examine the effectiveness of the new normal of educational

system. At the end of the study the student will be aware of how does modular and online

learning helps him/her in acquiring knowledge in their own pace.

Teachers. The teacher’s role becomes crucial as for making sure the learners stay

engaged and do not loosed their motivation. The results of the study will help the teacher

to evaluate the effectiveness of modular and online learning that is being implemented in
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our country during this pandemic. The quality needed in delivering the right education in

educating the students.

Parents. As parents enrolled their children in this status of educational system,

comes with self-assurance that their children are given the knowledge despite this new

normal educational system. They will serve as the temporary teacher to their children to

support them through their learning process. Their contribution in this study will help the

researchers to fulfill the aim in this study.

School Administrator. They are often recognized as the first line of leadership in

any school in online and modular learning. They hold many roles within the school and

navigate each one to create a learning community that focuses on providing a quality

education and vision of success for the students.

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Relevant Theories

In general, the issues and challenges identified by the research participants may be

classified into two: (1) the need to stimulate innovative practice among UPOU faculty

who remain unengaged in ODeL; and (2) the need to support and sustain innovative

practice among the innovators (Table 1)

Table 1

Issues and Challenges in ODeL Practice at UPOU

How to stimulate innovation? How to sustain innovation?

New demands on educational institutions Need for resource

and faculty to adopt innovative practices

(P10, P7) -time e to engage in design work (P4, P5,

P7) - appropriate tools (P1)

- Need to address faculty indifference (P5, Need for guidance and technical support

P6) and resistance (P3) resulting from - student information as an input to design

- lack of time (P3) (P1)

- the difficulty of ODeL (P3) - addressing diverse student backgrounds

- the need for pedagogical reorientation (P8)

(P3, P5) - students as co-creators (P2)

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- Need for training and models (P3) Need Need for community

to address political considerations (P6) - for sharing good practices (P2)

- building a network of experts (P3)

Need for quality standards (P1, P4, P6)

(Note: The research participant who mentioned a particular issue is referred to by the

notation P and a number. For example, P1 refers to the first research participant and P3

refers to the third research participant.) There are nuances to how this issue plays out at

UPOU that may be unique to this context. First, those who were described as unengaged

in innovative practice are mostly affiliate faculty or faculty of other UP units who teach

part-time at UPOU. Some research participants (notably P3, P5, and P6) referred to this

group seeming inability to face up to the demands of online distance teaching in spite of

exposure to training in ODeL through UPOU-organized workshops and seminars. P3 and

P5 ascribed this to the fact that ODeL requires not only the acquisition of technology-

related skills but also a pedagogical re-orientation, which many academics would find

challenging. As P9 pointed out, faculty members are selected to teach courses on the

basis of their expertise in the subject matter, and they do not necessarily have knowledge

of appropriate and effective pedagogy especially for online learning contexts. Thus they

need to (re)examine how they teach, and be open to alternative ways of teaching: The

pedagogy in DE is very different from that in face-to-face teaching. And I think until now

we haven’t really succeeded in bringing about this shift in the mindset of our affiliate

faculty. Until now, for them it’s still using the computer, using email to address the

concerns of the students as if they’re in face-to-face setting. They do not know how to

design learning activities meant for distance learners. (P3) Because distance education is
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mediated by course materials in different forms, the challenge I think is in the teacher

understanding such mediation and then using media as an agent, the teacher’s agent, to

accomplish teaching. They tend to blame the university for not providing them training.

Yeah, that’s one thing and I think that’s real. But . . . I think you need to 169 understand

the nature of that work, to come to terms with yourself, to surface your own

understanding of what teaching is. (P5) P3 and P5’s remarks also suggest that the training

in ODeL that faculty members get may be inadequate. P8 in this study mentioned “no

proper orientation” as a problem that she experienced as a new faculty member. This

raises the question of how much and what kind of orientation and training is required to

foster the pedagogical re-orientation that P3 and P5 describe. It would seem that faculty

members need to devote time not only to participating in a training program but also to

exploration and experimentation and learning from practice. However, many affiliate

faculty are not able to make this time investment in teaching online (as noted by P3, P5,

and P7). They have other priorities, such as their teaching and research work in their

home units. Furthermore, teaching online is not easy, as P3 pointed out: “I think the

resistance is really because it’s really difficult, it’s not easy to teach in the distance

learning environment” (cf. Collis & Moonen, 2008). The problem is that UPOU

continues to rely on affiliate faculty to teach a significant number of its course offerings

every term. Although there has been a gradual realization that UPOU needs a bigger

complement of full-time faculty than its founders had anticipated, getting additional full-

time faculty is challenging. For one, the creation of additional faculty positions needs the

approval of the UP System and the Philippine Government, and this approval hinges on

budgetary considerations. Second, it is difficult to recruit faculty with the knowledge,

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skills, and disposition for teaching at a distance, as proven by recent faculty recruitment

efforts.

Related Literature

How are Web technologies used in online learning?

In describing media use in education, Mason & Rennie (2008) distinguish between

'basic', 'intermediate' and 'advanced' uses, and between 'one-way' and interactive' uses.

They cite examples of Web-based technologies for each type of use (Table 2-1).

Table 2-1. Types of media use in education (Source: Mason & Rennie, 2008, p. 45

Media Basic Intermediate Advance

Text One way Print One way web pages One way blogs

Interactive Email Interactive Interactive wikis,

computer- blogs

conferencing
Audio One-way audio One-way podcast One way ipod

clips downloads

Interactive

Interactive telephone Interactive audio

telephone support conferencing graphics

Image One way One way CD/DVD One way animations

photographs

Interactive share Interactive

Interactive image and edit simulations/games

banks
Video One way video One way animations One way vods
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clips

Interactive skype Interactive

Interactive webcast/ videoconferencing

TV

Kirkwood (2009) classifies functions enabled by ICTs, which include Web technologies,

as follows:

•presentation — making materials and resources (text, data, sounds, still and moving

images, etc.) available for students to refer to, either at predetermined times or 'on

demand';

•interaction — enabling learners to actively engage with resources, to manipulate or

interrogate information or data, and so on;

•dialogue — facilitating communication between teachers and learners or between peers

for discussion, cooperation, collaboration, and so on;

•generative activity — enabling learners to record, create, assemble, store and retrieve

items (text, data, images, etc.) in response to learning activities or assignments and to

evidence their experiences and capabilities. (p. 108) 26

Using technologies for presentation would qualify as one-way use in Mason &

Rennie's scheme, while using technologies to foster interaction, dialogue, and generative

activity would count as interactive use.

Laurillard (2002) classifies media forms according to the learning experiences that they

support (Table 2-2). Narrative media as described by Laurillard appear to reflect one-way

use of technology for learning, while interactive, adaptive, communicative, and

productive media reflect interactive use of technology. These media types enable
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different degrees of learner activity and engagement. With narrative media, learners tend

to be positioned passively as recipients of information presented by the teacher. With

interactive media, students can act to achieve a task goal (e.g., locate specific

information) and they can modify their actions based on feedback. Adaptive media

support the goal-action-feedback cycle by enabling repeated practice. With

communicative media, learners are actively engaged in discursive activity where they

articulate their understanding, receive feedback, and rearticulate what they understand.

Finally, productive media enable learners to construct or build new forms based on their

understanding, and thus "engage with the subject by directly experiencing its internal

relationships" (Laurillard, p. 171).

Related Studies

Mark (2020) conducted a related research study about the Education

during Covid-19 era: Are learners in a less economically developed country ready for e-

learning? E-learning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational

curricula outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program

or degree delivered completely online. Most of the respondents answered ‘No’ on all

items of the e-learning readiness scale. While there is only a small variation in the

dichotomous response counts, the results are suggestive that respondents were not yet

ready for e-learning. The Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains a compelling

issue destabilizing not just the economy, but also the education in most parts of the

world, especially the less economically developed countries. School officials may first

address the lack of digital skills among students and formulate programs that would

capacitate them. The possible shift for e-learning should be considered if financial,
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operational, and Internet connectivity issues of learners in the low-income sector and

rural areas are addressed. More strategic planning and quality management mechanisms

should be directed towards an equitable and inclusive education without undermining

quality learning. Even in a modular situation, elementary grade learners are may be

reluctant to embrace another transition of education scheme. The Philippines, one of the

less-economically developed countries, is a hot spot of the COVID-19 case in Southeast

Asia. With the current state of the Philippine government coupled with the crippling

pandemic, a notable impact on the economy and education has been observed. The

Department of Education (DepEd) decides to make an alternative way for the education

of the citizen of the country to put it in a modular and online learning system. Teachers

are expected to fulfill their duties and responsibilities to their students despite the

pandemic. Parents are the cooperators of this system that is being implemented and are

also expected to guide their children in making their environment more resourceful and

comfortable in fulfilling this problem despite the pandemic in educating the elementary

learners.

Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

Profile of Respondents Questionnaire Evaluation The impact of Virtual

 Age  A survey Learning and Modular

 Gender questionnaire to Learning according to the

 Grade level collect data was perceptions of the

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 Name of School given to and respondents

 Municipality retrieved from the

Perception of the respondents.

Respondent the Impact of  Data Gathered then

Virtual Learning and processed and

Modular Learning treated statistically

 Experiences in

today's normal

education

 Positive and

Negative

Experiences of

students in online

learning

Hypothesis of the Study

The main objective of this study was to measure to what extent using the interactive

features of Virtual learning increases the motivation of elementary students for the

learning process. The significance of this study is that it raises the awareness of academic

staff to the importance of using the interactive features of Virtual Learning as an

important asset in teaching young students.

 There is no significant difference in the level of achievement in Science on

elementary grade student when taught through F2F Method and Online Method.
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 There is no significance difference in the level of achievement in Science of

elementary grade boys and girls when taught through online method.

 Students will show preference towards online activities as opposed to the

traditional method of learning.

 Students will show a difference in attitudes towards e-learning based on the

students’ faculty.

Definition of Variables

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relative importance of previous web-

based course familiarity, computer ownership, computer use (years), amount of time

spent on a computer (hours/day), social media use (Facebook), e-mail checking

frequency, and smartphone use on online readiness of students. These are often provided

as selective demographic characteristics in online learning readiness literature, yet their

relative importance on online readiness has not been studied. Virtual Learning Readiness

Scale and a detailed information sheet were used for data collection purposes. The data

were analyzed through a hierarchical linear regression analysis in four steps. According

to results, nearly 17% of the variation in students’ online learning readiness levels was

explained by the predictor variables. First, as pre-entry characteristics, previous web-

based course familiarity, computer ownership, texting and Internet use by a mobile phone

explained 8%. In the second order, variables referring further engagement behaviors with

technology, computer use in years and the amount of time spent on a computer

(hours/day) explained an extra 4.5%. Third, the variables, corresponding to

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regular/habitual use, Facebook use and e-mail checking frequency, explained another

4.5%. The results indicated that previous web-based course familiarity, the computer use

(years) and e-mail checking frequency were the significant variables, predicting students'

readiness to Virtual Learning.