The COVID-19 pandemic brought drastic change to the lives of the people especially to the students due to the nature of the virus face-to-face classes was cancelled which led to new adjustment in conducting classes. As the government mandated a policy on how to prevent the spread of the virus and control the increase cases in the country the Higher education institutions, both public and private have also had to follow and adjust in new situation where face-to-face interaction and mass gatherings are prohibited.
Committed to their mandate, the leading universities, and colleges here in Iloilo City, particularly the University of San Agustin found innovative ways to fulfill their task to continue provide high quality education to their students. From the confines of their homes, teachers and administrators were put to the task of revising and adapting course syllabus and requirements as they shifted to alternative or remote teaching modalities, both synchronous and asynchronous. Where students and teachers had access to electronic devices and reliable Internet connections, learning managements systems such as Neolms, applications like Google Meet and, Zoom were used. But where students had limited access to computers or unreliable access to the Internet, teachers and students used smartphones to exchange messages, notes, and materials, through text messaging, e-mail, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter.
In contrary, this new learning mode of education became unbearable to the part of college students were already used to spending hours on their laptops for homework, but adding classes, social interaction, and leisure to the mix can result in well over 15 hours of screen time a day, contributing to problems like less physical activity, headaches, and eye problems. The switch to digital learning has also created another problem: the necessity of having a good internet connection. Online classes have deepened the digital divide at universities, as many students struggle with securing reliable internet access.
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a new world full of challenges, and dilemmas it is up to us to adapt and transform the challenges and dilemmas to opportunities for our own growth and development.
This article is very timely and useful. Thank youu.