Professor Justice's Secret Files

Online Classes As An Option

During the previous year, I passed the teacher's board exam after finishing the necessary units in UP Open University that offered distance learning done online. My review center was also online.

I am thankful that I passed during my first take. Some people would belittle this board exam but I heard there was a teacher who was taking his PhD and has been teaching for several years now, more than I did, but failed this board exam twice even if his own students already passed them. There were those who finished the units and went to review centers through traditional in-classroom platforms but failed the board exam.

Online education was convenient for me because I was working back then, and I had a lot of appointments. But, thankfully, I managed my time well even if---honestly---I was dragging myself to do this because I was only doing this as a requirement.

I have seen a few different online platforms.

I saw UPOU as manageable, though the interface used by Harvard through the EDX platform was more engaging. But it was only a matter of design.

I also saw a system where the teacher could input more than 50 questions for a quiz or exam, but the system would only choose 50 items. The order of arrangement is random and there is time limit. This would discourage students to cheat since, even if they take it at the same time, they won't be answering the same questions for the same numbers. The system will compute the grades.

Other platforms won't allow the student to proceed until he/she submits a substantial answering comprising certain number of words, sentences, or paragraphs. References must be in place.

As for my experience, I also did group activities. I went to a UP campus to take final exams. I could message my professors and their assistants. There were times when I cannot proceed to another module unless the system recognizes that I already read the contents of a former module. There were safeguards in place to ensure learning.

In Marikina city, there is a public school that uses online education. Students only go to classrooms a few times in a week. They seem to be okay.

There are people who question the effectiveness of online education. Apparently, it prepared me for the board exam. It may also challenge the skills and strategies of teachers. But there are those who have already lived up to and have been surpassing these challenges.

Those who enrolled in UPOU include Senator Migz Zubiri, former Vice President Binay, and other celebrities. There are people who obtained their master's and doctoral degrees there.

While I know schools, for now, should not absolutely shift to mandatory online education, I think this can be explored as an option for convenience. But it could only be offered to those who have the technology and other requirements for a smooth learning experience. It should not be mandated to students who lack the technology and financial capability for such a setup.