COVID-19 pandemic has flabbergasted the world where it continually affecting the different global sectors, education at the beak. As the whole world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the conventional way of teaching-learning process was suspended to contain the spread of it and to ensure the safety of students and teachers. The pandemic has caused schools' closure locally and nationally around the globe. In May, Giannini, et al. (2020) said that these closures are impacting almost 90% of the world's student population. This 90% composed of 1.57 billion affected learners in more than 190 countries. It is very alarming that the learning has stopped and if this season stays, losses of learning will detriment constantly. At the moment, there are countries that finally went back in the conventional way of learning nevertheless there are countries like the Philippines who are still voyaging the new learning modalities.
At the onset of the lockdowns, different organizations like UNESCO had launched the Global Education Coalition in an attempt to support learning in the home as this becomes the new normal. Moreover, recommended the use of distance learning programs and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education, the reason why many experts and leaders in education have been striving to find every possible way to continue learning.
Giving light to the scenario, these actions being done by different nations appear to be the ladder of steps towards the digitalization and gearing to leap on the cusp of a new phase. According to UNESCO, 194 nations have implemented a country - wide school closure. This affected 91.3% or 1.5 billion enrolled learners at basic and tertiary levels.
In the Philippines, the Department of Education has been creative and innovative in ensuring the continuity of education and thought of varied learning modalities and every possible way of delivering quality education amidst the pandemic. DepEd had considered every aspect to make sure that the continuity of education is for the benefit of all. It considered the profiles of the students, varied effective teaching-learning modalities, the tools to be used in teaching, and the partnerships with the different LGU’s to be done to ensure the inclusivity in education that is, “ no learner should be left behind.”
It is believed that high-quality instruction is directly affected not only by the teacher's level of pedagogical expertise but also with their level of mastery in the selection and utilization, and creation of instructional materials or in the famous term, the modules. It was a question before of which learning modality is the best, effective and suitable for the learners. Indeed, DepEd had chosen the most effective mode of delivering the instruction and that is in the form of modules. Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, Modules have long been the foundation of classroom instructions, a learning material that is salient in the learning process among teachers and learners. Translating the usage into the homes would not be a problem but suggests opportunities for learning, particularly at primary levels, parents will assist them as they go through them without the hassle of a low internet connection and they can learn at their pacing, huetagogical learning. So far, even though there are some lapses and challenges that were faced by the Department, these setbacks did not falter the determination of the key players of education, the teachers.
The crisis at hand and detriments lingering around did not stop the passion of the Department of Education as it really prepared for the opening of the classes and considered the utilization and delivery of printed learning modules which seem to give light to the problem. In crafting these materials, teachers made some adjustments to the instructional intensity necessary to meet the academic needs of the students in the context of a pandemic. Likewise, the teacher set their instructional priorities and managed available time and resources for those students who are in the greatest need. Once more, the resiliency of the Filipino teachers only proves that any problem even the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are not beyond human resolve.