CHAPTER I

Introduction

Background of the Study

The world has now faced a global catastrophe. A virus came that did not only

spread in one particular country but to the whole world. The world is now experiencing a

pandemic. A pandemic is a crisis where the affected area is over a whole country or the

world. Because of the lockdown and quarantine, many industries had stopped their

services and many had difficulties finding ways how to survive with their everyday lives.

All the schools of all the countries affected also closed and got suspended. The students

had a long break from school not until when the distance learning was offered by the

Department of Education.

In the invention of technology, people got to do many things comfortably and

conveniently. In this time of pandemic, the technology is very much needed, especially

to students. Schools use the distance learning to teach students without spreading virus

from each other. Distance learning has three types and those are Modular Distance

Learning (MDL), Online Distance Learning (ODL), and TV/Radio-Based Instruction.

Online learning is education that takes place over the internet. It is often referred to as

“E-Learning” among other terms. However, online learning is just one type of “distance

learning”- the umbrella term for any learning that takes place. The teacher and the

students are not in a traditional classroom but studies distantly from each other using

their cellphones, laptops or computer with the access to the internet.

According to Rotas and Cahapay (2020), based on their conducted study, most

of the educational systems across the world have migrated to remote learning modality.

Remote learning is where the student and educator, or information source, are not
 2

physically present in a traditional classroom environment. Information is relayed through

technology, such as discussion boards, video conferencing, and online assessments.

This kind of learning is also the same with the online or distance learning. The

researchers added that the students voiced out about how this phenomenon is causing a

lot of difficulties. The respondents are selected university students of the Philippines that

are enrolled in higher education institution and the result of the study revealed that these

categories are the difficulties of remote learning: unstable internet connectivity;

inadequate learning resources; electric power interruptions; vague learning contents;

overloaded lesson activities; limited teacher scaffolds; poor peer communication; conflict

with home responsibilities; poor learning environment; financial related problems;

physical health compromises; and mental health struggles. The researchers,

Muhammad Adnan and Kainat Anwar surveyed undergraduate and postgraduate

students to find their perspectives about the online education in Pakistan. Majority of the

students are unable to access the internet due to technical as well as monetary issues.

The lack of face-to-face interaction with the instructor, response time and absence of

traditional classroom socialization were among some other issues highlighted by higher

education students. Their study resulted to a not specific but almost the same results

with researchers Rotas and Cahapay about the challenges experienced by students in

learning during pandemic.

Online learning is convenient and also fun for students because today’s

generation are accustomed in using gadgets with almost everything. Many also prefer

online learning because they can just search the words or phrases they are not familiar

with in the internet. After they finish working on their modules, they can just open their

social media accounts or their favourite apps to enjoy their free time. There is the fun but

do you ever think of the effects of spending so much time online? The research of Huixi
 3

Dong, Fangru Yang, et.al, tackled about the internet addiction and related psychological

factors among children and adolescents in China during COVID-19 pandemic. The

researchers observed excessive internet use among Chinese students and adolescents

during the outbreak of COVID-19. The potential key factors affecting the internet

addiction are age, gender, depression and stress.

The researchers of this on-going study want to know more about the challenges

encountered specifically by Senior High School students on the online education during

this pandemic. Pag-asa National High School has 2 types of online education. It includes

the online class and the digital-modular class. Online class uses the internet to access

the zoom classes, Google meet or any other video-communication services. The digital-

modular class also uses the internet but do not meet with their teachers through video-

communication. The teachers will send the Portable Document Format or Microsoft

Word document of the modules through messenger, Google classroom, Google drive or

email. Then the students will also send their answers with the same method. The

researchers want to know the challenges encountered by Senior High Students because

the researchers are also experiencing many challenges in home-schooling and

conducting a research study in this time of pandemic.

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the socio-demographic profile of the students in terms of:

a. Age?

b. Monthly family income?

c. Type of class (Online Class/Digital-Modular Class)?

d. Means used for online education?

2. What are the different challenges encountered by the Senior High School students of

Pag-asa National High School on the online education during the pandemic involving:

a. Online Class

b. Modular-Digital Class

c. Time

d. Financial

3. What are the effects of having these challenges encountered by the Senior High

School Students of Pag-asa National High School in terms of:

a. Mental Health

b. Physical Health

c. Behavior/Attitude towards learning

d. Social Interaction

Scope and Delimitation

Online education is one of the best method that the government implemented in

this time of pandemic but instead of giving the students comfortable and convenient

learning, they face different challenges and struggles with this modality. The researchers

themselves are also students who experience difficulties in learning. This reason made

them decide to conduct this study for the school year 2020-2021.

The general intent of the study is to let the readers know the challenges

encountered by the Senior High School Students of the new method of learning which is

the online education. The respondents of the study will be randomly selected 30 Grade
 5

12 students who are under the online class and modular-digital class. The outcome of

the study will be based on the survey questionnaire for the students. The questionnaires

will be administered by using the Google form. The link of the Google form questionnaire

will be sent through messenger for all the randomly selected 30 Grade 12 students.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study are beneficial to the following:

Online Learners. Through this study, the online learners can be aware of the different

challenges they are encountering while studying online in the pandemic.

Parents. The study will give information about the struggles and problems their children

are encountering. This will also give them awareness of their children’s problems and

help them cope with everything they are struggling with.

Teachers. The obtained data in this study will give the teachers information about how

their students are struggling with this online learning and they may be able to help in

giving the students alternative ways of learning.

Department of Education. In line with its implementation of online education, this study

may give the DepEd ideas on how to solve the on-going problems of the students.

Future Researchers. Future researchers can use the result of this study as their guide

or reference when they also conduct a study that concerns about the different

challenges encountered by the students in studying online.

NOTES

Adanan, M. & Anwar, K. (2020). Online Learning Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic:

Students’ Perspectives. ERIC. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED606496

Huixi Dong, Fangru Yang, et.al. (2020). Internet Addiction and Related Psychological

Factors Among Children and Adolescents in China During the Coronavirus

Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Epidemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Retrieved from

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00751/full

Official Statement. Department of Education (GOV PH). Retrieved from

https://www.deped.gov.ph/2020/06/08/official-statement-4/

Online Learning & Training. Primary Care Academy. Retrieved from

https://www.hmrpca.co.uk/online-

learning#:~:text=Online%20learning%20is%20education%20that,not%20in%20a

%20traditional%20classroom.

Remote Learning. Top Hat (Glossary). Retrieved from

https://tophat.com/glossary/r/remote-learning/

Rotas, E., & Cahapay, M. (2020). Difficulties in Remote Learning: Voices of Philippine

University Students in the Wake of COVID-19 Crisis. Asian Journal of Distance

Education, 15(2), 147-158. Retrieved from

http://www.asianjde.org/ojs/index.php/AsianJDE/article/view/504