Advantages and Disadvantages of
Modular Approach in Learning
INTRODUCTION
The coronavirus outbreak, known as COVID-19, first occurred at Huanan
Seafood Market in Wuhan city of China in December 2019. It has turned out to
be a global health emergency within a couple of months. It has rapidly affected
thousands of sick people or being killed due to the spread of this disease. The
COVID-19 pandemic also resulted in widespread disruption such as travel
restrictions, closure of schools, and global economic recession.
Most countries worldwide have temporarily closed educational institutions
to prevent the spread of the virus and reduce infections. Face-to-face
engagement of students and teachers within the school has also been
suspended. Because of this, the Philippines is transitioning to a new normal type
of education, and educators’ constant innovations and active participation from
other stakeholders are driving forces behind its success. The Department of
Education developed Modular Distance Learning to ensure educational continuity
and for each school to continue to fulfill its objective and vision of providing
quality education to every Filipino learner.
CONTEXT
Modular Learning is the most popular type of Distance Learning. In the
Philippines, all public schools currently use this learning modality; according to a
survey conducted by the Department of Education (DepEd), learning through
printed and digital modules emerged as the most preferred distance learning
Concept Paper: Advantages and Disadvantages of Modular Approach in Learning | 1
method. This is also in consideration of the learners in the rural areas where the
internet is not accessible for online learning.
The advantages of using modules for learning include: students can
choose their most convenient time and place to answer, it is self-pacing, it
provides flexibility for teachers, and the acquisition of better self-study or learning
skills among students. They develop a sense of responsibility in accomplishing
the tasks provided in the module. With little or no assistance from others,
students progress independently.
On the other hand, the disadvantages are not all students do their
modules wholeheartedly, some parents spoil their children and do the deed
instead of their children, it adds to the burden and extra work for parents, some
students tend to copy their answers from others which is very rampant online,
someone is getting paid to answer their modules, many students said they never
learn from the modules. It is just for formality cause and not internalized by the
students. COVID-19 will also impact the students’ mental health, UNICEF warns.
A departmental report released in March 2021 found that 99% of publicschool students got passing marks for the first academic quarter of last year. But
other surveys claim that students it has disadvantages. Over 86% of the students
polled by the Movement for Safe Equitable, Quality, and Relevant Education said
they learned less through the education department take-home modules.
CONCLUSION
The significant number of activities in each module is one of the main
problems that emerged in the implementation of Modular Distance Learning. The
Department of Education should consider this problem, reduce the activities, and
take out the unnecessary topic to attain mastery as much as possible. One of the
concerns of the students is that they do not have enough time to answer all the
modules within a week. Therefore, if DepEd cannot extend the modules’
Concept Paper: Advantages and Disadvantages of Modular Approach in Learning | 2
duration, they must lessen the activities. The instructions in every exercise must
be clear enough for the learners to understand. The topics must be simplified,
and teachers must give more examples. Therefore, all the printed modules
should be clear. The COVID-19 cases in the Philippines are still insignificant,
especially now that there’s the Omicron variant, so face to face is not yet
possible. The Department of Education and the government must collaborate
towards the success of the Philippine Educational System despite the pandemic.
RECOMMENDATION
From the gathered information and facts, several recommendations were
created. The methods and strategies to further improve Modular Distance
Learning are reducing activities from the modules, more examples for each
subject, home visitations, blended learning, and provision of colored printed
modules. The teachers are also recommended to be active online most of the
time to address the concerns of some students, which to be patient enough in
attending to the needs and to respond to the queries immediately with regards to
learning. For parents, teachers can assist them through text and call,
consultations, meetings, posting updates on social media, and giving them words
of encouragement.
REFERENCES
Wikipedia contributors. (2020, October 30). COVID-19 pandemic.
Wikipedia.https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19pandemic
Tria, J.Z. (2020 June 3). The COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Lens of
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41981898/TheCovid-
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9PandemicThroughtheLensofEducationInThePhilippines.
New Normal.
Bernardo, J. (2020, July 30). Modular Learning most preferred by
parents:
DepEd.ABS-
CBNNews.https://news.abscbn.com/news/07/30/20/modular-learningmost-preferred-by-parents-deped
Nardo, M. T. B. (2017, October 20) Modular Instruction Enhances
Learner
Autonomy. Sciepub.
Sumaong, J.D. (2020, November 27-29) The Implementation of
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