Going Back to Face-to-Face Classes

Going Back to Face-to-Face Classes
By Jose Mari Almoradie Carpena
August 2022

As the COVID-19 pandemic starts to subside, Philippine schools have started to reopen their campuses to students. For many, this is a return to normality. However, we have to understand to truly understand that this is a “new normal”, not only in the fact that we have to be aware of health and social distancing, but also with regard to how we frame our students’ learning experience. Here, I propose some things we learned over the pandemic which we need to remember once we go back to school.

Don’t Let Go of the Tech We Used

The pandemic forced us to use technologies we never really used in the educational setting. Moreover, many teachers were only first exposed to such technologies (and their functions) due to the pandemic itself. These include Learning Management Systems (LMS), breakout rooms in video conferencing tools, online image editors, and the like.

Now as we go back to face-to-face classes, we have to realize that these technologies can help improve the learning and teaching processes even in face-to-face classes. For example, students can submit assignments and access learning materials via an LMS even in face-to-face classes. Some LMSs, like Canvas, likewise allow teachers to grade assignments easily. Our presentations can likewise be better, as instead of solely relying on PowerPoint or Google Slides, students and teachers can use Canva to be able to create better presentations.

Accessibility and Equivalency

Not all students will be able to fully return to face-to-face classes. This may be due to a number of reasons: being unvaccinated, having someone in their home who is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, not being able to physically attend classes due to distance, floods, earthquakes, among others. Thus, we should remember one of the values we developed over the pandemic: promoting accessibility. All of our materials, even those intended for face-to-face students, should likewise be (equivalently) accessible to students who remain online. Now, it shouldn’t be taken literally: while it would be best to give online students the same materials, there are some activities and materials which would be physically impossible to give to online students. Thus, instead of “equality”, we should aim for “equivalency”.

Redefining Assessments

Over the pandemic, many teachers felt that our traditional assessments such as those which used multiple choice could easily fall prey to academic dishonesty. In reaction, many teachers transitioned to more constructive assessments, like essays, project-based learning assignments, and the like. While not the best reason to use constructive assessments, it is good to see that teachers started utilizing these assessments which focus on higher-order thinking. As we go back to face-to-face classes, we shouldn’t go back to solely using assessments which measure lower-order thinking, just because they’re easier to monitor for cheating. In order to improve the analytical and critical thinking skills of our students, we should continue these constructive assessments, and minimize our reliance on quizzes which focus on memorization and rote learning.

Lastly, I would like to emphasize that we’re not out of the woods yet. The pandemic isn’t over, and we must remain vigilant to keep our students and ourselves safe. I hope everyone has a great experience when they return to school.

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