EVERY time there is a disaster or a national emergency, classes in the public schools supposedly shifts to the “modular” method.
I have always wondered about that, because in my understanding, the term “modular” refers to the learning “modules” that were printed during the COVID-19 pandemic and were manually distributed to the students as an alternative to “face-to-face” instructions.
Somehow, the term “modular” stuck, and it is still being used today to refer to “offline learning” or “learning at home”.
As it is already happening now, our public schools are implementing what is now being referred to a “blended learning”, meaning to say that it is a blend of “offline learning” (meaning face-to-face) and “online learning” (meaning via the internet).
As I understand it, some school districts may still distribute printed modules to those who have no internet access.
What I am proposing now is to define “modular” as any form of learning content that could be delivered using either “online” or “offline” solutions.
The “online” solutions could deliver the modular content using the internet through website applications (web apps), or it could also use the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to send text messages otherwise known as Short Messaging Service (SMS).
The “offline” solutions could deliver the modular content using the classrooms as the physical venues, meaning via “face-to-face”, or via any form of physical printed materials.
Now that we have defined it this way, we could already say that the term “online” should now mean the use of digital (electronic) solutions, and the term “offline” should now mean the use of manual (physical) solutions.
Having said that, I am also proposing that we now define “blended” as a method that uses both “online” and “offline” solutions to deliver the modules, depending on what is available at any given time.
If we can accept this proposed “redefinition” of blended learning, it would become easier for our public schools to shift to whatever option is needed, every time there is a disaster or a national emergency./PN
