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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

In today’s world, everything is more convenient and accessible due to the

advancement of technology. These changes had been a big help to every students, as the

answers to their curiosity is only one click, but no one assumes and predicts that there

will be a day that technology’s advancement will become an essential part of our daily

lives on such an unexpected virus that completely change our way of living. Our current

generation has been exposed to technology, yet no one had imagined that this day will

come that our education will be on distance and having online and modular classes as the

substitute on the face-to-face learning is not easy as on how we used it every day.

According to Bri Stauffer (2020), using distance learning, students work online at

home while the teachers assign work and checks digitally. It includes no in-person

interaction between teachers and students; however, students will likely rely on digital

forms of communication such as messaging apps, video calls, discussion boards, and

your school’s learning management system (LMS). This means that students will learn

new lessons in two ways; online wherein teachers will teach lessons through digital

applications such as google meet and zoom, and will give activities through online also,

and the other one is modular way of learning that doesn’t have to use gadgets as much as

online learning does. There will be modules to be send to every students that chose this

kind of modality and be guided by their teachers through messenger or text.

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Students’ capacity to learn had been challenge more on this crucial situation

wherein there are lot of distraction will occur on this kind of learning system and the fact

that there will no in-person supervision of the instructor or the teachers assigned into it.

According to a blog by an Anonymous (2020), “top distractions for students on online

learning include social media, texting, television, and family which can pull one’s

attention away from the task at hand and diminish productivity.”

Although there are two modalities on new education system, technology has a big

role on every students’ learning process and communication to their teachers and fellow

students. Online classes can be affordable because you will just learn inside your home

but students should have a healthy school-life balance so that they will not forgot their

responsibilities, tasks and priorities as a learner. This study will discover the impacts of

new way of learning to a particular group of students; whether it is good or bad and how

they cope up with these changes.

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This part of the chapter explicates the review of literature and studies that are

related to this research.

According to Simonson’s literature review (2012), “Distance education has

become the most significant change to the process of teaching and learning of the last

decade. It is ‘institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated,

and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners,

resources, and instructors.”

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Simonson mean that despite of being apart and separated with the fellow learners

and the instructors, distance learning is still a formal and effective learning process where

technologies are used to communicate and learn with each other. On the other hand,

having this kind of set up will surely be overwhelming to some of the students because

they are used on having the teachers by their side and when they have questions or

confusion, instructors will easily discuss it through board work or words explanation in

person which is better to understand it more. Though, it could also be done virtually, the

presence of each other could have a big impact to one another, plus the more burden for

the both teachers and students, as they teach and learn and at the same time doing their

duties and responsibilities at home.

Student's learning styles are among the acquired factors. Based on their individual

differences, different students use different learning styles for their learning. Today, all

theory-markers believe that individuals understand, organize, analyze, and process

information and experiences in different ways. Learning styles are different between the

two sexes. There is evidence that shows woman's learning style depends more on

sympathy, collaboration and careful listening (Grasha, 1996).

Learners have different ways to learn and absorbed what they learned at class.

This is what Grasha’s review of related study meant to say, it means that they have their

comfort way on how they will process and understand the knowledge and information

they have gained whether if it is distance or the normal way of learning or the physical

learning. There are students who manage to absorb all the information and lessons with

just listening thoroughly, while some have to take notes and read it and analyze it

carefully and on Grasha’s research resulted that women’s learning style is through
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emotions, sharing knowledge, ideas and own understanding with each other, and listening

carefully. Despite of all these differences, there are no questions that the students are

dedicated to learn whatever the situation we are facing.

Traditional learning starts from the idea of total control of the teacher over

students in the way a curricular content is taught. In other words, the teacher conceives

their students as “empty holes” in knowledge and only through their teachings the

“holes” can be filled. The traditional teaching, the students’ interests are not taken into

account and information is transmitted in the same way to everybody. (Novak; 2003,

Lulat; 2005, Prudence; 2008)

The review of literature talks about the importance of having the traditional way

of learning or the physical one wherein the teachers and students have interaction

personally and can teach and learn with each other. It is said that the teachers are the one

who fulfilled all the knowledge, ideas and information’s the students need to learn. Also,

in traditional learning everyone can cope up and there will no be biased because all the

lesson will be transmitted to everyone on the learning space.

Among the first studies to discuss the potential influences of the learning

environment are those of Moos (1979), Steele (1973) and Bronfenbrenner (1981, 2005).

These studies present models of the relationship between environments and students’

outcomes, as well as reflecting on the importance of the environment to learning. The

model developed by Moos emphasizes the relevance of the physical setting, as part of the

environmental system, to student outcomes. Moos states that ‘architecture and physical

design can influence psychological states and social behavior. Over the years, Moos’
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model has influenced research on architecture and education that has identified other

influences that the physical environment can have on student achievement and behavior.

Theoretical Framework

Impacts of New Way of

Autonomy and
Learning Independence
(Wendemeyer, 1977) and
(Moore, 1973)

Physical Distance Industrialized form of

Learning Learning teaching (Otto Peter,
1971)

Interaction and
Communication (Badth,
1982-1987) and (Daniel and
Online Marquis, 1979)

Modular

Figure 1.
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The study aims to identify whether the impacts of the new way of learning is

either positive or negative to the chosen students respondents. The theoretical framework

of this research implies that there are two kinds of learning; the physical and distance

learning, under it is the two types of distance education which are online and modular

class. There are theories that will support how distance learning will impact the learning

capacity of the learners.

Distance education is a concept that covers the learning-teaching activities in the

cognitive and/or psycho-motor and affective domains of an individual learner and a

supporting organization (Holmberg, 1989). There are theories like the “Autonomy and

independence” from the 1960s and 1970s, created by Wedemeyer (1977) and Moore

(1973), that reflects the essential component of the independence of the learner. The

“Theory of Industrialization” of Otto Peter in 1971 tells the attempt to view the field of

distance education as an industrialized form of teaching and learning. And the last

approach was the theory of “Interaction and Communication” formulated by Badth

(1982) and Daniel and Marquis (1979) tells that learners who do not have enough skills

of communication and to use medium should include learner-interface interactions.

The different theories will prove the advantages and disadvantages of distance

learning and how the opinions of the students about the impacts of new way of learning

to their studies occur.

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Conceptual Framework

Impacts of New way of learning

Change Online
Distance
Learning
Learning Modular
Environment

Communication/
Time Management Not fully
understand the
Positive Negative lesson

Flexible time

Complicated
Learning at Lot of use of
own pace distractions technology

Figure 2.

The study will focus on the impacts of the new way of learning towards the

students. The new education system called distance learning has two modalities which

are online and modular. Along with this new approach on education, indeed that lot of

changes occurs including the learning environment, as the students are inside the

classroom on the traditional and normal way of learning but on this time, their home will
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serve as their classroom and will learn on that place. Also the communication wherein

students and their teachers will just communicate using the different forms of digital

communication such as messenger, google classroom, zoom and many more unlike on

physical learning that they will see and talk to each other in person. As given that

distance learning is not the way students were used to, there will be positive and negative

impacts distance learning has. Distance learning will give students a flexible time and can

study on the way they want and used to, yet give that they will study on their home will

give lot of distractions to the students and have a high chance to experience difficulties

on using technologies, also the risk of not full understand the lesson and get confused.

Flow of the study

Research Topic

Gathering data Research

Respondents
and information questions

Sampling
Review of related
Evaluation
technique and
literature, theories
reseach design
and studies

Recommendation,
Encoding Findings and
Forming the SOP conclusions
and hypothesis

Figure 3.
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Statement of the Problem

The main problem of this study is to identify how the new way of education

impacts the learning of the students. This research aims to answer the following

questions:

1. What are the effects of the new education system to every student? It is positive or

negative?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having distance learning in each

learner?

3. How does distance learning change every student’s learning styles?

4. What are the distractions that learners’ have encountered during their online/modular

class?

Objective. The main purpose of this study is to identify the impacts of the new way of

learning to every student; whether it is good or bad. With the given questions above,

researcher’s objectives are:

1. To determine the positive or negative effects of the new education system to students.

2. To identify the advantages and disadvantages of having distance learning in each

learner.

3. To determine how distance learning change every students’ learning style.

4. To know the distractions that learners’ have encountered during their online/ modular

class.
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Hypothesis

This study is designed to assess the hypothesis that the impacts of the new

education system to every learner are both in positive and negative, yet there are more

negative effects distance learning has to the said respondents. Distance learning has

advantages for the students but from all the distractions and difficulties they have

encountered, they preferred to have physical learning class rather. “Online classes makes

more accessible for students as it gives more autonomy over their learning, and allow

them to work at an individualized pace. However, if you are more social learner and you

are fond meeting with the professors and peers in person and you learn better in a face-to-

face setting, you may benefit indeed from a traditional class format.” (Goodwin

University, 2020) From this given study of Good win University, students have their own

style on how they learn and absorb all the information, thus, both traditional and distance

learning have an advantage to them.

Significance of the Study

The study will be beneficial in determining the impacts of the new way of

learning to the leaners; whether it is positive or negative. It will also helpful in identifying

the advantages and disadvantages of having online and modular modalities, and how does

the students’ way of learning change. This study will contribute in knowing the

distractions and difficulties the students has had faced during online classes.

This research will be a significant endeavor in informing the students themselves,

teachers and even the parents about the positive or negative impacts of the new education

system to the learners. This study will also help the future researchers as it will serves as
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a relative researches in the future. This new set-up, having distance learning instead of

the physical one has advantages to every student; their safety will be assured while

studying and their time will be flexible, but having advantages can also have its

disadvantages.

Scope and Delimitation

This study will focus on the students’ opinions about the impacts of the new way

of learning to them. It will involve one hundred (100) High School students in San Jose

del Monte, Bulacan. The researcher’s study will focus on the views and opinions of the

high school students as respondents from different schools in San Jose del Monte,

Bulacan. The study is estimated to consume a month in order to meet all the objectives,

answer all the research questions, prove the hypothesis, and interprets all the data

gathered that is very essential fort the research study.

Definition of terms

Change - Implies making either an essential difference often amounting to a loss

of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another.

Distance – It is the state or fact of being apart in space, as of one thing from

another; remoteness. (Thesaurus)

Impact - A powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a

situation or person. (Cambridge English Dictionary)

Learning Environment - It refers to the diverse physical locations, contexts, and

cultures in which students learn (Press books). It is where learning takes place.
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Learning Style – It is described as a set of factors, behaviors, and attitudes that

facilitate learning for an individual in a given situation. (Cortland definition)

Modular – Consisting of several units that together make a complete course,

consisting of separate parts that, when combined, form a complete whole. (Cambridge

Dictionary)

Negative - consisting in or characterized by the absence rather than the presence

of distinguishing features; not expecting good things, or likely to consider only the bad

side of a situation. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Online - It is connected to, served by, or available through a system and

especially a computer or telecommunications system, such as the internet. (Merriam

Webster Dictionary)

Physical – relating to things perceived through the senses as opposed to the mind,

tangible or concrete.

Positive - a good, affirmative, or constructive quality or attribute.

Student - A person who is studying and gaining new knowledge at school.

Studying - The act of reading or listening to gain new knowledge, ideas and

information.

Technology – It is the skills, methods, and processes used to achieve goals.

People can use technology to produce goods or services. (Simple English Wikipedia)

Time Management - It is the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively.