Behind the screens

It’s been a year now since the shift from face-to-face classes to virtual and modular learning. Chalkboards and whiteboards turned into screens, but have you ever wondered what is going on behind the screens? We have different situations and stories to tell about how the pandemic affected us, especially our education and financial status.
Education opens doors for opportunities and skills. However, not everyone can afford education. There are families having difficulties in accessing education. This has always been the case even before the pandemic, but the challenge became complicated. Imagine how hard it is to access education if you are encountering a financial crisis.
Some students have money and could easily access education, but they still encounter difficulties in their studies. There are working students who chose to continue working and stop studying. Besides, not all learners are comfortable learning in their homes. Probably, they might not have a quiet place to do their academic tasks or their access to technological devices is limited, which affect their learning pace.
Another challenge is that the curriculum demands a lot of requirements. The struggles among learners and educators (including our parents) are given. Some college students don’t just focus on passing their course, but are also working hard to look for money to suffice their needs. Students who are not financially secured sometimes incur challenges in their academic performance and daily routines.
Learners feel at times that their teachers could not see that they poured in a lot of effort to learn. But what is important is that we know that we’re trying our best, right? Teachers have struggles that we probably haven’t seen too. Let’s try to understand each other.
During virtual classes, we could not easily see what is behind the turned off cameras and muted microphones. There are situations behind the screen that affect a learner’s performance. The least we could do is understand that virtual education is like the moon. Sometimes, part of it is hidden. (AGNES A. NAFIANOG)