Online education offers more opportunity to Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino students now have more learning opportunities as online education continues to gain popularity in the country, information and communications technology school AMA University said.

The school, however, admitted the need to address the prevailing notion that taking online courses may not be suitable for everyone due to its unsupervised nature.

AMA University Online Education content development head Leohernard Quitaleg said they have been working to improve their courses in order for them to cater to different types of Filipino learners.

The school offers university-level degrees and short courses through online education.

“A typical course or subject has a number of modules and for each, there are materials in various mediums to cater to different types of learners,” Quitaleg said.

“We have practical activities for kinesthetic learners who prefer a more hands-on type of method than just listening to lectures. There are also presentations and videos to suit every kind of learner,” he added.

Angelica Bruzola-Harris, an online course content developer for the university, noted the need to design courses with different types of learners in mind.

“The idea is to really empower students to learn. Students can follow the modules that are designed to tackle information deeply,” she said. “The other supplemental materials also help expand topics and give students a different point of view on the matter.”

New technology enables more students to overcome usual barriers to education, the university said, noting the advantages of online education.

“Being unable to join virtual classes due to time zone or schedule differences is no longer a reason to miss a class. Students can easily catch up on virtual classes by viewing them on the online platform as sessions are recorded for viewing at any point during their enrolment. Students can also watch the classes on replay to clarify information on the topics discussed,” AMA said.

“Teacher-to-student ratio is also not an issue with online courses. Aside from virtual classrooms, mentors also receive inquiries through email, which they can reply to at length. Students get the benefit of a more targeted response to their personal queries,” it added.