Difficulties in Remote Learning - Voices of Philippine University Students in the Wake of COVID-19 Crisis

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

Most educational systems worldwide shifted to remote learning in response to COVID-19, creating substantial challenges that students in developing contexts experience. This study describes difficulties faced by Philippine university students after the crisis using a mainly qualitative design with purposively and conveniently selected tertiary students. Content analysis identified problems across connectivity, resources, power and content clarity, workload, teacher and peer support, home conflicts, learning environment, finances, physical health, and mental health, followed by recommendations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background of emergency remote education (ERE)

Global impacts and education system unpreparedness

Philippine context and migration to distance learning

Digital divide and pre-existing inequalities

Difficulties in Remote Learning: Voices of Philippine University Students in the Wake of COVID-19 Crisis Erwin E. Rotas, Michael B. Cahapay Abstract: Most educational systems across the world have migrated to remote learning modality as a measure against the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) . This phenomenon is causing a lot of difficulties especially as voiced out by students in the context of developing countries. This paper attempts to describe the difficulties in remote learning of university students in the Philippines in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Following a mainly qualitative research design, this study surveyed a pool of purposively and conveniently selected students currently enrolled in a tertiary institution. The result of the content analysis revealed the following categories of difficulties in remote learning: unstable internet connectivity; inadequate learning resources; electric power interruptions; vague learning contents; overloaded lesson activities; limited teacher scaffolds; poor peer communication; conflict with home responsibilities; poor learning environment; financial related problems; physical health compromises; and mental health struggles. Based on the result, cogent recommendations are discussed at the end of the study. Keywords: difficulties, remote learning, university students, COVID-19 crisis, Philippines Introduction The coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 crisis has impacted not only the economic, psychological, and social aspects of the world but also particularly, the educational sector to a great extent. The virus, which first emerged in December 2019, became a pandemic leading to school closures and eventually, migration to remote learning by all levels of educational institutions in the new normal education. Thus, the traditional delivery of instruction in education has transformed and in turn, learning spaces were reorganized. To respond to the challenge of innovating educational delivery mechanisms in higher education, colleges and universities across the globe ventured into different practices such as distance education, online teaching, remote learning, blended learning, and mobile learning. These practices can be collectively called emergency remote education (ERE) . It is the temporary change in the delivery of instruction caused by the sudden occurrence of a crisis. ERE does not mean going away from the traditional arrangement of the instructional process nor creating a completely new educational system. It provides a temporary feasible alternative for education practitioners to perform instruction and provide students with necessary instructional support (Hodges et al. , 2020) . ERE is also a branch of distance education , however, treated as an ‘option’ not ‘obligation’ in this time of crisis (Bozkurt et al. , 2020) . Furthermore , ERE enables the making the most of available resources including a wide range of technologies that offer capabilities for remote learning. It is also emphasized that, in this case, ERE is the best term to describe education during this interruption and is not the same as those distance education practices long before (Bozkurt et al. , 2020) . Considering current COVID-19 crisis, World Bank (2020) emphasized that education systems must make use of ERE and prepare if needed, different learning delivery modalities to ensure that students are engaged and can continue their learning. On the other hand, the sudden shift of educational delivery also presents the other side of the coin for most students who are already disadvantaged long before the pandemic. On a global scale, UNICEF (2020) reported that more than 1.5 billion learners of all ages are affected because of the school and university closures. Shutdowns have put youth in a disproportionate state. With utmost consideration to provide education as a fundamental human right, educational systems around the globe were once again challenged to produce different meas

FAQs

What research approach does the study use to examine remote learning difficulties?

It follows a mainly qualitative research design and surveys a purposively and conveniently selected pool of currently enrolled university students in the Philippines.

What categories of difficulties are identified in remote learning?

The study’s content analysis finds difficulties including unstable internet connectivity, inadequate learning resources, power interruptions, vague learning content, overloaded activities, limited teacher scaffolds, poor peer communication, conflicts with home responsibilities, poor learning environments, financial problems, and challenges to physical and mental health.

How does the COVID-19 crisis affect education delivery in the Philippines?

After the move toward distance learning, universities were forced to close indefinitely and begin remote learning, which Filipino students then faced with multiple challenges, especially where technology access and adaptation were uneven.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet