Emergency remote teaching amid COVID-19: The turning point

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

The Philippines, leading the ASEAN region in confirmed COVID-19 cases as of April 14, 2020, faced a distinctive educational crisis because it had not previously transitioned to distance education. The article analyzes how higher education institutions and educators respond to widespread semester termination through emergency remote teaching, while reflecting on an unstructured, crisis-driven approach to lesson delivery. It also highlights the role of online platforms, particularly Facebook, in enabling communication and support for students and stakeholders.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction - Curriculum Experiment

COVID-19 and Challenges in Higher Education

Facebook as an Enabling Platform

Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) - Concepts and Purpose

Emergency remote teaching amid COVID-19: The turning point Cathy Mae D. Toquero Abstract: The Philippines is now the leading country in the Asean region with the highest confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of April 14, 2020. It has always surmounted numerous curriculum experiments in the previous years but will continue to do so in the coming years as the COVID-19 pandemic is making massive hits to the education sector. This pandemic has brought a challenging and distinctive situation in its educational system since this developing country has never transitioned to distance education prior to the crisis. This article examines the current state of how the country is facing the challenge in the educational system and provides a glimpse of reflection of the simple application of an emergency remote teaching in an unstructured manner of lesson delivery due to an unprecedented emergency. Keywords: Covid-19, Philippines, Curriculum, Higher Education, Emergency Remote Teaching Introduction: Curriculum Experiment The Philippines has a challenging and distinctive situation in its educational system being a developing country. For example, it was only in 2013 that the K to 12 curricula was officially recognized for the full implementation of the educational program in 2016. It was the only country left in Asia with a 10-year basic education and one out of three countries in the world, Djibouti and Angola of Africa —(Senate Economic Planning Office, 2011) which had not shifted to the K-12 curriculum before 2013. So, in the Philippines, the students and teachers of the education sector have already experienced the winding normalcy of the curriculum experiment system. COVID-19 presented the discrediting truth that has the gateways of the academe rumbling for strong pillars as the termination of the academic semester ensued in most of the universities. This is just a glimpse of the corporeality in the academe that many Filipino students are unable to access distance education that has never been a parcel in the history of the curriculum of the greater majority of the higher learning institutions in the country. Focusing on the academic silver linings, the Filipino students are attuned to the utilization of Facebook for virtual relations, news updates, and global trends. For example, based on the January data (NapoleonCat, 2020), there are 73, 170,000 Filipinos who own a Facebook account and this translates for 66.4% of the nation’s populace, with 24,000,000 active Facebook users whose age range are between 18 to 24. On the heightening of the confirmed cases in the Philippines and worldwide, numerous Filipino students including academicians have found solace online and created new online Facebook group pages for various reasons. As of April 14, 2020, the Philippines has become the leading country in the Asean region with the highest cases of COVID-19 accounting for 5, 223 confirmed cases based on the Situation report-85 of the World Health Organization (2020) . Shifting cultivation through cyberspace, the Filipino people accessed Facebook accounts for daily updates of the global crisis which is a shared similar experience among many nations. Through Facebook, there were invitations from colleagues to join diverse virtual groups such as a page exclusive for faculty efforts to raise awareness for social development and to provide innovative service to the stakeholders. This group was able to formulate ideas through boundless virtual meetings and chats over Facebook and has raised monetary donations to complement the tangible and intangible provisions for medical professionals, safety and security personnel, and stranded students in the university. Some Facebook pages allowed the leeway for social connections and virtual relations from people to compromise a juxtaposition in curricular interest but subtly convened due to the shared home quarantine and community lockdown understandings. Cue Emergency Remote Teaching The pandemic h

FAQs

Why was emergency remote teaching needed in the Philippines during COVID-19?

The Philippines had not transitioned to distance education before the crisis, and COVID-19 prompted widespread closures and semester termination, making reliable instructional support urgent.

How did the article describe the difference between ERT and regular online distance education?

Emergency remote teaching focuses on creating reliable, easy-to-produce instructional support during the crisis, unlike comprehensive online learning that typically takes much longer to implement.

What platform does the article highlight as helpful for virtual communication?

The article emphasizes the use of Facebook by students and educators for virtual relations, updates, group discussions, and community support.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet