From face-to-face to teaching at a distance - Lessons learned from emergency remote teaching

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran

Covid-19 disrupted health, economic, and tourism sectors and also paralyzed education, forcing Philippine K-12 senior high school teachers to shift from face-to-face instruction to emergency remote teaching. The study examines teachers’ experiences amid limited preparation, inadequate training, and unfamiliar distance education practices. Descriptive coding identified three themes: selecting the right mix of instructional methods, using varied open educational resources and information, and emphasizing care-and-understanding pedagogy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

What is already known about this topic

What this paper contributes

Implications for theory, practice and/or policy

Introduction

Literature

Measures taken by educational institutions

From face-to-face to teaching at a distance: Lessons learned from emergency remote teaching Lovely C. Corcuera, Abel V. Alvarez, Jr. Abstract: The Covid-19 disrupts not only the health, economic, and tourism sectors but it paralyzed the education sector as well. Since face-to-face teaching and learning environment is still not possible in the Philippine context, this phenomenon leaves the teachers to use various alternative ways of instructional delivery. The sudden shift of teaching and learning delivery continuously challenges not only the students but also the teachers who are serving as educational front liners at the time of the pandemic crisis. The lack of proper training and experiences of teachers in online teaching and distance education served as educational loopholes in the context of emergency remote education. Hence, this case study attempts to explore the experiences of K-12 senior high school teachers who have been immersed in emergency remote teaching. In analyzing the data gathered, the descriptive coding process was used. Interestingly, there were three themes reported in this study: getting the right mix of instructional methods, engaging in different open educational resources and information, and highlighting the need for the pedagogy of care and understanding. Although this study does not aim to make any generalities , however, the researchers saw the need to understand and investigate the journey of the K-12 senior high school teachers, which are essential in providing lending ears about their transitioning experiences from the traditional classroom environment to emergency remote education. This study concludes with the implications of the findings that emerged and the direction for further research. Keywords: Covid-19, distance education , emergency remote education, K-12 teachers , teaching modality Highlights What is already known about this topic: • The Covid-19 pandemic disrupts the normal functioning of the world , especially in the educational setting. Thus, immediate alternative solutions must be made for the continuous delivery of the teaching and learning process. • It is vital to take into account the expectations and roles of teachers because of the new instructional methods to deliver quality education during these unprecedented times. What this paper contributes: • This paper serves as a documentation of K-12 senior high school teachers’ experiences and lessons learned during the emergency remote education. This may serve as a basis for educational sectors to take necessary actions to improve the delivery of distance education. • The findings of this study reported three themes: getting the right mix of instructional methods, engaging in different open educational resources and information, and highlighting the need for the pedagogy of care and understanding. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • The findings of this study will help in facilitating educational policymakers to further enhance the delivery and implementation of emergency remote education and distance learning , specifically in the Philippine context. Introduction The Covid-19, a highly contagious disease, continuously disrupts the usual functioning of the world. In the meantime, private and public institutions’ operations got suspended and urged to close. However, due to the socio-economic issues faced by the governments (Buheji et al. , 2020; Nicola et al. , 2020), such institutions are opted to open gradually per their contingency plans and safety precautions (Mohmmed et al. , 2020) . Still, the government unceasingly tighten health protocols to slow down and somehow prevent its spread despite these resumptions. Based on UNESCO’s global monitoring of school closures caused by Covid-19, as of mid-September 2020, there are more than 800 million affected learners , and only 49.9 percent are the total enrolled learners worldwide. Further, there is still 52 country-wide closure (UNESCO

FAQs

Why did Philippine teachers transition to emergency remote teaching during Covid-19?

Face-to-face learning became impossible due to health risks and school closures, so teachers had to adopt alternative instructional delivery methods for students’ educational needs.

What challenges did teachers face in emergency remote education?

Teachers struggled due to limited experience with online teaching and distance education, including gaps in training, readiness, and appropriate pedagogical adjustments.

What themes emerged from the study of K-12 senior high school teachers?

The study reported three themes: finding the right mix of instructional methods, engaging with different open educational resources and information, and highlighting the need for the pedagogy of care and understanding.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran