Perspectives of Grade 12 Private School Students on Combined Modes of Communication in Remote Learning: An Analysis of Position Papers on its Implementation in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study explored the perspectives of Manresa School academic year (AY) 2020-2021 grade 12 students on synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication in remote learning and the consequences of the combined modes of communication in their learning process. The data was gathered from the participants’ position paper about the implementation of remote learning in the time of COVID-19 pandemic–a requirement in the course the researcher teaches in the study site. The phenomenological research design was utilized as the researcher conducted an inductive thematic coding in the analysis of the data.

The study revealed 13 themes describing the perspectives of the participants on the combined modes of communication: (1) self-paced, (2) undetermined response time, (3) time-efficient, (4) flexible location, (5) open to more distractions, (6) internet-dependent, (7) mediated by electronic and information technologies, (8) utilization of online and multimedia resources, (9) less interpersonal connection, (10) utilization of social networking sites and online messaging applications, (11) flexible interaction, (12) limited to no supervision, and (13) control over response.

The study also discovered that the combined modes of communication had two major consequences on the participants’ learning process: (1) discovery of their own learning strategies, and (2) acknowledgement of their deficiencies in the nature of education for their future.