DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

TM 327 – ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

RANDOLF M. AGUP
Ph.D. in Mathematics Education

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Just as there are different methods of teaching, people acquire knowledge in a variety of
ways; adapting different educational techniques and styles will help reach the greatest number of
learners.

The greater premium for education in a globalizing world provides the motivation for
inclusive and more accessible education. In 1990, the international development community
initiated a massive global education move called Education for All (EFA) 2015. The Philippine
government has signified its commitment to EFA goals in 1990 and 2000. The Philippines also
supported the Millennium Development Goals in 2001 and the Decade for Literacy in 2003.

The Philippine Context

To ensure that Education for All (EFA) will be achieved, the Alternative Delivery Mode
(ADM) was strengthened in the Philippine Educational System in 2011 by allocating budget for
every ADM program implemented in identified schools. As defined under the DepEd Order No.
53, s. 2011, Alternative Delivery Mode of instruction was introduced to address the learning needs
of the marginalized students and those learners at risk of dropping out to help them overcome
social and economic constraints of their schooling. (Department of Education, 2011).

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides for the recognition and promotion of other
forms of education other than formal education. Article XIV, Section 2, Paragraph 1 declares that
the State shall establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of
education relevant to the needs of the people and society; and paragraph 4 concisely encourages
non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems as well as self-learning, independent and
out-of-school study programs particularly those that respond to community needs.

The government through the Department of Education has exerted a lot of efforts to make
education flexible, relevant, and accessible to all learners. (Vergara, 2015) The Alternative
Learning System (ALS) in the Philippines provides a practical option to the existing formal
instruction as an alternate or substitute for those who do not have or cannot access formal education
in schools. ALS includes both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills.
Formal Education system is classroom-based, managed by trained formal school teachers. ALS
Non-Formal Education, on the other hand, happens outside the classroom or community-based
which is managed by ALS learning facilitators at an agreed schedule and venue between the
learners and facilitators. (Department of Education, 2017).

The Governance Act for Basic Education otherwise known as the Republic Act 9155
stipulates the establishment of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) to provide out-of-school
children, youth and adults population with basic education.

The Radio-Based Instruction (RBI) Program is an alternative learning delivery mode using
radio broadcast technology to deliver the ALS programs. As a form of distance learning, it can

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expand access to education by bringing it to where the learners are. It aims to provide learning
opportunities to listeners and enable them to acquire equivalency in basic education through the
broadcast of lessons. (Department of Education, 2017).

Why Alternative Learning System?

Public education seems to focus on systems, rules, traditions, and constituencies.

Even for students who do well in traditional classrooms, lessons learned in good ALS
environments such as functionally defined assessments, individually paced and structured study
programs, use of mediated content delivery, project-based teaching, etc., can be applied with
dramatically improved results.

The alternative learning community has much to teach all other educators. On the academic
side, teaching and learning can then begin where the student is and can move ahead at a pace that
leads to mastery. On the personal side, barriers to learning can be removed or mitigated through
support, counseling, provision of special services or other means. Beyond being advantages, these
approaches are essential for this population.

Despite the poor performance of ALS, it cannot be denied that through the years it has
generated alternatives in making education more flexible, participatory, transformative and
responsive to the circumstances of its learners. These are the prerequisites that should be sustained
and strengthened to ensure that education will indeed be the “great equalizer” amidst a very
demanding and extremely competitive environment brought by globalization.

What is more to see?

Now, alternative learning system is no longer confined with home schooling, creating
home-based classrooms, or community-based classrooms. The emergence and existence of
modern technology plus the use of internet access now mobilizes not only the marginalized citizens
of a certain country but also giving equal opportunities to other learners who are unable to attend
formal schooling due to personal constraints.

Internet-based or online schooling has become another platform of learning, this alternative
learning system is a way of studying for a recognized qualification without needing to attend
classes on campus. Software applications were designed to take educational content and move it
to the web. Educating users in an online setting is the simple economic benefit of elimination of
the physical space and challenge associated with getting users to one place to learn. By leveraging
technology and the internet, learning can be done anytime, anywhere, and is considerably more
cost effective.

Offering courses online is advantageous for business, whether for employee training,
partner training, customer training, or even fee-based online courses. Courses online typically are
hosted in a learning management system (LMS).

The Online Education System is, at its core, what prompted technological advancements
in e-books, learning management, and learning record management. These systems enable learners
to access content from anywhere with access to the internet. Furthermore, your educational content
can be authored in a way that makes it dynamic, interactive, and interesting. As information
technology advances, these systems improve to incorporate functionality including data tracking
and automation. (Litmos, n.d.)

The online environment is changing continuously, and it represents a great opportunity for
learning. It is very important to discover how to learn using all available communication channels
and choosing the ones that best suit a person’s style of filtering the information.

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 What others are already doing

Online learning turns out to be more and more practiced. Many traditional universities
started to share their courses online for free. It represents an easy and comfortable method to
achieve knowledge in almost every field, from law and accounting, to human sciences, such as
psychology and sociology or history.

Online learning is a great alternative to traditional universities, especially for people who
can’t afford the time and money to take real courses. (Armstrong, 2013) Though online learning
cannot offer human interaction and could pose difficulty if it is meant for disciplines that involve
practice, it is still seen as great alternative because it represents a great way to study many fields
and to boost the level of self-motivation, and students can finish their academic tasks quickly as
they hold their schedule which leaves more time for work, hobbies, or in finding a job.

There are some schools that already offer the full distance programs on the Internet. But
nearly all the universities and some secondary schools are introducing some complementary
distance forms of education.

As for the University of Edinburgh (2017), their programs, whether delivered online or on
campus, are subject to the same rigorous criteria, which means they must meet strict academic
standards before being approved by the University’s governing body. Most of the distance learning
programs powered by the cloud is aimed at those who wish to study for a postgraduate qualification
alongside work or other commitments. Online programs are of equal value to on-campus programs
in terms of entry criteria and overall workload. The only difference is in the way the course is
delivered.

In United Kingdom, the Open University (OU) is its largest academic institution and a
world pioneer in distance learning. To date, more than two million students were taught worldwide.
Various online courses are offered including Bachelor degrees of Science, Arts, and Laws, as well
as Masters degrees of Arts, Science, Education, Engineering, and Business Administration. A
recent survey published in November 2015 by Times Higher Educational Supplement shows that
UK employers rate the Open University highly. The Times Higher Educational Supplement ranks
the best UK universities as chosen by major UK employers. The Open University ranks in 13th
place, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge taking first and second place respectively.
OU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education which is a voluntary,
non-governmental, membership association that defines, maintains, and promotes educational
excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. The Open
University has been a member since 2005 and its accreditation was re-affirmed in November 2015.
(Open University, 2017).

Studies in OU take place online, enabling their students to study whenever and wherever
they wish which is clearly perceived in their slogan “The Open University is the university that
comes to you.”

In conclusion

There are a lot of alternative learning systems which a country offers to educate its citizens.
The purpose of the creation of these alternative learning systems is to fulfill the country’s duty to
deliver education to its citizenry, eliminate illiteracy, and improve lifelong learning of its citizens.

However, I believe that alternative online learning should be seen as a complement and
extension of the classical or traditional form of learning. Not even the best online course can fully
replace the personal contact with a teacher, or the human relationships that develop in a group. So,
traditional classes should not be fully replaced with online learning for these reasons.

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References:

Armstrong, S. (2013, April 5). What are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning?
Retrieved November 5, 2017, from eLearning Industry:
https://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning

Department of Education (2011, July 13). DO 53, s. 2011 - Policy guidelines on the utilization of
funds for alternative delivery modes (ADMs) in formal basic education. Retrieved
November 5, 2017, from http://www.deped.gov.ph/orders/do-53-s-2011

Department of Education (2017). ALS programs. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from

Department of Education (2017). Alternative learning system. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from
http://www.deped.gov.ph/als

Litmos (n.d.) What is an online learning system. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from
https://www.litmos.com/training-platform/what-is-online-education-system/

Open University (2017). Distance and online courses. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from
http://www.openuniversity.edu/courses

University of Edinburgh (2017). Online learning. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from

Vergara, E. (2015, May 9). Education for all (EFA) through alternative delivery mode (ADM).
Retrieved November 5, 2017, from Philippines Star: http://www.philstar.com/freeman-
opinion/2015/05/09/1452873/education-all-efa-through-alternative-delivery-mode-adm

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