In defense of educational standards and the UP Open University

IF there is one thing that I can agree with Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa Marcos, it is her concern about ensuring that educational standards should be met as we migrate to a blended learning approach, where one of the main, if not the major, learning platforms for many is online learning.

However, this is matched with a caveat that the senator from Ilocos Norte may still carry with her the pervasive and implied biases of many against distance and remote learning. Many people still doubt the efficacy of learning outside the physical classroom. And the issue here is not just the cost, but whether students can learn without physically interacting with the teacher and without seeing a physical white or black board.