FENOMENAL 2O2O

Learning on Screens

by Karl Onayan & Kelly Cassandra Teja

Eat. Browse. Sleep. And with a dab of Tiktok and Netflix, you waste away months of free time you wish you never had wished before. Has quarantine got you stuck in this cycle? Are you bored in a house and you're in a house bored? Looking for something fun and exciting might be the answer but aside from these, finding something that is also informative and would whack your brain cells into action is better.

Got anything in mind? How about trying out one of the online learning sites and webinars offered by these institutions and organizations?

1. BOB Group

Founded by Amir Napii along with Debra Ann Ponce, the BOB Group is a youth organization that aims to better the best of aspiring student leaders in leading the community as well as their organizations. The Student Leadership webinar series will run for 2 months with 8 webinar sessions every Saturdays at 4 PM via Zoom, the group aims to provide an opportunity for men and women alike to mold and strengthen their leadership skills during this trying time. Currently, the group already held 7 webinar sessions, all with positive feedbacks and uplifting comments from the participants.

2. Rappler

Known as Philippines’ third top news site and a pioneer among the first news websites for the extensive use of online multimedia, Rappler is a social news network that started as an idea by Maria Ressa and Beth Frondoso in 2010. In case you didn’t know, Rappler came from the two words “rap” which means to talk freely and frankly, and “ripple” which means to make waves.

Rappler’s civic engagement arm, MovePH, organized a series of webinars that aims to help Filipinos spot and combat online disinformation. At a time like this, where everyone craves for immediate news and information to allay the fear of the coronavirus, netizens forget to separate fact from fiction. This often led to Filipinos needlessly panicking over fake news. It is, therefore, an imperative not only to stay at home to curb the outbreak but to also be responsible and well-informed when sharing and posting information online. We don’t want to be dubbed as the next Mocha Uson, eh?

3. Harvard University

Being one of the oldest institutions established in the United States and an Ivy League at that, Harvard University aims for excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and for the development of leaders in various disciplines who may become catalysts of change.

Believe it or not, Harvard offers free online courses and webinars covering diverse topics from business to medicine and social sciences. While most of the online courses and webinars are offered for free, others come with a price, especially if you wish to qualify as a recipient of a certificate. Now, who would have thought that enrolling in an Ivy League would only entail clicking your mouse and typing on your keyboard?

4. Yale University

The third-oldest institution in the United States which was established in 1701, and yet another Ivy League, Yale University is dedicated to expand and share knowledge, inspire innovation and preserve culture and science for the generations of the future.

Open Yale Courses, a project cultivated by Yale University, provides an opportunity to freely access a selection of introductory courses taught by the teachers and scholars of Yale. The goal is to expand and provide access to learning materials to those who are passionate about learning. All of the courses offered are without a charge. Each course features a full set of course materials which includes a video of the class lecture, syllabi, reading suggestions, and problem sets.

5. Coursera

A product of a vision to provide life-changing lessons and experiences to everyone anywhere in the world, Coursera was established by Stanford computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng in 2012. It is currently one of the leading online learning platforms which offer hundreds of online courses, specializations, and degrees to the online community.

With more than 200 of the world’s best universities and educators as partners, Coursera offers a wide range of courses, varying from accounting, to engineering and programming, and so much more. Most, if not all, of the online courses and specializations, are free of charge in registration and enrollment. However, for degrees offered, such as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration isn’t for free.

2020 came off as a shock. Suddenly being forced to lock ourselves up inside our homes and getting this much free time were situations we weren't expecting to be in. Our lives beyond the door of our homes seemed like a rare dream to achieve. Physical interaction has been kept to a limit. Places we used to go to are now off-limits. Malls, parks, and most especially schools are now just pictures in our phones taken from the time when safety did not mean home confinement. This is where we are now. This is the new normal. Although the pandemic has messed up our daily lives, this doesn't mean we have to entirely stop. Stop discovering. Stop doing what we usually do. And stop learning. With certain limitations, we still can enjoy our everyday lives. Fun was never out of our options and learning certainly didn't end the moment we chose to stay at home — the moment we chose to stay safe.

With our lives turning to a new direction, the internet has provided a somewhat remedy. A platform that takes us places without even moving an inch. It is a multifaceted venue where we can experience a similar simulation of our daily lives. Online communication can be our way of reaching out and different online learning platforms offered by various organizations can be our new classroom. So, don't be afraid to click and venture into these learning sites. Through such, we can still at least learn and grow, though virtually.

It may not be the same but it is the closest one we can get. The safest option, yet.