Students' Issues and Challenges in the Use of the Learning Management System in Davao City

Aims: To identify the different challenges in using learning management systems and online payment platforms in the “new normal.”

Study Design: Qualitative-Phenomenology.

Place and Duration of Study: Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines. During the Academic Year 2021-2022.

Methodology: The study used purposive sampling in choosing the participants. The target participants were students from different private schools in Davao City. Twenty (20) students gave their consent to participate in this study. The information was obtained through validated semi-structured interview questionnaires.

Results: Most of the participants were college students. Four (4) themes were identified in this study, and each theme also identified different subthemes, which will sum up the different challenges experienced by the participants. The themes were (1) thoughts about the online interview wherein participants said they had difficulties, were okay with the setup, and had no choice but to adapt to the “new normal” setup. (2) Experiences in online classes wherein they have issues with the teachers, issues with the enrollment process, overloaded submission, issues on the internet connection, online class effectiveness, and health issues. (3) Experiences in the use of learning management systems wherein the participants shared about the issues on matriculation, issues on using the systems, and the positive outcome of using the systems. (4) Challenges in using the learning management systems wherein they discussed the issues they experienced with the systems such as information communication, economic and financial stability, physical health, and mental health.

Conclusion: The schools and the students must have always a mutual understanding, especially when facing the pandemic where schools and students faced a lot of challenges such as financial, physical, and mental health. It highlights more on the positive and negative on the abrupt adaptation and implementation of the use of learning management systems. Aside from that, information dissemination both in the school administration and the students must highly be prioritized so that they will be informed of the changes that must be implemented for their continuous learning. Crafting, drafting, communicating, planning, implementing, and evaluating are the keys to having a be more equipped on the adaptation to the use of technology.