UPOU Represented at the Webinar on Sharing Best Practices of Asian Universities

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), one of the founding members of Benchmarking Framework for Online, Open, Smart, and Technology-Enhanced Higher Education since February 2019 participated in the Sharing Best Practices of Asian University last 10 November 2022 in a webinar alongside Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) and the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). 

Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, Chancellor and Professor of UPOU, welcomed attendees to the event by sharing attributes of best practices in open and distance education through inclusion, sharing, and flexibility. UPOU is a pioneer of open and distance education in the Philippines.

Prof. Moustafa Hassan, Chancellor of HBMSU, shared some consortium best practices of Asian universities – 1) the development of the Benchmarking Framework dimensions; 2) its pilot implementation to five (5) universities such as Asia e University, HBMSU, International Telematic UNINETTUNO, UPOU, and Universitas Terbuka; 3) the launching of the Benchmarking Framework website at https://benchmarking.hbmsu.ac.ae; and, its 4) global implementation and inclusion of other universities such as Saudi Electronic University, Technológio de Monterrey, Open Polytechnic Kuratiini Tuwhera, The Open University of China, and Western Caspian University.

Dr. Primo Garcia, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, at UPOU, is one of the panelists at the event. Through Assistant Prof. Mari Anjeli Crisanto, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on Quality Assurance, they presented the Infrastructure for e-Content Development: Best practices from the UPOU. One of the best highlights of UPOU is its Massive Open Online  Courses (MOOCs) through the UPOU Massive Online Distance eLearning (MODeL). 

The Consortium for Benchmarking Frameworks for Online, Open, Smart, and Technology-Enhanced Higher Education in partnership with ICDE aims to establish a common understanding and best practices about open and online education among its members. The dimensions of the Benchmarking Framework includes teaching and learning, learner services, technology environment, outcome and impact on society, diversity and inclusiveness, and organizational aspects. To know more about it, you can visit https://benchmarking.hbmsu.ac.ae/ or https://www.icde.org/knowledge-hub/benchmarking-framework-consortium.

Written by Alessa Shainne Hostalero

Edited by Myra C. Almodiel and Anna Cañas-Llamas