UPOU Sets Talk with ODeL Providers to Revive Commitment on the Creation of ODeL Consortium in PH

Discussions on the revival of the forming of the Consortium of Open Universities in the Philippines continue as UP Open University (UPOU) virtually met with Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL) Providers such as Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Ifugao State University (IFSU), Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University (JBLFMU) Arevalo, Inc. and Cavite State University (CvSU). The meeting was held on 20 June 2022. 

Various collaborative undertakings that the members plan to pursue as a consortium were discussed during the virtual meeting. The first initiative is a training curriculum that will respond to the next level of training needs for educators after the pandemic. The members, being experts in open and distance education, will serve as the resource persons and module developers of the capability training curriculum. The capability training program that will be developed through this undertaking will be offered to fellow educators in the Philippines and Asia. 

UPOU Chancellor Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria also invited the five ODeL Providers to participate in the Global Advocacy Campaign on Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning (OFDL) of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). Chancellor Bandalaria also proposed a possible partnership to co-organize the forthcoming 7th National Conference on Open and Distance Learning (NCODeL), a biannual forum for administrators, teachers, scholars, practitioners and policymakers to learn together as they explore spaces and possibilities for ODeL development.

The UPOU Team present in the meeting are Dr. Myra Almodiel, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Director of the Office of Public Affairs; Ms. Margaret Jarmin-Suarez, Program Development Associate for International Linkages; and Ms. Shaira Tanay, Research Assistant. Dr. Eva Marie Codamon-Dugyon, University President of IFSU together with Dr. Jengjeng M. Bolintao, Dean for College of Open Distance Education and Dr. Napoleon K. Taguiling, Lamut Main Campus Executive Director. MMSU was represented by Dr. Bert A. Gamiao, Chief of the Center of Teaching Excellence, and Dr. Byron Joseph Hallar, Chief of the Open Distance Learning Program. Also present in the virtual meeting were Dr. Elaida R. Fiegala, Dean of CLSU-Distance Open and Transnational University; Dr. Geneva M. Eler, Dean of JBLFMU Arevalo-Graduate School; Dr. Rezin Bahia, Dean of the CvSU Graduate School and Open Learning College. 

With the revival of commitments on the continuous efforts to form the consortium, the group scheduled the next meeting in August 2022 in Lamut, Ifugao to be hosted by IFSU.

Written by Shaira Tanay

Edited by Myra C. Almodiel and Anna Cañas-Llamas