Teachers and faculty members from Department of Education schools as well as from different access points gathered in the 3rd EDUKussion: A Forum on Education-related issues, Challenges, and Opportunities on December 8, 2017, 9:30-12:00 noon at the Centennial Center for Digital Learning (CCDL), UP Open University (UPOU) Los Baños. The morning session addressed two topics namely, Post-Course Evaluation and Development by Dr. Elle Wang and Learning Analytics in Higher Education by Assistant Professor Charisse Reyes. Dean Ricardo T. Bagarinao gave his welcome remarks, emphasizing the development intervention that could support the learning process both digitally and physically. "Everything we do [...]

The Teacher Development Program (TDP) through eLearning of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) was among the eight recipients of the University of the Philippines (UP) 2nd Gawad Pangulo: Award for Excellence in Public Service. The award was given on 5 December 2017 at UP Diliman, Quezon City during the Gawad Pangulo Ceremony hosted by the Office of the President and organized by the UP Padayon Public Service Office under the Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs (OVPPA). The Award aimed to recognize outstanding public service initiatives of various units of the UP System that exhibit [...]

The Faculty of Education (FEd) held its 2nd EDUKussion Forum with the theme, Demystifying MTB-MLE: A Reacquainting with Multilingual Education. The forum was held on November 27, 2017 at the Centennial Center for Digital Learning (CCDL) Auditorium, UP Open University, Los Baños, Laguna. Participants were 146 teachers from schools nearby and around Los Baños. Main discussant was Dr. Romylyn A. Metila, an Assistant Professor in the Language Education Area of the College of Education, University of the Philippines-Diliman. Most of her research are on code-switching, language teaching methods, multilingual education, and language planning and policy. Dr. Metila discussed MTB-MLE's history, [...]

Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, served as one of the speakers during the third and last plenary session of the 5th National Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL) held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on 23 November 2017. In line with the country's education agenda to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities, Dr. Bandalaria tackled the importance of open education. Her staunch support for the democratization of quality education across learners of different social and economic backgrounds was apparent in her presentation, titled "Open [...]

Ms. Rhonna Marie Robles-Verena, a University Researcher from the Faculty of Education (FEd), UP Open University (UPOU), was given the Best Presentation Award at the 3rd ASEAN University Conference on Public Relations and Communications (APRC) 2017. Ms Verena is one of the six conference presenters given the award. Other awardees were from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The award's criteria were paper content (60%), presentation media/visuals (20%), and delivery (20%). Ms. Verena presented a paper on "Connecting Teachers and Students in Online Classrooms: Communicative Practices of Student Support" wherein she discussed the evolution in the communicative practices of student support services [...]

Dr. Alexander G. Flor, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS) of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), discussed the challenges of open and distance elearning (ODeL) in one of the special sessions of the 5th National Conference in Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL) held on 23 November 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Metro Manila, Philippines. The presentation was titled "Navigating through the Dark Side of Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL)" which aimed to inform the participants of the possible downsides of adopting "openness" in their education system. This is also [...]