The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) granted funding for Conference Fellowship to the 5th National Conference on Open and Distance e-Learning (NCODeL 2017) on 22-23 November 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galeria, Manila, Philippines. The CHED Conference Fellowship is open to all faculty members, administrators, policy makers, researchers and other employees of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. Application for the fellowship requires a duly accomplished application form, signed by both the applicant and the head of the institution, and submitted to [email protected] or faxed to (049) 536-6013 on or before 15 October 2017. With the theme "Philippine [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) joined the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI) in a toast for Sustainable Supply of Water in Los Baños at the LBSCFI-organized Technoforum on 03 August 2017 at the W.D. Dar Hall, PCAARD Complex, Los Baños, Laguna. UPOU was represented by Dr. Ricardo Bagarinao, Dean of the UPOU Faculty of Education and Chair of the UPOU Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee; Dr. Consuelo Habito, Program Chair of the UPOU Master of Environment and Natural Resources Management Program; Dr. Cesar Luna, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration; and [...]

UP Open University's (UPOU) Research Conversations on 11 August 2017 featured Institutionalizing Gender Perspective in Research: Reflexivity as an Alternative, a study by Dr. Primo Garcia, Dean of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS); Ms. Luisa Gelisan, University Researcher of the Multimedia Center; and Ms. Paula Muyco, Research Assistant for the Diploma in Social Work and Diploma in Women and Development programs. The study proposes reflexivity as another approach and/or framework to gender research. According to Dr. Garcia, "reflexivity allows researchers to reflect on their values, beliefs, and assumptions and how it shapes research and the construction or [...]

The UPOU Faculty of Management and Development Studies-Research Ethics Committee (FMDS-REC) conducted its 2nd training workshop on 24-25 August 2017 in preparation for the University of the Philippines Open University's Institutional Review Board (UPOU-IRB) accreditation to the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (DOST-PHREB). In the first workshop conducted last November 2016, it was suggested to make the accreditation university-wide and not only for the FMDS. The creation of a fully-accredited IRB is in line with UPOU's thrust to ensure that the research conducted by its students and academic staff protects the rights of its human participants, [...]

Earthworms have been blamed as the culprits by Ifugao farmers for the collapse of the rice terraces. Dr. Nestor Baguinon, Retired University of the Philippines Los Baños Professor and Adjunct Faculty of the UP Open University (UPOU) Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS), tackled this issue and sought to answer if earthworms are indeed the "accidental culprits or innocent victims" in the collapse of the Ifugao Rice Terraces. In his presentation entitled "The Science behind the Relationship of Earthworms and the Collapse of Rice Terraces in Ifugao" at the FMDS Let's Talk It Over on 17 August 2017, Dr. [...]