With her Graduate Certificate in Distance Education (GCDE) degree, Teresita Noche-Banag aims to share her journey and new knowledge with her friends, family, and colleagues and inspire them to continue learning regardless of their age.
Teresita was motivated by her Master’s degree adviser to enroll at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) to continue learning. Her experience of studying at UPOU was daunting, especially because she was not tech-savvy and had no online learning experience at her age. However, she overcame this anxiety with the help of her colleagues. All these challenges helped her develop more patience.
Teresita loved working with her classmates. She said they were supportive and helpful in group work, answering assignments, and navigating through their learning management system (LMS), all new experiences for her. Teresita’s support from the people around her eventually allowed her to do all these things independently and learn more independently.
Teresita balanced her responsibilities by scheduling the time of her day. She mentioned that she would allot time in the morning for teaching, the afternoon for socialization, and at night to do her academic responsibilities.
Professionally, studying at UPOU helped Teresita learn how to answer scholarly questions. As an educator who became a student once again, this experience inspired her and led her to encourage her younger colleagues to explore and keep on learning. Teresita acknowledged that studying at this time and age when resources are widely available is a great privilege everyone should utilize. Her encouragement to potential students of UPOU, especially teachers, is to keep on learning and to keep up with the trends and new knowledge that come with the rise of modernity and technology.
Written by Zyrene Edrei Villanueva ♦ Edited by Myra C. Almodiel and Anna Cañas-Llamas
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