Two Research, Extension and Professional Staff (REPS) of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) were awarded the Public Service Writing Fellowship. Ms. Luisa A. Gelisan, University Researcher II at the Multimedia Center, and Ms. Emely Amoloza, University Extension Associate II at the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies, were among the eight participants who were awarded the Public Service Writing Fellowship 2017 by the UP Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs. The Public Service Writing Fellowship was initiated to promote public service as a scholarly and interdisciplinary endeavor. It aims to encourage university faculty and staff to continue to write literature-grounded evaluation and document public service initiatives they have developed and undertaken in the form of journal articles for publication. The fellowship also hopes to contribute to the existing pool of literature on public service to further develop public service as a field of research. The two fellows were nominated by the UPOU Selection Committee on Public Service headed by the Information Office Director, Dr. Joane V. Serrano.
Ms. Gelisan proposed to write about the “Teacher Development Program (TDP): Building Capacities Through Open and Distance eLearning.” Her public service involvement in the TDP program started when the project was implemented in 2005, which has been renewed and re-implemented for the last 12 years. The 6th Phase of the TDP Project was launched just this 3 August 2017.
TDP is a scholarship program targeting public elementary and high school teachers in Mauban, Quezon. The overall goal of the project is to improve the quality of public basic education in Mauban, Quezon. Through eLearning, the program aims to upgrade the knowledge of teachers on the subject matter they are teaching. It also hopes to further improve their teaching skills. Since its implementation in 2005, it has awarded scholarship grants to 164 teachers.
Ms. Amoloza’s publication topic is “Changing the Lives of Filipino Teachers and students: Participants’ Perception on the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program.” She also has been involved in this project since it was initiated in 2012. The Phase 5 of the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program was launched last 13 September 2017. The goal of the program was to change the lives of the Filipino teachers and students by having the essential digital skills for the 21st century teaching, learning and working. Since its implementation, the project was able to cover 557 schools, 109 municipalities. A total of 18,566 teachers and students were trained all over the country.
As part of the requirement the public service fellow attended a writeshop last October 24-25, 2017 held at Philippine High School for the Arts. They will will also be presenting their paper in the upcoming 2nd Colleges and Universities Public Service on November 28-29, 2017. (ESPManipol)
