At the 5th National Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL), the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), through its Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA), launched the book "Assessment Praxis in Open and Distance eLearning: Thoughts and Practices in UPOU". The book editors, Dr. Melinda F. Lumanta, UPOU Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Liza C. Carascal, Executive Director of the UPOU Foundation, Inc. (UPOUFI) and Principal of the UP Rural High School, proudly presented the book during the conference dinner held at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria on 22 November 2017.
This fifth book produced by the OVCAA gives a glimpse of how a community of 21st century educators, immersed in open and distance elearning (ODeL), engages thought and practice to produce a unified and constantly adapting system of assessment in varied forms and functions carried out at different levels. This volume captures the assessment praxis of the UPOU as gleaned from existing practices as well as from thought papers of its faculty members, researchers, and academic and administrative leaders. The richness of the book comes from its 14 chapters written by 22 authors.
As emphasized by Dr. Lumanta, praxis, as differentiated from practice, is the dynamic interplay between thought and action involving a continuous process of understanding, interpretation, and application. This is reflected in the organization of the book chapters — thoughts, practices, and institutional responses informed by the ODeL framework. These are wrapped up by a culminating chapter wherein a multi-level and multi-functional perspective of assessment was proposed. In varying ways and emphases, the articles in this book articulate the need to address the realities of 21st century teaching and learning where assessment plays an important role. (MADolom & MRSanBuenaventura)
