Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) faculty members Dr. Joane Serrano and Dr. Consuelo Habito led a focus group discussion (FGD) with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) personnel on 17 April 2018. The FGD is part of the efforts of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) on enhancing its courses through eLearning. It was attended by representatives from various FSI and DFA sections and divisions.
The program was opened by International Programs and e-Learning Section Officer-in-Charge Dulce Fortunado. She mentioned that the institute has had a number of eLearning initiatives since 2009. However, they had only adopted the use of internet quite recently. To further explore the possibilities with online learning, they started a collaboration with the Philippine eLearning Society (PELS) wherein FMDS-UPOU is an institutional member, hence, the FGD with Dr. Joane Serrano and Dr. Consuelo Habito.
As an expert in the use of eLearning, Dr. Serrano introduced to the participants the fundamental eLearning concepts. She cited that “eLearning refers to all technologically supported learning.” She continued on to describing these types of eLearning media by showing an illustration of the eLearning continuum. The continuum shows the technological developments of eLearning as early as 1985, when stand-alone learning and CD ROM-based training first gained popularity. A decade later, Web-based learning content came to prominence, further evolving to contemporary versions of online learning.
After Dr. Serrano has laid out the possibilities offered by eLearning, Dr. Habito then facilitated the discussions on existing circumstances as well as queued plans in the DFA, on which eLearning may be of help. Some relevant concerns that the participants brought up included lack of training opportunities in foreign service posts as well as needs for support from the agencies themselves.
Dr. Habito then asked what specific strategies could benefit from eLearning. The participants, who represented different divisions, raised a number of cases from the human resources development to public diplomacy.
In the afternoon, the participants identified courses and modules that can be offered through elearning and blended learning. The program ended with a consolidation of concepts discussed and applied during the FGD and the workshops. (AdelValle)
