Asst. Prof. Roberto B. Figueroa, Jr. receives the ICT Education Researcher of the Year AwardAsst. Prof. Roberto B. Figueroa, Jr. was conferred the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Education Researcher of the Year Award at the SM2016/ICT2016 25th International Education and Technology Conference in Hong Kong on 11 April 2016.
Asst. Prof. Figueroa is a faculty member of the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS), UP Open University (UPOU). He serves as the Program Chair for the Diploma in Computer Science (DCS) program and is currently the Program Development Associate for Multimedia Innovative Technology under the UPOU Multimedia Center (MC). Asst. Prof. Figueroa is also currently a member of the Technical Panel of the Oscar M. Lopez (OML) Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management, the Philippines' National Implementing Partner team for the Inda-ASEAN Green Fund Climate Modeling Project; and the Asian Development Bank funded e-Service Management Program. He has published several articles in the area of ICT education and development, as well as in open and distance e-learning. He has been teaching for 11 years, first with the UP Los Baños, then with UP Open University.
When asked what led to the nomination, Asst. Prof. Figueroa said he was asked to be nominated after one of the Springer Book editors, Prof. Phillip M. Tsang, saw him present at the Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) in Penang, Malaysia in 2012. His presentation was entitled "A Comparative Evaluation of Web-based Tools that Showcase Social Media and Video Conferencing for Distance Education." He was then asked to submit his curriculum vitae and a brief instructional article on Prezi, which he wrote with Asst. Prof. Reinald Pugoy.
According to the organizers, the ICT Education Researcher of the Year Award is an award given to recognize rising academics who made excellent use of ICT to enhancing teaching and learning, as well as to authors/researchers/conference speakers who have made extended contribution in the ICT research and business education. It was recommended by Professor Tsang and endorsed by the award committee chaired by Prof. James Henri, a retired Professor of the University of Hongkong with five other academics in teaching and learning. The award comes with a plaque of recognition and serves as an invitation to contribute to the next Springer Book that will be released in December 2016.
As one of the invited international speakers at the SM2016/ICT2016 Conference, he presented the article he planned to contribute to the book. His presentation was entitled, "Social Media: Challenges and Success Stories from an Open University in ASEAN."
The SM2016/ICT2016 25th International Education and Technology Conference was organized by the Web Education Foundation as part of the International ITFest 2016 in Hong Kong held on 11-23 April 2016. ICT2016/SM2016 is supported by The Education Bureau, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer of the Hong Kong Government. (Anna Cañas-Llamas)
