Associate Professor Lea C. Garcia, a UPOU PhD student, won the Best Paper Award during the 2nd Lumina Foundation International Research Congress 2018 with the theme "Breakthroughs in Teaching and Learning" held on 3-5 February 2018 at the Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan. Associate Professor Garcia presented her research paper titled "Inquiry-based approaches in Science Teaching: How to teach Photosynthesis Creatively" which aims to evaluate the usefulness of two teaching strategies namely, game and role playing, as important inquiry-based approaches in teaching photosynthesis to high school students. Participated by 54 representatives from various educational institutions, the research congress served [...]

Assistant Professor Rameses De Jesus has been appointed by the UP Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, Dr. Melinda dela Pena Bandalaria, to serve as the Director of the UPOU Office of Gender Concerns (OGC) starting 01 March 2018. Prior to his appointment, he served as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Director of the office since August 2017. Assistant Professor De Jesus has spearheaded OGC activities including UPOU's participation in the municipal-based cancer prevention fundraising for women, "Walk for a Cause" in March 2017, and a seminar on "Psycho-Emotional Well-being of Women and Men in the Workplace" in celebration of the World Mental Health Month [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) participated in the "Advocacy Walk and Padyak Para Kay Juana" on 6 March 2018 initiated by the Ecosystems and Research Development Bureau (ERDB) during their Women's Month Kick-Off Program. The advocacy walk circled the Forestry Ground of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Los Baños, Laguna. Eleven UPOU employees participated in the activity. A short program followed the activity at the ERDB Auditorium where Mrs. Susan Panahon Grimm, President of Printing Image CTC, Inc., shared her journey to being successful as a woman. ERDB also opened its Women's Month [...]

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, Dr. Melinda dela Peňa Bandalaria, delivered a message during the Closing Program of the 1st ASEANnale held on 28 February to 2 March 2018 at the Asian Center, UP Diliman, Quezon City. Her message was a call to harness the spirit of ASEAN that was captured during the ASEANnale 2018, a biennial event that brought together the 1st Film and Multimedia Competition and Exhibition and the 2nd International Symposium on ASEAN Studies (2nd ISAS). Chancellor Bandalaria, representing UPOU as one of the main organizers of the event, delivered her message on the [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) celebrated its 23rd founding anniversary on 26 February 2018 at the UPOU Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna. The UPOU's day-long celebration was highlighted by the visit of UP President Danilo "DaniCon" L. Concepcion. In his anniversary message, President Concepcion mentioned several times that UPOU will play a critical role in the teaching function of the university in the decades to come. This is because UPOU is "attuned [to the changing landscape of education] more than any other UP unit," and because of its unique character as an institution of openness and accessibility. [...]

The ASEANnale 2018, which brings together two events: The 1st ASEAN Film and Multimedia Competition and Exhibition and the 2nd International Symposium on ASEAN Studies (ISAS), was held at the Asian Center, UP Diliman in Quezon City, Philippines from February 28 to March 2. With the theme, "Capturing the spirit of ASEAN in the Digital Times," this ASEAN biannale focused on three current concerns shared and addressed by numerous parties in the region—Diaspora, Disasters and Democracy. It aimed to promote collaboration among ASEAN academicians, experts, multimedia artists, filmmakers, and scholars in relation to the use of films and multimedia materials [...]

UP Open University's celebration of its 23rd Anniversary on 26 February 2018 was simply a sweet success. The celebration was planned short and simple, but the event turned out successfully splendid and spirit-binding both for the UPOU family, and its partners and stakeholders. The day started like any other Mondays at UPOU – with a flag ceremony. But on this particular day, employees were clad in the anniversary shirts that the university provided. The university wanted everyone to wear the same shirt to exude a feeling of being one, as a family and as a university. And as a family, [...]