The Faculty of Education (FEd) held its 2nd EDUKussion Forum with the theme, Demystifying MTB-MLE: A Reacquainting with Multilingual Education. The forum was held on November 27, 2017 at the Centennial Center for Digital Learning (CCDL) Auditorium, UP Open University, Los Baños, Laguna. Participants were 146 teachers from schools nearby and around Los Baños. Main discussant was Dr. Romylyn A. Metila, an Assistant Professor in the Language Education Area of the College of Education, University of the Philippines-Diliman. Most of her research are on code-switching, language teaching methods, multilingual education, and language planning and policy. Dr. Metila discussed MTB-MLE's history, [...]

Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, served as one of the speakers during the third and last plenary session of the 5th National Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL) held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on 23 November 2017. In line with the country's education agenda to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities, Dr. Bandalaria tackled the importance of open education. Her staunch support for the democratization of quality education across learners of different social and economic backgrounds was apparent in her presentation, titled "Open [...]

Ms. Rhonna Marie Robles-Verena, a University Researcher from the Faculty of Education (FEd), UP Open University (UPOU), was given the Best Presentation Award at the 3rd ASEAN University Conference on Public Relations and Communications (APRC) 2017. Ms Verena is one of the six conference presenters given the award. Other awardees were from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The award's criteria were paper content (60%), presentation media/visuals (20%), and delivery (20%). Ms. Verena presented a paper on "Connecting Teachers and Students in Online Classrooms: Communicative Practices of Student Support" wherein she discussed the evolution in the communicative practices of student support services [...]

Dr. Alexander G. Flor, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS) of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), discussed the challenges of open and distance elearning (ODeL) in one of the special sessions of the 5th National Conference in Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL) held on 23 November 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Metro Manila, Philippines. The presentation was titled "Navigating through the Dark Side of Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL)" which aimed to inform the participants of the possible downsides of adopting "openness" in their education system. This is also [...]

In the recently concluded 5th National Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL 2017) organized by the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) gained a deeper understanding of elearning through the pre-conference workshops conducted. One of the three pre-conference workshops organized for the participants was the "Technology in Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL)" spearheaded by the UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS) held on 22 November 2017. The workshop was led by the Faculty Dean, Dr. Alexander G. Flor. He presented an enlightening and informative introduction to ODeL and gave a discussion on [...]

Dr. Chakrapani Pushpa of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, India and Faculty of Education's exchange fellow presented her exit report on Open Educational Resources for Equitable Quality Education in the Philippines. The presentation was given on November 28, 2017, at Sandbox, Centennial Center for Digital Learning, University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) HQ, Los Baños, Laguna. She enjoyed a one-month stay in the University for being selected as a recipient of UPOU's 2017 exchange fellow program. Her proposal on open educational resources was being selected from among the three applicants of the program. Dr. Pushpa's visit to the University aimed [...]