The University of Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Distance Education in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) held a joint postgraduate webinar last 30 September 2022. UPOU Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) Assistant Professor, Dr. Finaflor Taylan, represented the university through her presentation entitled “Student Supervision and Felt Presence: A Bittersweet Journey of a Researcher, Mother, and Development Advocate towards a Post Graduate degree.” Dr. Taylan’s shared in her presentation that the “conduct of research especially from the side of the students can help us reflect more.” In terms of supervision and making [...]

The 7th installment of the Revitalizing Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS) webinar series was held on 29 September 2022. It showcased the presentation titled “ Preliminary Flora and Fauna Assemblage in one of the Satoyama-Satoumi Program sites in Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte, Philippines” by Dr. Jess Jumawan, Professor, Caraga State University. The event was also graced by Dr. Dixon T. Gevaña, Professor, University of the Philippines Los Baños as the discussant.  Satoyama-Satoumi refers to the study of interactions between humans and terrestrial-aquatic landscapes ecosystem (satoyama) and marine coastal ecosystems (satoumi) (IPBES, n.d.). Dr. Jumawan stated that Butuan City [...]

The UP Open University (UPOU), in partnership with Cavite State University conducted virtual graduation for the participants of the training program on “Developing Courses for Online & Blended Learning” on 6 October 2022. The two-week training was held from 22 August to 2 September 2022 via UPOU Massive Open Distance e-Learning (MODeL). A total of forty (40) faculty members and staff from Cavite State University participated in the training program. The two-week training program was delivered via the UPOU Massive Open Distance eLearning (MODeL). The program aimed to prepare educators in crafting comprehensive modules and learning materials, and deliver [...]

For the third Plenary of the 7th National Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (NCODeL 2022), Dr. Borhene Chakroun, will be the plenary speaker. He will be sharing his knowledge and insights on Micro-credentials Policies. Dr. Chakroun is the Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Education Sector. He is an engineer and he has a PhD in Education Sciences from Bourgogne University in France. He worked, during the 1990s, as trainer, chief trainer, and project manager. He also worked as a short-term consultant for the EU, [...]

Dr. Finaflor F. Taylan, Director of the Office of Gender Concerns, was invited to serve as the subject matter expert for Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) in the 2022 Civil Service Commission (CSC) Public Sector Human Resources Symposium held last September 14-16 via virtual platforms. The symposium started with Dr. Taylan introducing the attendees to the concepts of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion. She mentioned how despite many years and attempts to educate people on these concepts, it is difficult to break stereotypes especially when these are learned at such an early age, and further reinforced in places [...]