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 [...]

The Faculty of Education (FEd), University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) will hold the 1T-2022 FEd Undergraduate Student Orientation on Saturday, 15 October 2022 from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM via Zoom. This is available to all newly admitted students of the Associate in Arts (AA) and Bachelor of Education Studies (BES) programs, and cross-enrollees at UPOU this trimester. This event aims to introduce these students to the faculty and familiarize them with important terms and processes. Moreover, this is an opportunity for students to interact as co-learners and raise current concerns in real-time. Interested participants may join the [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, is to speak at the Bett Asia Leadership Summit and Expo 2022 on 11-12 October 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event gathers K12 and Higher Education leaders, policy-makers, and educators from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region for leadership-targeted content, discovery, solutions, and networking opportunities to foster innovation and share insights on how to transform education globally. Dr. Bandalaria, Chancellor and a Professor at the UPOU is also an Executive Board Member of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and ICDE Ambassador for [...]

> Dr. Pedcris M. Orencio, Associate Professor and Diploma in Land Use Planning (DLUP) Program Chair of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) UP Open University (UPOU), presented a paper in the 2nd Conference on Food Systems in Small Islands and Developing States (FSSIDS) on 7 September 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The paper entitled “Innovative Agroecological Processes for Agri-food Systems Transformation” showcased how smallholder farming communities in the Philippines can benefit from non-technologically innovative approaches for developing agroecological systems. Shifts in structural and functional systems, climate change, and other disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic were some [...]

The Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN) program of the UP Open University (UPOU) Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS)  conducted the Episode 2 of the Nursing Theories in the Philippine Context series of webinars. Titled  COMposure Model of Intervention, the second episode was held last 7 September 2022.  The webinar was moderated by Mr. Lito Rama, lecturer  of the MAN program. Dr. Carmelita C. Divinagracia was the guest speaker for the  episode. Dr.  Divinagracia  is currently the Chair of the Career Progression and Specialization Program in Nursing and a member of the Board of Nursing in the Professional Regulations [...]

Asst. Prof. Mari Anjeli Lubrica-Crisanto, UPOU faculty member and Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (A2VCAA) for Quality Assurance (QA) was invited by the European Union Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) to impart her experiences related to internal quality assurance.  SHARE held its Community of Practice Online Seminar on 29 September 2022 with the topic “Internal Quality Assurance: Views and insights from the region.” The activity aimed to provide the audience with the opportunity to understand the current challenges and opportunities in the QA system in participating countries. Asst. Prof. Lubrica-Crisanto shared titled “What [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University Office of Student Affairs (UPOU-OSA), in coordination with the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) and Multimedia Center (MC), held general student orientation programs on 10 September 2022 and 8 October 2022 for degree programs following the semestral schedule and trimestral schedule, respectively. The programs premiered online via the UPOU website, UPOU Facebook page, and the UPOU Networks website. The programs aimed to provide the necessary information for studying via open and distance e-learning (ODeL) at UPOU and allowed students to navigate through the adjustments of online learning, as well as know where [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) collaborated with the University of Sains Malaysia (USM) in an Open Distance Learning Forum about the “Challenges of Shifting to Online Mode During the Pandemic”. The virtual event was held on 5 October 2022, and was streamed as a Facebook Live Event. Dr. Joane Serrano, Dean of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies, represented UPOU as one of the panelists at the said forum. The ODL Forum aimed to discuss the challenges of shifting to an online modality during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This type of shift often concerned both students [...]