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The Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) organized a Let’s Talk it Over (LTiO) webinar entitled “Capacitating Oneself for the New Normal” on 27 May 2020 to discuss the importance of well-being in these trying times and how people can be capacitated to cope with these challenges and be prepared for the “new normal” after this pandemic. Jenine Bagos, Project Staff of Diploma in/Master of Social Work (D/MSW) and Diploma in Women and Development (DWD) of FMDS and moderator of the webinar, started the event by sharing the importance of “emotional protective equipment” to endure the mental impact of [...]

UP climbs 30 points to 65th rank among top universities in Asia The University of the Philippines climbed 30 points in the newly released 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings, placing 65th this year, a significant rise from last year’s 95th ranking. This was announced by the Times Higher Education at the Virtual THE Live Asia webinar today. The national university has been featured in the THE Asia University Rankings since 2017. It entered the top 100 for the first time in 2019, soaring 61 places from its 156th position in 2018. In 2017, UP belonged to the 201st-250th ranking group. [...]

Moodle, a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with an  integrated system to create personalised learning environments, is offering its basic courses for free until 22 June 2020. Learn Moodle Basics and Moodle Admin Basics, two of the most basic courses to be able to use the platform properly, have been offered for free since 23 March.  Learn Moodle Basics is designed for anyone who wants to use the Moodle learning platform for teaching not just for schools and universities, but even for company or personal use as well.  This four-week course, which can be taken any [...]

The Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS), UP Open University (UPOU) conducted its first Zoom MeetUPs on 28 May 2020. FICS MeetUPs is a quarterly activity of FICS administrative staff and Research Assistants. The session was held during the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) period, thus the use of Zoom video conferencing, to adapt despite the disruptions in the workplace brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. For this quarter, one of the FICS’ Junior Research Associates, Yrelle Lleva, presented her chosen topic: “Walang Far kung Hardworking: Zoom for WFH Employees.” The presentation aimed to share some of the basic procedures [...]

The third episode of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) “Edu-Hack: Navigating through a Turbulent Educational Landscape” will be held on 3 June 2020 at 2PM.  This episode is titled “Pedagogical Potential of Immersive Technologies” and will feature three experts on the subject, namely, Mr. Danilo Pasquariello, a Web-VR Expert from the United Kingdom, Assoc. Prof. Eric Hawkinson from the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies in Japan; and UPOU’s very own Asst. Prof. Roberto B. Figueroa, Jr..  The discussion will include a brief introduction about immersive technologies and how these technologies can be used for basic and higher [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) held the second series of the Edu-Hack podcast on 12 May 2020 with Connectivity and Networks as the topic of the discussion. This episode featured four panel members, two of which came from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), from a telecommunication service provider, and two from the Education Sector. This episode, aptly themed “Institutional adaptation to disruptions in higher learning,” was a combination of how representatives of the education sector, DICT and a TelCo adopted the disruption in learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Alexander G. Flor, Professor [...]

A free Executive Course on Remote Teaching and Learning will be offered by the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). Registration will start on 18 May 2020 and the course will run from 25 May to 29 May 2020.  The course is composed of three modules. Module 1 will be on Remote Teaching and Learning: Concepts, Models, and Technologies. Module 2 will be about Quality Assurance for Remote Teaching and Learning.  The last module, Module 3,  will tackle Strategic Planning to Transition to Remote Teaching and Learning. This online executive course will be delivered asynchronously.  The UPOU Executive Course [...]

The sixty-minute online panel interview held on 28 April 2020 was a short and sweet success for the  University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). Dr. Alexander Flor, Dean of the UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS), effectively moderated the first series of the UPOU “Edu-Hack: Navigating through a Turbulent Educational Landscape” entitled “How are Philippine Universities Responding to Disruptions in Education Brought About by COVID-19 Pandemic?” The panel members for this session were Dr. Melinda dela Pena Bandalaria, UPOU Professor and Chancellor; Dr. Abegayle Machelle M. Perez-Chua, University of Batangas (UB) Vice President for Academic Affairs; and [...]

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Master of Public Management (MPM) program developed a free online course specifically for  public servants to hone skills and improve knowledge on how LGUs can work together in achieving common goals. This is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Interlocal Cooperation (ILC).  The MOOC on ILC has four modules that will last for three weeks each. Module 1: General Course on Inter-Local Cooperation (18 May-05 June 2020) Module 2: Legal Ingredients (08-26 June 2020) Module 3: Institutional Ingredients (29 June-17 July 2020) Module 4: Financial Ingredients (20 July-07 August 2020) Registration [...]

Amidst the threat of COVID-19, 12  University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) students continued to heed the call of volunteerism across the country. Their volunteer efforts, done in coordination with various private institutions, government and non-government organizations, were reflected in the documentation survey released by the UP Open University Ugnayan ng Pahinungod (OUPahinungod) on 25 March 2020.  Of the 12  students that responded to the survey, five students were from the Faculty of Education (FEd), four were under the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS), and three were students from the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS).  [...]