The world has changed so much in the last four years. The pandemic and ever-changing versions of lockdowns kept us locked in our homes. We even jokingly called one another “fellow detainees.” As for the education or academic sector, we learned to “pivot” and rely more heavily on off-site classes. Even after the lockdowns had been lifted, we resorted to “hybrid” classes. And today, people have become so much more open to learning online.

But long before the pandemic descended upon us, the University of the Philippines System already had its Open University, with headquarters in the sprawling Los Baños campus.

According to an interview of Carillon with UPOU Chancellor Dr. Melinda Bandalaria, the pandemic behooved the education sector to shift to online platforms. But UPOU had the edge of having done so years prior to the debacle. Who would have known back then, right? But as early as 2013, UPOU had been “implanting flexi-times and work-from-home setups while offering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) through (its) online platform.”

Even back then, Bandalaria saw distance e-learning “as the way to go for the future;” notwithstanding the negative perception that online learning was an inferior way to learn.

Interestingly, Bandalaria was convinced to go this route because she had tried it herself way back in 2008, when she was Registrar. “I joined, I studied, and enrolled.” She saw the importance of how it could be implemented. This advocacy is rooted in the passion and desire to “make open education available to various types of learners, wherever they are.”

Bandalaria sees distance education, and UPOU as a “disruption” along with online technologies. She believes that “Technologies, such as internet – and now, OpenAI – must be utilized and revolutionized to turn it into something advantageous,” she told Carillon.

Today, UPOU is recognized “as one of the leaders in open distance e-learning” in Asia and the world.

Within her nine-year term as chancellor, Bandalaria became president of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) in 2017-2019, leading mega-open universities…in how things ought to be done.

What is an open university?

In the first place, what is an “open university?” According to the UPOU web site, “An open university espouses a philosophy of open learning which differs in degree and dimension from institution to institution.”

The UPOU’s philosophy of open learning is evolving though, with emphasis on “widening access to quality higher education,” the site states.

The UPOU is the fifth autonomous university of the UP System. It was established in 1995, barely a year after the internet was introduced in the Philippines. It became fully online in 2007, “the first open university in Asia to do so.” It was meant for students to develop discipline and capability to be lifelong learners “who are at home in today’s knowledge society.”

“The campus incorporates innovation and new technologies into its essence as an open university, while still preserving the values of honor and excellence that the university upholds,” the Carillon piece stated, and added, “The nature of…UPOU, is inherently different from the other UP campuses, given that its platform is mostly– if not fully – online. This provides a big challenge, not only in spearheading the paradigm shift in education, but also in adapting to the ever-changing trends in technology.”

The Open U was declared a national Center of Excellence in Open Learning and Distance Education by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) due to its “vital role in pushing the frontiers of learning in service to the Filipino nation.”

The site states that Distance Education or D.E. “favors an independent self-learning style which takes place outside a formal classroom.” D.E. offers other benefits as well, among them, inclusivity, being able to immediately apply what one has learned to one’s work, and “access to institutionally-developed learning. The teachers do not conduct classes in physical classrooms where they meet students face-to-face. Interaction between the teacher and students take place through the internet. Unlike in face-to-face classes, course materials are usually the starting point for study. Off-site

classes are mediated through print modules, online articles and exercises, audio or video recordings, and the internet.

As we have learned throughout the pandemic, D.E. allows one to be able to hold on to a job – whether full-time or part-time – and spend more time with family. One need not take a leave from his/her job, or part with family members to attend university in another city, province, state, or country.

What is UPOU’s mode of instruction?

UPOU espouses Open and Distance e-Learning (or, OdeL), “a worldview that combines the philosophy of open learning, the pedagogies of distance education, and the technology of eLearning.” This worldview, according to the UPOU site, “guides OPOU’s mode of teaching.”

Among the key features of D.E. – as practiced at UPOU are that:

• UPOU utilizes an open-source learning management system (LMS) as its virtual classroom. This is otherwise known as MyPortal

• To enhance interaction and discussion, the faculty-in-charge (FIC) uses various online collaboration and communication tools available
today
• Final examinations are conducted either face to face at designated learning and testing centers, or online

How do students and teachers interact with each other?

If traditional universities have classrooms and lecture halls, UPOU has course sites or “virtual classrooms” where students and teachers log in to discuss the lessons as well as do other learning activities.

Via the course site, the FIC interacts with the students, and students chat with one another. It is also where the students submit course requirements, take online quizzes, and do other online activities. Interactions may take place weekly, or throughout the term, depending on the FIC’s directions.

Just like in regular university, students sit for supervised examinations through either a pre-identified examination venue, or at a Philippine embassy/consulate or any academic institution/credible organization abroad “under the supervision of a qualified proctor in the area, or online.”

Examination Services is a program under the Office of Student Affairs. Academic examinations include the following: midterm, make-up exams, removal/completion, final exams, comprehensive exams, and admission tests.

Around 15 percent (15%) of UPOU students are based abroad, according to UPOU. Most of the courses are taught online, so one can study any course, wherever he or she is. Some subjects though require “pre-scheduled face-to-face meetings” such as for laboratory work or field practice.”

“As a chancellor, you have to lead, you have to harness all the resources that we have – which is also limited – so that we can develop new ways of doing things but still aligned with the tradition of the university,” Bandalaria said.