Distance Education in the Philippines

If you haven’t read the first two parts of this series on “Debunking Distance Education Myths,” I suggest that you check out them out first (Part 1 and Part 2) before reading this.

Myth # 2 – Studying via distance education means that you will be studying alone with no professor/instructor or classmates.

Although studying via distance education means that everyone enrolled in the university is separated geographically, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be a loner for the rest of your student life. Just like any other academic institution, of course, you will have a faculty-in-charge and classmates as well. The great thing about the UP Open University is that interaction between professor/instructor and students is highly encouraged. Typically, your faculty-in-charge will be holding face-to-face classes, online discussions, discussion forums and so on where you can interact with everyone else in the course or just simply chat to check on each other’s progress.

In my experience, professors and instructors at the UP Open University are really approachable and would entertain you if you have questions or inquiries regarding the course or course content. Administrators and other officials of the university are approachable, too. They are literally one text, one e-mail, or one call away. In fact, I frequently e-mail the University Registrar to check on my academic standing or to follow-up my grades.

My classmates and I would often see each other in school during regular face-to-face sessions or other school activities or in other places whenever we need to meet to discuss our projects or assignments.

Since my first year of being a UPOU student, we’ve been given a couple of group projects to encourage interaction among the students. I must say that group projects are the most challenging of all the tasks that you need to do for a course. Studying via distance education means that everyone is away from each other. Students live in different cities, in different provinces, or even in different countries. Group projects are challenging because my classmates and I aren’t on the same time zone. Moreover, most of my classmates are already working, have less time allotted for school works and are usually busying attending to their other responsibilities.

If you are interested in studying via distance education, you don’t have to worry that you’ll be alone for the rest of your stay in the university. As I’ve said, you still have your classmates and professor/instructor that you can interact with to help you in your journey as a distant learner.