Distance Education in the Philippines

In my other post “How to cross-register from UPOU to UP Diliman for PE Courses,” I have outlined the steps on how will you earn PE units, which are necessary for you to complete your UPOU undergraduate degree. In this post, I would guide you on how will you get your grades for the courses you’ve cross-registered at UP Diliman for them to be credited by the UPOU.

AT UP DILIMAN

1. Go to the Office of the University Registrar-Diliman. Approach the “Records Management and Appraisal Section” of the UPD-OUR and tell them that you’re a cross-registrant from UPOU and that you wish to obtain a TCG or True Copy of Grades.
2. The personnel will give you a clearance form which you need to fill out. Be sure to indicate all the subjects you’ve cross-registered at UPOU including the semester and academic year. When done, approach the window and give your clearance form. Take a seat and wait for the personnel to call you.
3. When you are called, approach the window and the personnel will give you an application form for TCG. The form includes the amount you need to pay. Fill out the application form and pay the fee at the UP Cashier. The TCG costs P20.00 / page.
4. When you are done paying, approach the Records Management and Appraisal window and present your application form and receipt. Upon receiving your TCG, you need to sign the logbook located beside the window.

AT YOUR LEARNING CENTER

1. Submit the original copy of your TCG to your learning center coordinator.

The second semester of the academic year 2009-2010 has officially started. Yes, I’m back being a student and I have to focus on my academic stuff. This semester is, hopefully, my last semester as an Associate in Arts student and if the supreme being allows it, I would be getting my associate’s degree on May 8, 2010. What will happen after my graduation? I’m still not sure. I’m currently scrutinizing every option I have.

For this semester, I am taking the following courses: COMM3 (Speech Communication), ENG157 (English for the Professions), HIST2 (Asia and the World), PHILO173 (Practical Ethics), CWTS2 (Civic Welfare Training Service 2) and PE2 (Walking for Fitness). Interesting courses, right?

There are two things I’m looking forward this semester — the AA General Assembly and Fellowship and of course, the Lantern Parade. I’m not sure if the UP Open University will be participating in this year’s Lantern Parade. But, I hope we will because I truly enjoyed the experience last year.

In other news, UP Open University already implemented an online registration system for students. However, for the second semester, only a handful of beta testers were able to take advantage of the said registration system. As for me, I still have to go UP Manila to enroll. Anyway, it’s also a great thing that UPOU is on Twitter! I just wish that students can check their grades online.

A new semester is here again, a brand new start for us, students, to learn and unlearn things!

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to e-mail at agpena@up.edu.ph or tweet me @JericPena.

Since the new academic year 2010-2011 is fast-approaching, I’m sure prospective students of the University of the Philippines Open University are interested to know more about the different online degree programs offered by the university on the undergraduate and graduate level. Currently, the UPOU offers more graduate programs than undergraduate programs although there are rumors that the UPOU are in the process of adding more undergraduate programs as the demand increases.

Associate in Arts and the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies are the only two online degree programs offered by the UP Open University in the undergraduate level. Although both are online degree programs, the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies also requires students to be physically present during practicums, presentations, practical examinations and others. The Associate in Arts program, on the other hand, has face-to-face classes to supplement the online discussions and course modules but attendance to these are not required.

Although the UP Open University offers a huge number of diploma programs, master’s programs, and doctoral program, the UP Open University is yet to offer mba online. The Diploma Program Offering of the University includes Diploma in Social Work, Diploma in Computer Science, Diploma in Research and Development Management, Diploma in Environment and Natural Resources Management, Diploma in Science Teaching, Diploma in Mathematics Teaching, Diploma in Language and Literacy Education, and Diploma in Social Studies Education.

The UP Open University also offers Master’s Programs including Master in Social Work, Master of Development Communication, Master of Distance Education, Master of Public Health, Master in Hospital Administration, Master of Arts in Nursing, Master of Public Management, Master of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Master of Arts in Education (Language and Literacy Education), Master of Arts in Education (Social Studies), and Master in Information Systems.

The only doctoral program of the UPOU is the Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Biology Education, Chemistry Education, Physics Education, Mathematics Education).

If you wish to learn more about the numerous academic programs of the UP Open University, please check out the official UPOU website. If you have additional questions, the contact information of the University officials are also found on the website. You could also put your comments/questions/suggestions below.

The Law of Attraction—A photo of the UP Oblation wearing the Sablay (UP Graduation Garb) with the text "May 8, 2010," the date of UPOU's Commencement Exercises.

Honestly, I don’t know anymore what to post here. So, my dear readers, I urge you to comment or e-mail me on what topics regarding distance education are you interested about. I need your inputs! I’ll try my best respond to them through a blog post.

What’s happening on my part of the world? Well, the first semester has just ended and I’m a bit worried about some of the courses I took this semester. I’m not that confident about my grades, especially in Humanities 1. I really don’t care about the numerical grade. What I want is to pass every course I take/taking/took. But, I’m really happy that my grade in Mathematics 11 (College Algebra) is actually good. No, I’m not a Math Genius. My grades in other courses I took during the previous semesters weren’t that bad, either.

I’m actually aiming to finish my Associate in Arts (AA) degree next semester. Actually, I lack only 12 units of General Education courses, 2 units of Physical Education and 3 units of National Training Service Program. Hopefully, I get to finish and pass all my courses. I’m nervous and worried because I really want to finish my degree on time. I’ve been doing my best to excel in each course that I take. But, I can only do so much. For the past semesters, I’ve been exceeding the allowable number of units per semester just so I can finish my degree on time. I really exerted a lot of my time, effort, energy, and even money so I can graduate soon—it even killed my social life.

However, there are things in life that one can’t really control.

But, as I’ve said, I can only do so much. I believe that I’ve done my best to fulfill my responsibilities and obligations as a student. I’ve been going the extra mile. If I will graduate on May 8, 2010, then, so be it.

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.