UPM Initiatives on Remote Learning

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges confronting the academic community and the nation such as the passage of Anti-Terrorism Act and threats to press freedom, the Lingkod-Bayan of UP Manila particularly the faculty, have demonstrated resilience and commitment to serve the people by taking on various tasks and responsibilities in preparation for the opening of AY 2020-2021 under the “new normal.” While learning and adjusting to different ways of meeting daily needs like doing work from home, communicating with others online, and assisting students in need; the faculty became students themselves in learning the fundamentals and skills in the shift to remote learning.

Canvas Learning System
With the acquisition of the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) by UPM, a Project Management Team led by Dean Marilie Aguila of CAMP was immediately constituted by the Chancellor to develop a plan and strategy on how the new LMS will be rolled out to the faculty, students, and staff. The identification of Canvas Champions was likewise done at the level of the department/unit of every college. Simultaneously, the faculty of the different departments/academic units embarked on the task of program and course redesign by reviewing and adjusting the curriculum of their various courses. Consistent with the OVPAA Memo Nos. 2020-68 and 2020-68A which provided the academic plans and guidelines in the preparations for remote learning in AY 2020-2021, course redesign entailed determining the sequencing of course offerings, i.e. what courses can be offered during the first semester via remote learning and those which can be postponed for the second semester; and decoupling of lecture and laboratory courses, or offering the lecture in the first semester and the laboratory in the second semester with students receiving a “Deferred” grade in the first semester.

The course redesign also entailed deciding on the mode of delivery of courses, i.e. remote, face-to-face, blended, etc., and identifying the staff requirements in teaching the courses particularly the hiring of Teaching Assistants/Teaching Fellows, if necessary.

To familiarize the faculty on the basic features of the Canvas platform, four 3-hour sessions each of the Fundamentals Training Course were conducted in June and participated in by 734 faculty. Follow-up sessions were held to assist the faculty on their assignments and provide further guidance, this time with the Canvas Champions of the department playing an important role. 

Remote Learning Basic Principles
To assist the faculty in redesigning courses, Course Redesign 101 was developed and made available by the OVPAA Committee on Remote Learning. Course Redesign 101, which can be accessed through the UPM VLE account of the faculty, discusses remote learning and its basic concepts and principles. The course presents the 6 steps in course redesign which include: 1) know the learners and the learning context, 2) organize the course content, 3) select and curate learning resources, 4) design learning activities, 5) determine ways of assessing students, and 6) write the course guide (course syllabus). These components are in the course packs that will be uploaded in the respective LMS account of the faculty and/or sent to students with problematic internet connectivity in print or USB. 

Faculty and Student Dialogues
Still part of the preparations for the opening of classes, UPM faculty participated in the webinar-workshop organized by the OVPAA on Taking Stock and Gearing UP for AY 2020-2021 last June with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Cynthia B. Bautista, serving as resource speaker. UPM faculty and student dialogues were also held on June 25 and June 30, respectively. Sponsored by the OVPAA, in coordination with the UPM representatives to the Committee on Remote Learning and the OSA, the two online activities presented to the two major stakeholders the academic plans for AY 2020-2021. The dialogues also provided an opportunity for the faculty and students to raise questions, clarify plans of the administration for AY 2020-2021, and share their views. 

Among the issues raised during the dialogues were plans for those without or with problematic internet access, ensuring security and confidentiality and avoiding cheating during online written and oral examinations, changes in the up or out and tenure or out policies and deadlines for faculty, mechanism of delivery and who will shoulder expenses for the course packs to students, ensuring that engineering and administrative controls are in place and adequate before clinics are opened, and whether UP Manila will pay for the additional PPE needed if laboratory classes/clinics push through.

Capacity Enhancement Projects
The faculty and students of the colleges formulated and carried out their capacity-enhancement projects and activities as preparations for the opening of classes this first semester, a major aspect of which was the redesign of courses and active participation in the Canvas training.

Confronted by a world characterized as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous or VUCA for short (a term coined by students of the U.S. Army War College after the Second World War); university constituents, while upholding the principles of honor, excellence, and service are expected to strengthen their resilience, openness to change, and creativity. The numerous challenges aggravated by the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives, communities, institutions, and societies dictate that the University, particularly the faculty, remain steadfast in their roles as facilitators of learning, producers of knowledge, and catalysts of social change. 
 

Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan | Published in Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 14