UPOU espouses Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) — a worldview that combines the philosophy of open learning, the pedagogies of distance education (DE), and the technology of eLearning. This worldview guides the UPOU's mode of teaching.
The key features of DE as practiced at UPOU are:
Virtual learning
Students and teachers are separated from each other by space and time. They do not meet face-to-face in a physical classroom to conduct regular classes. With this, even those who are currently residing outside of the country may enroll to the program. Course activities are done online, while final examinations are conducted either face-to-face at accredited exam venues, or through an online examination system and online platforms.
UPOU utilizes MyPortal, an open-source learning management system (LMS), as its virtual classroom.
Resource-Based Course Package (RBCP) approach in teaching
Courses are developed and delivered using the resource-based course package approach. Through RBCP, the course author and faculty-in-charge search, evaluate, and integrate digital resources mostly open educational resources (OER), in their courses that will help achieve course goals and learning needs. These resources include course guides and study guides to provide learning scaffolding to learners.
Regular assessment of course materials
The Office and Academic Support Instructional Services (OASIS) maintain the quality of these developed courses by appointing an instructional designer and content reviewer, while the Multimedia Center (MC) appoints a multimedia specialist and production personnel. The Faculty Offices review course offerings and course delivery. Course evaluation is done at the end of each semester.
Free additional supplemental resources
Learning resources developed by UPOU are hosted in a hub called UPOU networks. The UPOU networks is the online repository of all multimedia resources produced by UPOU.
For more information regarding the program, you may visit the FMDS MLVM microsite.