Virtual Launching of Region III Open Educational Resources (OER) Portal and Discipline -Based OERs
The Commission on Higher Education Regional Office III (CHEDRO-III) successfully conducted the “Virtual Launching of Region III Open Educational Resources (OER) Portal and Discipline-based OERs” on 10 December 2021 9:00am – 11:00am via Zoom platform and Facebook livestreaming.
Dr. Maria Teresita M. Semana, Officer-in-Charge, Office of the Director IV, CHEDRO-III, officially opened the event. As a recapitulation, Dr. Semana briefly presented the following: • Roadmap for the adoption of New Normal towards Digital Transformation; • Region III Higher Education Consortium (R3HEC) Timeline 2020-2022; • CLRHEAP Programs for 2020-2022; and • R3HiEdBayanihan 2020-2022 Timeline and 2020 Accomplishments.
“Today we mark another significant milestone, our last but not the least event, as we end the year 2021. Finally, we have come to the fruition of everyone’s hard work as we will now launch the Region III Open Educational Resource (OER) Portal and the OERs which you have developed and willingly share with all of our teaching and non-teaching staff as supplemental resources in their implementation of flexible learning.” Dr. Semana said.
Guided by the mantra of the higher education sector in Central Luzon, “Sama-sama at tulong-tulong sa panahon ng pandemya, walang iwanan sa mas lalong mataas na antas ng edukasyon ng Rehiyon III,” the launching aims to showcase the OERs developed through the collective efforts of the CHEDRO-III and OER Core Groups.
It may be mentioned that the CHEDRO-III launched, in September 2020, the Region III Higher Education Bayanihan (R3HiEdBayanihan), as one of the priority projects of the Central Luzon Regional Higher Education Action Plan (CLRHEAP) 2020-2022. For its initial year, the R3HiEdBayanihan focused on equipping HEI personnel on the implementation of flexible learning to ensure continuity of teaching and learning.
For Fiscal Year 2021, the thrust of the R3HiEdBayanihan project was to adopt a discipline-based approach for the development of online educational resources (OERs) per discipline which will supplement the teaching-learning resources in the new normal in education. Hence in January 2021, nine (9) Core Groups were established, representing the following disciplines: 1) Agriculture Education; 2) Allied Health Education; 3) Business and Management Education; 4) Criminal Justice Education; 5) Engineering and Architecture Education; 6) Information & Communications Technology and Library Information Science Education; 7) Humanities, Social Sciences & Communication Education; 8 ) Maritime; and Teacher Education, based on the programs offered by the higher education institutions in Region III. However, by mid-year, the Core Groups were reduced to eight ( 8 ) upon the request of the Maritime Core Group to withdraw pending the revision of their curricular offerings.
As of this writing, more than 300 OERs, in various formats, have been reviewed and uploaded which guests can view and download for their personal use. More than 100 OERs are still in the pipeline for review by the CHEDRO-III Technical Division prior to uploading.
Dr. Semana, in her message, also appealed to all the participants to continue developing and sharing OERs to build a rich repository that will benefit both the faculty and students in the higher education community in Region III.
Mr. John Wesley S. Calagui I, Education Supervisor II, walked the participants through the OER Portal which may be accessed through the CHEDRO-III official website (www.chedro3@ched.gov.ph).
Following the walk through were messages of commitment from the Flexible All-in-One Solution for Higher Education Institutions in Region III (FLASHEIR3) and OER Core Groups: • Dr. Myrna Q. Mallari, President, Tarlac State University/ Lead for FLASHEIR3; • Dr. Julita P. Mendoza,Dean, College of Agriculture, Bulacan State Agricultural College/ Lead for Agriculture group; • Dr. Regie A. Bautista, Dean, College of Nursing,Systems Plus College Foundation/ Lead for Allied Health group; • Dr. Maria Lina T. Ramoneda, former Dean, School of Business Administration, Holy Angel University/ Lead for Business and Management group; • Dr. John Paul Azores, Dean, College of Criminology, Colegio de Sebastian – Pampanga, Inc./ Lead for Criminal Justice group; • Engr. Edward P. Lacson, Program Chair, Industrial Engineering, Holy Angel University/ Lead for Engineering and Architecture group; • Dr. Maria Mercedes Haz, Director, University Library, La Consolacion University Philippines/ Lead for Information & Communication Technology and Library Information Science group; • Dr. Janette R. Rodriguez, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Holy Angel University/ Lead for Humanities, Social Sciences & Communication group; and • Dr. Alma M. Natividad, Dean, School of Education, Holy Angel University/ Lead for Teacher Education group.
Dr. Max P. Guillermo, President, Tarlac Agricultural University representing the State Universities and Colleges (SUC) and Dr. Maria Flordeliza L. Anastacio, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Centro Escolar University at Malolos representing the Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in the Region, expressed their deepest gratitude through appreciation messages recognizing the efforts, contributions and outputs of the OER Core Groups, FLASHEIR3, and CHEDRO-III.
Lastly, Ms. Lora L. Yusi, Chief Education Program Specialist, officially closed the virtual gathering with the statement, “Be proud of what you (OER people) have achieved, this launching of OERs is history.”
#FlexibleLearning #CLRHEAP #OneCentralLuzon #OERsForAll
