SOUL Office offers free online courses for tertiary teachers

The Office of Silliman Online University Learning (SOUL) invites tertiary level teachers from anywhere in the Philippines to enroll in its free online courses on “Technology-enhanced Flexible Learning” and “Administration of Portable Learning Management System (PLMS),” which will start on September 18 and 20, 2021, respectively.

The said courses are part of the “PORTABLE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: A Platform for Technology-Enhanced Flexible Learning in Schools with Challenging Internet Connectivity,” a project funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through the Continuing Professional Education Grant under the K to 12 Transition Program.

The SOUL Office serves as the host of the project, with SOUL Director Dave Marcial as the project leader.

According to the SOUL Office, the project aims to assist higher education institutions (HEIs) in implementing portable learning management as an alternative modality of flexible learning, especially in HEIs that are challenged with internet connectivity.

The project was initiated in response to the pandemic where, according to the SOUL Office, “flexible learning is mandated, and the use of a learning management system that will run without an internet connection is the most practical and appropriate solution.”

The project also aims to establish a center for technology-enhanced flexible learning at Silliman University (SU) that will assist other HEIs by offering training and technical support, technology development & process support, and a knowledge repository for open educational resources of flexible learning.

Under the project, the SOUL Office offers two free online courses open to all tertiary level teachers in the country.

Technology-enhanced Flexible learning

The “Technology-enhanced Flexible learning” free online course for tertiary level teachers will run for three months starting from September 18 to December 11, 2021.

Experts and practitioners from the following HEIs and organizations in the country and abroad will serve as speakers: Hong Kong Baptist University (Hong Kong), Atılım University (Turkey), University of the Philippines (UP) Open University, University of Santo Tomas, Soegijapranata Catholic University (Indonesia), SU, UP Diliman, Computing Society of the Philippines, and Philippine eLearning Society.

The course will be delivered through SU’s learning management system (LMS) for open online courses and will include synchronous and asynchronous activities.

Asst. Prof. Joy Dy, SU College of Computer Studies OIC dean, is the course’s lead facilitator.

Administration and Use of Portable Learning Management System

The “Administration and Use of Portable Learning Management System (PLMS)” free online course is an intensive training-of-trainers online course open to all college teachers.

PLMS is a Moodle-based LMS that can run even without an internet connection.

The course will run for one week from September 20 to 25, 2021, for at least four hours a day (1:00 to 5:00 p.m.). It will be conducted synchronously through Zoom and asynchronously through tutorial videos that will be uploaded.

The Course Lead Facilitator is the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Manager of Silliman University,

Asst. Prof. Janice Antoniette Forster, SU Technology Business Incubator (TBI) manager, is the course’s lead facilitator. She will be assisted by LMS experts and IT teachers of SU.

Certificates of Participation and Completion will be issued to participants of both courses.

Registration for the online courses is accessible at: https://tinyurl.com/SU-FLEX-OOC (“Technology-enhanced Flexible learning”) and https://tinyurl.com/SU-FLEX-PLMS (“Administration and Use of PLMS”).

To know more about the project, visit http://www.davemarcial.net/plms-fl.html.