Established on 23 February 1995, the University of the Philippines - Open University (UPOU) pioneered in online teaching and learning and continues to play a leading role in the study and practice of open learning and distance education in the Philippines. 

 

UPOU is envisioned as a leader in teaching and learning in the digital age, helping to equip Filipinos with the knowledge and skills they need for life and work in the 21st century. 

Our mission is to provide Filipinos everywhere access to quality higher education through innovative methods of teaching and learning that are designed to be responsive to their needs as well as to national development priorities. We uphold the values of scholarship, academic excellence, academic freedom, humanism, social responsibility, and service to the nation. 

We are the nation’s most comprehensive distance education institution, with three undergraduate programs, ten post-baccalaureate certificate and diploma programs, 13 master’s programs, two doctoral programs and 11 non-formal courses. We have a network of 8 learning centers and 20 testing centers in the country and abroad. This coupled with our ability to harness a wide range of digital technologies in education, have enabled us to build a global community of mostly Filipino learners in more than 40 countries.

 

Mode of Teaching
UPOU employs the distance education (DE) mode of teaching and learning. The key features of DE as practiced at UPOU are:

• Students and teachers are physically separated from each other. They do not meet face-to-face in a physical classroom. 
• Students undertake guided independent study of carefully selected as well as specially designed learning materials in various media — print, video, and multimedia. 
• Interaction between teachers and students, and among students, takes place through online tutorials in a virtual classroom. Other forms of communication between teacher and student are email, text, and teleconferencing. 
• Final examinations are conducted either face-to-face at designated learning centers, or online. All examinations are proctored.

 

Research

UPOU views research as essential to its function as a university. The University looks at research as a means to enhance its teaching function, create new knowledge, and contribute to addressing societal problems. The University has made available a number of grants to support the research activities of faculty and staff members, including the dissemination of research results.

 

UPOU conducts research in distance education (DE) and the disciplines it currently offers. Since its establishment, the University has spearheaded research in open and distance learning in the country. Its research in this area has been diverse, covering the following topics:

• DE learner profile
• DE learning syles
• DE learner performance
• online teaching and learning
• virtual learning environments
• computer-mediated collaborative learning
• gender and distance education
• pedagogical approaches in distance education
• DE program evaluation
• Management of DE

 

In addition, the University has also pursued research in the the following disciplines:

• education
• information and communication technology
• multimedia
• communication
• organization and management
• public policy
• environment
• health
• development studies

Many of these discipline-based studies have been externally funded.