TUDLA: UP Varrons Online

In Focus
June 27, 2007

	Close encounter with UP-Open U’s Melinda "Melin" dela Peña-Bandalaria

Many of you may now be familiar with the acronyms ICT and ODL, or “Information and Communication Technologies” and “Open and Distance Learning.” Now it can be, well, openly communicated: a Varron is an expert in these fields, in the person of Melinda “Melin” dela Peña-Bandalaria (First Quarter Storm ‘78). Melin is currently an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) in Los Baños, Laguna, whose basic thrust is distance learning. As a member of the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies, she is in the forefront of a rapidly-developing technology that allows students to obtain their advanced education online - no more traveling to a traditional classroom setting. Her personal and professional advocacy is to integrate SMS (Short Message Service) with online learning to bridge the digital divide and make distance education accessible to more people. Ds means dat in d near ftur stdnts & profs wil b txtmates, but wrong spelling of answers will still be considered wrong, k? Her involvement in this type of ground-breaking endeavor is not straightforward. Her BS degree is actually Agriculture (major in Plant Breeding) which she finished in 1982. She worked for five years as a Science Research Specialist at PCARRD (Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development) then as a Research Associate for four years at the Institute of Animal Science, and later as an Extension Specialist and an Assistant to the Dean of the School of Distance Education. From there, she never looked back because she found her calling. She utilized her science background when she “changed direction” in her career and majored in Development Communication when she decided to pursue her master’s and doctoral degrees, which she both obtained from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1995 and 2001, respectively. To enhance her skills in e-learning, marketing and management, and Open University operations, she attended training courses in UP-OU, International Rice Research Institute, Asian Institute of Management, Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia in Canada. She also obtained a Graduate Certificate in Distance Education from Indiana University to provide her with the much-needed grounding in education, specifically distance education. Melin finds that one satisfying aspect of being involved in distance learning is the opportunity to meet and interact with the so-called non-traditional university students. These students are already working but want to pursue advanced degrees; are highly motivated but cannot afford to be away from work. And she does not mind if a student is a well-known celebrity (see inset picture below). She counts that as one of the perks.

Melin with her favorite student, Sharon Cuneta, who is a popular Filipino actress, at the UP Open University.		Melin with her students at the UP Open University.
As a project leader of several extension programs at UP-OU, she trains teachers and education managers in the Philippines and other countries on leadership skills, management functions, and organizational communication. In 2006 she even traveled to Lao PDR several times to give seminars on teaching strategies to faculty members and academic staff of the National University of Laos. Her passion for online education is reflected in scientific and popular articles that she has written over the years, one of them being published this year, appropriately in an online international journal, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL). A sampling of her other publications is listed in the Varrons-related bibliography. Aside from teaching she also has a number of administrative duties, foremost among them being the Registrar of the UP-OU since 2001. Being computer-savvy, she is putting her money where her mouse is by pointing the Registrar’s Office in the direction of electronic documentation: of student records, application for admissions, online registration; and submission of grades. Scrolling back to her undergraduate student days, she joined the UP Varrons in 1978 as part of the First Quarter Storm batch. She held the Varron Scribe position in 1978-79 and headed the Publication Committee, a task that probably suited her at that time considering her current pursuits. Asked what she learned being a member of the UP Varrons, she answered: “(The organization) taught me lots of things that cannot be learned inside the classroom. It made me a better and compassionate person.” Of her cache of memorable events in the Varrons, she most notably underscores the February Fairs. She added: “It's not about the events - it's more of the people who were there when the events happened.” Melin has 4 children; the eldest is an Accounting graduate, the second is a Chemical Engineer, the third is a Veterinarian and the youngest and only boy is a senior in high school. (nra72)