UP offers educational materials to the public

 

The University of the Philippines serves as the country’s premier community of scholars, experts, academics and researchers, and a rich reservoir of knowledge, information, cutting-edge research, innovations and technologies. In accordance with its mandate as the country’s national university, tasked with taking the lead in the country’s national development as a teaching, graduate, research and public service university, UP makes it a point to open up its repository of knowledge and expertise to all sectors and members of the general public, and make its resources available to all who seek to learn, to do research and to sincerely serve the country and its people.

And in this extraordinarily challenging time, as the world faces down the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented socioeconomic hardships that go with it, as individual lives, communities and societies are shaken to the core by the resulting upheavals, UP as a higher education institution and as a community is even more cognizant of its role in educating our people, in letting science lead the way out of this public health crisis, and in informing policy- and decision-making at all levels with the best knowledge and expertise we can offer.

Here are only a few of the resources UP is offering to members of its community since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis this year. These include resources that are directly related to concerns regarding the COVID-19, such as symptoms, diagnoses and data on case numbers, as well as resources to help individuals and communities cope with the changes brought on by the pandemic. Almost all of these can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.

 

COVID-19 Outbreak and Case Information

Endcov.ph

The UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team hosts and maintains endcov.ph, a web portal that provides the public with vital information and tools in the fight against COVID-19. The UP PRT has contributed new resources to the dashboard including features that show Case Projections, the State of Transmissions in NCR based on LGU data, Municipal/City Density Map based on current active cases, and a Policy Sourcebook on COVID-19.

UP Mindanao’s COVID-19 Insights

The UP Mindanao COVID-19 Modeling Team created and maintains COVID-19 Insights, a web-based platform that tracks COVID-19 cases in the Davao Region for the information of local government officials, policymakers, researchers, health professionals, and members of the public. The dashboard features a map showing locations, charts, and numbers of COVID-19 cases, and also the total patient recoveries and deaths. The portal also features text analytics and spatial modelling pertinent to Region XI in Mindanao.

UP Cebu’s CoVcheck

The FireCheck Project team of UP Cebu has developed CoVcheck, a web-based application that allows the local government to collect data from its constituents about cases or potential cases of infection. By doing so, the concerned agencies as soon as necessary. On top of that, with the collected data, the local government can plan and execute localized, ad hoc measures to control or contain transmission or support the affected communities.

 

Physical and Psychosocial Health

Bayanihan Na! UP-PGH Bayanihan Na! Operations Center
Hotline Number 155-200

Manned by 60-70 student volunteers, the UP-PGH Bayanihan Na! Operations Center is equipped with Hotline Number 155-200 that aims to answer queries related to COVID-19 from both members of the UP Community and the general public.

UP Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Committee on Psychosocial Emergency Services (UP CoPES)

The UP CoPES was launched to promote psychosocial well-being by providing volunteering opportunities to members of the UP community and its partners, especially during emergencies. With respect to the University, the project works to equip students, faculty, staff members, and alumni of UP with the knowledge and skills to offer psychosocial support to themselves, their families, their peers, and communities.

UP Diliman Health Service
uphs.appointlet.com

The UP Diliman Health Service (UPHS) is providing telemedicine outpatient consultations to all UP-mandated clientele and residents. A new service aims to offer consultations in the following specializations: ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, ear, nose and throat, surgery and dermatology. Appointments may be made with any of the UPHS family physicians via uphs.appointlet.com. If online services are not available, appointments may be made by calling 8981-8500 local 2702. All telemedicine consultations are by appointment basis only. Physicians will be corresponding with patients through voice call, Viber, or Google Meet platforms once an appointment schedule has been set and confirmed. For other inquiries, please contact local 2702 or email [email protected].

UP Diliman Psychosocial Services (UPD PsycServ)

The UP Diliman Psychosocial Services addresses urgent and pressing mental health and psychosocial wellbeing needs of the UPD community. UPD PsycServ provides the following services: Individual Therapy Sessions, Relapse Prevention Group Therapy Sessions, Suicide Prevention and Postvention Programs, Training Workshops, and Personal Wellbeing Workshops. When Luzon was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine, UPD PsycServ expanded its services to accommodate Filipinos who have been affected and/or disturbed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

UPLB Office of Counseling and Guidance “OCG Cares’ Kumustahan”

To help UPLB students with their psychosocial needs despite the ECQ, the Office of Counseling and Guidance (OCG) of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (OVCSA) implemented an online means of consultation through its program “OCG Cares’ Kumustahan.” Through this program, students may get psychosocial support from a Guidance Services Specialist (GSS). The program is available for UPLB students from Mondays to Saturdays.

UP Visayas Disaster Command Center Psychosocial Cluster

The UP Visayas Disaster Command Center Psychosocial Cluster can be reached via email at [email protected], or through the following mobile numbers: (Globe) 0926 746 5671, 0917 486 1042; (Smart) 0999 223 6498, 0908 131 4461, 0998 982 7383; and (Sun) 0922 869 1097.

 

University Library Services and Other Educational Resources

UP Los Baños University Library
[email protected]

The UPLB University Library (UL) has intensified its online services by building its e-resources collection and putting in place online mechanisms. Through its website, one could chat with ELVA, or the Electronic Library Virtual Assistant, for inquiries and assistance. In performing basic and initial research, one may opt to do this through the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) that uses typical search engine-like functionality as it crawls to various databases. UL also extends its services to faculty members working to digitize course readings, and continues to offer its regular Information Literacy Program (ILP) and Library Instruction Services (LIS) on specific courses, which are provided online on a scheduled and per appointment basis.

UP Manila University Library Free Resources on COVID-19

The UP Manila Library has a dedicated page that lists the free resources on COVID-19, including national and international portals and databases, academic, medical and scientific journals, and resources from UP itself such as the COVID-19 Dictionary for Children. The site is updated regularly.

The UP Diliman Main Library’s Electronic Resources

The UP Diliman Main Library continues to provide university library services online. Its iLib Online catalog allows people to search for books, eBooks, and theses. EZproxy gives access to online databases and eBooks. The Index to Philippine Newspapers is a resource for local newspaper articles, while the Index to Philippine Periodicals allows for searches for local magazine and journal articles. The Digital Archives provides access to UP publications and electronic theses. Finally, the Open Access Repository gives access to local digital resources such as rare periodicals. The UPD Library also provides webinars on information literacy in the new normal for UP faculty in its “Rediscovering Your Library in the New Normal Information Literacy Webinar” series.

UP Diliman College of Education Resources for Remote Learning

The UP Diliman College of Education is curating and making available resources for remote learning to assist educators shifting from traditional classroom instruction to blended learning. These online resources comprise materials from: leading institutions of higher learning such as the University of Denver, University of Zurich, Ryerson University, and University of Limpopo, among others; international institutions such as UNICEF, Smithsonian, World Bank and UNESCO; and local resources produced by C&E Publishing Inc., the Department of Education, UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Unilab Foundation (Covid Comics), UP Los Baños Department of Human and Family Development Studies and materials produced by the College itself.

The official YouTube channels of the various UP constituent units also offer free educational videos featuring talks, conferences and interviews of faculty and experts.

• UP Baguio Systems and Network Office

• University of the Philippines Mindanao

• UPLB Official

• University of the Philippines Diliman

• UP Manila Channel

• UP Visayas Information and Publication Office

In addition to these resources, two UP institutions, the UP Open University (UPOU) and TVUP, are noteworthy in their initiative and drive to offer UP’s knowledge resources and expertise to both the members of the UP Community and the general public for free.

 

The UP Open University

The UPOU, which pioneered remote, distance and online learning in higher education in the country, has taken the lead in training, educating and guiding various sectors of society through the “new normal” as the COVID-19 pandemic forces almost every aspect of daily life, including education, to go online. The UPOU serves as a venue for teachers and educators to share best practices and research findings, and for students to gain supplementary knowledge in needed subjects, and for parents to receive guidance in helping their children adjust to open and remote teaching and learning.

Its resources on remote learning, teaching and working are available for free to the public on its website. These resources include free online courses and educational videos aimed to assist UP faculty, staff and the entire Philippine academic community in shifting/migrating to an online mode of teaching and learning to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the UPOU Networks serves as an online repository of all UPOU-produced multimedia resources, including open educational resources (OERs), publications, web-streamed lectures/presentations/seminars/university events, radio, and podcasts.

The UPOU MODeL is the official platform of the UPOU massive open online courses (MOOCs), which provides learners with a secure and integrated system to create personalized learning through MOOCs, which are online courses open to the public for free. MOOCs target a number of learners all over the world to share and learn from other learners. The UPOU also offers a free online course on “Quick Guide on How to Convert your Classes Online.”

The Open UP Connect Blog, on the other hand, is the official blog site of UPOU. More video lectures on various subject matters are also available for free on the UPOU YouTube channel, which at present has racked up a total of over 438,000 views since 2013, with its educational videos garnering up to tens of thousands of views.

For a more in-depth list of UPOU’s educational offerings and resources, please see attached PDF list.

 

TVUP

TVUP, UP’s Internet television network, on the other hand, continues to deliver free content for information and educational purposes. TVUP participates in generating open educational resources (OERs) to be made public by producing its own materials and collecting other content from existing sources, and sharing all these freely with all state universities and colleges, private and public higher training institutions, other training institutions, and the general public.

TVUP is a testament to the University of the Philippines’ character as the national university—a teaching, research, public service, and global/regional university—shared freely with all state universities and colleges, private and public higher training institutions, other training institutions, and the general public.

Just some of TVUP’s programming include weekly and daily educational videos on Filipino cultural heritage; documentaries; financial matters and social entrepreneurship; talks on gender, health and human rights issues; short films; latest news on scientific innovations, disaster risk reduction and management, and other environmental issues; and many more. In fact, the TVUP YouTube channel has had over 600,000 views since 2016 with its most popular educational videos garnering tens of thousands of views.

Access TVUP here:
Website: http://www.TVUP.ph/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/TVUPph
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TVUP.ph
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TVUPph

 

(This was originally posted on the UP System website on August 17, 2020)