Fifteen years ago in 1988, John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene, in their book Megatrends 2000, wrote:

Their forecast was to happen ten years later in 1998 and, indeed, began to happen at the time they said it would. But at the time they made their forecast, the electronic world was still largely on analog technology. Today, we have gone digital. The pervasiveness of digital technology today is probably in the same magnitude as the pervasiveness of analog technology was when Naisbitt and Aburdene made their famous forecast.

Today, the same kinds of people described by Naisbitt and Aburdene are still the ones whose knowledge and skills are highly in demand even in this digital world. There is a group of people, however, that they failed to include. These are the instructional designers, course developers, online professors, and knowledge managers. These are the people who run distance education programs; these are the people who are destined to run open universities.

Generally speaking, digitization is a process of transforming sound and visual symbols to be compatible with computer technology. This has, for example, made it possible for us to make our media presentations through computers. At the same time, the quality of media production has improved in ways never before achieved and experienced.

We are today right in the midst of a digital world. This technological phenomenon enables us to design, produce and deliver learning packages that actually engage learners through most if not all of their senses. And modern learning principles tell us that the more senses involved in the learning process the better learning would be.

However, for most countries, institutions, and individuals today, the digital world is still the future. Kind of way into the future actually. But for many, including the Philippines and some Philippine educational institutions, the digital world is now knocking at the gates. For innovators like the U.P. Open University, the future that is the digital age is here and has been here for sometime now. It must be because we are in this business of designing a futuristic learning environment employing the greatest advantages of the high end technologies that we are frequently perceived to be ahead in the exploration of the uses of digitization in the development and delivery of instructional packages and the design of learning environments. In other words, the future is here. It has arrived ahead of schedule.

The technologies are here and available to us. The question is, how much are we into actual application of these technologies, particularly the high end technologies? Quite candidly, we have barely scratched the surface.

For educators and knowledge managers like ourselves, there are twin issues that we must confront in the digital world.

First, the concept of e-learning. We all know that as far as the UPOU is concerned, e-learning is no longer simply an idea. We are at a point where it is an actual option. The problem, however, is that it is still easier to discuss than do. The real issue is not so much the shift from the traditional physical classroom learning to online learning as it is the shift from teacher-controlled learning to learner-controlled learning (Hase and Ellis, 2001). For as long as teachers and students alike still think in terms of the traditional physical classroom instruction process, we will always have problems with pure e-learning systems. Perhaps a mix mode would be more effective for now.

Second, the concept of the digital divide. Most current discourse about the digital divide focus on the economic factors. That is, most do not have access to the technologies concerned because of economic reasons. In other words, the poor cannot afford the cost of digital technology, hence said technology simply widens the gap between the haves and the have nots.

There is a more crucial issue, however. It has something to do with the social dichotomy that we impose on our audiences or clients, if you will. Here is how Oscar Gandy (2002), an expert on digital divide issues, explains it:

The audience as citizen is one who needs information and knowledge to improve his/her quality of participation in the process of social interaction, while the audience as consumer is one who has to be provided information to decide what goods to acquire for personal use, comfort, and development.

This is the nature of the environment in which we must operate today. The digital environment is something that we cannot avoid, whether we decide to take advantage of it now or at a later date.

Use of ICTs in Education

To be ready for and perform well in this digital environment, we must first be conversant about the fundamental issues in the effective and efficient use of the new information and communication technologies or ICTs. ICT is a collective nomenclature for the wide range of media that we use in the production and delivery of learning services. In general, by ICT we refer to the hardware and software combinations of computing, electronic media and telecommunications.

The use of ICTs in the education sector requires that we understand the fundamental issues that influence their effective use. From my vantage point I have identified ten issues. I wish to highlight them here, singly, as follows:

1. New learning paradigm. According to Garmer and Firestone (1996), the paradigm of learning has shifted away from the traditional notion that knowledge is transferred from teacher to student within the confines of the physical classroom. This paradigm shift is telling us that we must migrate from the traditional teacher-controlled learning that is the main feature of the conventional system, to learner-controlled learning, the framework of a highly active and participatory learning experience. This is probably the fundamental issue of the e-learning system, quite possibly the most difficult one. The paradigm change is supported by four general worldwide shifts in society that were identified by the International Council on Distance Education (ICDE) in a survey conducted in 1996. The clear shifts identified were: (a) shift from objective knowledge to constructed knowledge; (b) shift from industrial-based society to knowledge-based society; (c) shift from universities providing instruction to universities providing learning; and (d) shift from the conventional university structure to the virtual university structure.

2. Retooling ourselves. To be productive in the digital world, we need to upgrade our skills accordingly. One author puts it quite explicitly, as follows: "the cognitive and psychomotor skills that we need today are quite different from those we needed just a few decades ago." As new technologies are developed, so we must learn new skills that go with them. And this will go on endlessly. We must continually learn new skills to enable us to pursue our goal of providing lifelong learning experiences to our clients, using the appropriate technologies of the time.

3. Developing skills for independent learning. Possibly one of the most important things one can do is develop the ability to seek, understand, process, store, retrieve, and use information to seek new knowledge and to solve a current problem. Skills for independent learning arise out of our ability to use current knowledge to generate new knowledge. Again, this is a continuing phenomenon that we must deal with.

4. Fundamental difference between open learning and distance education. These two concepts, as we all know, mean differently; they are not the same. Open learning is a philosophy of access to educational opportunities, while distance education refers to a system of delivering educational services to the learner. Open learning applies to both the conventional and distance modes of education. We must realize, however, that we are fast moving towards an educational environment where the absolute conventional mode as well as absolute distance mode will no longer be practical. The mixed mode will be our basic operational framework. This will also highlight the fact that the UPOU will be more appreciated as it is in a unique position of providing the technical expertise in distance education and e-learning that the conventional institutions largely do not have. I must point out, though, that we need to demonstrate and show those that still doubt our capabilities and potentials that we can do what we say we can do.

5. Implications of the convergence of technologies. Technological convergence is a basic strength and advantage of digital technology. It enables us to greatly improve mediated delivery of learning services. It also implies that we need to be creative in redesigning learning packages to fit the nuances of digital technology. A good example of this condition is the Internet, where interactivity is virtual reality so that online courses need to be designed to be highly interactive.

   In the Internet, it is not enough that we simply upload our lecture notes and modules as they appear in our print modules. We have to redesign them again to suit the strong features of the Internet as a delivery channel. For example, we can include animation and simulation as techniques so that our learners can interact with the course content itself.

   In this regard, we still have not completely realized the full potentials, and perhaps even the shortcomings and disadvantages, of the Internet in the design and delivery of learning packages for Filipinos. Another thing, we still do not completely appreciate the implications of media streaming in the design of learning materials for a people of a culture that is highly verbally-oriented rather than textually-oriented. And I am not referring to today's texting technology using current models of cellphones.

6. Moving the expertise, not the expert. Due to the inherent capabilities of ICTs, we can easily virtually rather than physically transport experts through space. This gives our students the opportunity to interact with them through mediated means rather than through physical contact, which is frequently impossible especially when the expert, for example, is halfway around the globe. Is this advantage worth the lack of physical interaction between learner and expert? If it is, them we must look for ways of employing such strength in the design of our courses and the way we deliver them. We have began doing this in the case of our nonformal course, Introduction of e-Commerce, whose course coordinator is based in Davao City.

7. Technological dependence. There are three sub-issues here. First, we must guard against becoming prisoners of our technologies. Second, we must not sacrifice our creativity simply because we want to use a particular technology. Third, we must realize that when it comes to the hardware aspects of technology we are completely dependent on countries that produce them. In this regard, we must be able to develop software of our own. In fact, we should develop software that can be useful to others. There is not much we can do about the fact that richer countries control the hardware. Let us now, instead, develop software that others might need as they pursue lifelong learning undertakings. We are able to do this as we control content and techniques.

8. Death of distance. Because of the ICTs we are able to easily transport digitized information quickly. According to experts, there have been three transport revolutions, namely: transport of goods, transport of people, and transport of information. The transport of information has great implications to education and training. It is not always possible to physically connect learners with relics of events in the past to learn history; it is not always possible to physically bring learners to different countries to experience other cultures; it is not always physically possible to bring learners to war zones to experience the agony of chaos and war. All these can be experienced right where the learner is, even if vicariously, through meaningful use of ICTs. Learning today has become location-independent, distance-independent, and even at times time-independent.

9. Virtuality. Virtuality is a condition that does not have physical structure; it is a condition where something that is not truly real becomes potentially so, according to Mantovanni (1996). It is a communication condition that makes possible the access to learning opportunities and activities originating from various education providers. This condition enables us to make our learning packages accessible and available to students and other users from various other institutions here and abroad. Indeed, we can do virtually anything in the virtual learning environment.

10. Nature of the dance of change. The dance of change is a conceptual framework developed by Peter Senge (2001) to put into context the challenges in sustaining the momentum of changes in learning institutions. These challenges are: the challenge of initiating innovations and transformations; the challenge of sustaining these innovations and transformations; and finally the challenge of rethinking what we do in these learning institutions and redesigning the governance of what we do. Of these three challenges, the third is probably the most crucial for distance education institutions like the U.P. Open University. Indeed, we are having problems running an open university within the framework of a conventional university because most of the rules are either insufficient or inapplicable. For instance, we cannot be completely open because, as part of the UP System, we must base our admission of students on their performance in an admission examination. And for those students already admitted, they must meet the requirements of maximum residence requirement or MRR, which is rather strange in open learning environments. In fact, our mantra is lifelong learning.

Immediate Priorities for the UPOU

At this point, I wish to highlight the fact that we at the UPOU are at the digital crossroads where we have to contend with three basic issues.

First, we are at the stage of development of distance education in the country where we are wading through a pedagogical gap. The main feature of this pedagogical gap is the reluctant acceptance of distance education by higher education administrators as an alternative system of delivering quality education services in the country.

Second, we have to contend with a technological gap. One thing is sure though: many institutions and experts cannot seem to have enough of the gadgetry involved. Unfortunately, either we cannot afford it or our students do not have access to it. So we must use technology to the extent that it is available to our clients at reasonable cost. We must, however, go on and determine for ourselves what we can do with what technological ware we have access to, immediately affordable or otherwise.

Third, and possibly the most crucial issue, we have to deal squarely with the fact that it is difficult to migrate from teacher-controlled learning to learner-controlled learning. We cannot overcome this anomaly overnight but as we try to solve it let us further quicken our pace in migrating from the traditional learning within the physical confines of the classroom to learning online.

This brings me to what I have listed here as immediate priorities for the UPOU. I must, however, provide a preamble to these priority projects. To the extent possible, given our institutional resources and work environment, I would like to see the following happen during the next 12 months.

Why 12 months? Well, as Winston Churchill told England's House of Commons on February 27, 1945, 58 years ago tomorrow, as the Second World War was shaking England, "It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time." We are not trying to be like England and I am light years from being Churchill. All this means, however, is that I do not intend to make plans for the next Chancellor. I have only 12 months remaining in my term. In any case, we cannot afford to plan too far into the future in the digital age where crucial changes happen practically every month. I have identified six projects that I wish for us to undertake, as follows:

1. Redesign and offer fully online at least one formal course in each Faculty during the period, and improve the quality of our online tutorials. It is the Faculty's choice what course from which program to transform for online delivery. Our target clientele should be both Filipinos and non-Filipinos here and abroad. I must, however, point out that I have also received e-mail messages complaining about how some of our online tutorials are conducted. It is my hope that we resolve quickly whatever problems there might be with our online courses and tutorials. I call on the Faculties and the Online Teaching and Learning Laboratory (ONTELL) to pursue these targets immediately.

2. We must now complete the design and implement our online transactions for application, registration, payment, and document access. We can pursue more quickly our plans of offering our courses internationally if we have these online services in place. We have discussed these long enough so we must now put them in place. As an open university, the UPOU must be able to provide online services to its clients. Our digital environment makes this possible. I call on the Office of the University Registrar (OUR), the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (OVCFA) and the Office of the Vice chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD) to work together on this right away.

3. We must greatly improve upon our capability to conduct videoconferencing services. At the moment, we have access to a videoconferencing facility - the PREGINET - but this is still limited for UPOU's purposes as the network does not have nodes in all of our Learning Centers. It is naturally expected, therefore, that we continue our efforts to eventually be able to put in place an Internet-based videoconferencing system to which our Learning Centers may be connected. It is probably not too unreasonable to expect that we can do this for our Los Baños, Diliman and Manila LCs during the next 12 months. Let us start with a simple mechanism by simply adding another gadget, the webcam, and test how it works and improve upon this system later on. I call on the OVCRD, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Support Services (OVCSSS), the OVCFA, and the Budget Office to work on this right away.

4. It was in 1984 when I first described in a seminar on communication technologies at the Ateneo University how I had wanted to access library materials from remote sources while in my office. I articulated this again in a paper submitted to the UP Faculty Conference in Tagaytay in 1987. I wrote then that if I needed materials from the UPLB Library I should have been able to do computer search from my office at the then Institute of Development Communication. If the UPLB Library did not have the materials I needed, it should have had the capability to link me to the UP Diliman Library or the Ateneo Library so that I could continue my computer search. If I had found the material at the Ateneo Library, for example, I should have been able to access such material and downloaded it in my office.

   Since 1984, however, I have realized that this is not as easy as it sounds. There are IPR issues involved. However, access to titles of library holdings is now possible.

   Let us now complete and strengthen the digitization program of the UPOU Library to include in its computerized access system all that may be available in its collection, including all our courses, both formal and nonformal. Over and above this we must drastically increase our Library holdings of the latest publications in open learning and distance education as well as general disciplinary references. I call on the University Library, the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS), and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic affairs (OVCAA) to quicken the pace of this project.

5. We must now go into the full blown design and production of multimedia materials for use both by the UPOU and other educational institutions in the Philippines. This is the reason for the plan to establish a Multimedia Center, which shall be comprised of the Audio-Video Teaching and Learning Laboratory (AVTELL) and part of ONTELL. It shall be the Multimedia Center's responsibility to digitize our materials and store them on CD-ROMs so that they will be more accessible to more users. The UPOU must not only be perceived but actually be a publisher and producer of high quality instructional packages.

   I wish to highlight that part of our multimedia program shall be to continue the broadcast of "Wats UP sa Barangay." While this is a project under the auspices of the UPOU Foundation specifically for the Certificate in Barangay Administration program for now, the intention really is to provide a television venue for our courses, be they formal or nonformal. Eventually, the airtime will become some kind of a generic airtime for the UPOU. There may have been lapses in planning prior to the start of the broadcasts of Wats UP sa Barangay, but this should not deter us from continuing with the effort. My gut feel tells me that this television program will eventually make our institution and courses popular to a wider range of audiences and potential students. It is also a great potential source of revenue for us.

   To this end, therefore, we shall complete the television studio here at the UPOU Headquarters so that we improve our video streaming capability. I call on the AVTELL to work on this immediately.

   On and off I have mentioned of the UPOU being the publisher of high quality books and producer of high quality multimedia materials in the Philippines, much like the UKOU in the United Kingdom. We must pursue this, and I call on the OASIS to spearhead this gargantuan effort and begin right away finalizing the books that can be mass produced and have them published and put on sale nationally.

   Those that have been launched today and in the past must now be placed on national sale. The potential readers of our publications are not coming to us fast enough. Let us bring our publications to them, instead. I call on the Public Information Office and the OVCRD to work out a sales plan to dispose of as many books as possible during the next 12 months.

6. We must now embark on the design and production of online courses that shall be highly interactive. Interactive course materials are important because, as Dr. Lolit Suplido said in her foreword to Dr. Maritess Khanser's book, it is important that "students are engaged by course materials. . ." We, therefore, expect our faculty members to experiment on specific techniques in designing highly interactive courses. This is the reason why we shall organize the Online Course Development Laboratory (OCDL), which shall be comprised of some components of ONTELL devoted to online course development experimentation. I happen to believe that we must have a facility, no matter how small and limited in resources, where our faculty can conduct their own experiments in the design of interactive course materials. I call on the ONTELL and the Faculties to start work on this. I must emphasize here that our full-time faculty members must get involved actively in this undertaking. I leave it to the Deans to determine how this may be operationalized. Perhaps the courses you shall identify to be transformed into online courses should also be the ones to be designed to be highly interactive at the same time.

   I am now calling on all UPOU units concerned to submit your detailed plans of action on these projects by end of April 2003 so that we can include them in UPOU's work plan under our mandate as CHED's Center of Excellence for Open Learning and Distance Education. On the basis of this short-term plan of action, we shall also try to generate additional resources to make them work.

   We need to do a lot more, but we have just 12 months to do these. I am certain, however, that other interests and directions shall be pursued beyond my term as Chancellor.

   May I, therefore, call upon all the constituencies of the U.P. Open University to join me, and together let us put these things in place so that our UPOU can, indeed, bring itself, as Center of Excellence in Open Learning and Distance Education, to new heights of achievements in the digital age. Let us begin work. We do not need to wait for the formal organization of the Multimedia Center and the Online Course Development Laboratory to begin work. Let us work within the framework of a virtual organization.

   Thank you.

   
   
   
   
   References

   Gandy, Jr., Oscar. 2002. The real digital divide: citizens versus consumers. In Lievrouw, Leah and Sonia Livingstone (eds.), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications, London. pp 448-460.

   Garmer, Amy K. and Charles M. Firestone. 1996. Creating a Learning Society: Initiatives for education and Technology. Wshington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute.

   Hase, Stewart and Allan Ellis. 2001. Problems with online learning are systemic, not technical. In Stephenson, John (ed.), Teaching and Learning Online: Pedagogies for New Technologies, Kogan page, London. pp 27-34.

   International Council on Distance Education. 1996. The Educational Paradigm Shift, Implications for ICDE and the Distance Education Community. Report of the Task Force of the ICDE Standing Committee of Presidents, Lillehammer, Norway, June 10, 1996.

   Mantovanni, Giuseppe. 1996. New Communication Environments From Everyday to Virtual. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.

   Naisbitt, John and Patricia Aburdene. 1988. Megatrends 2000. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.

   Senge, Peter. 2001. The Dance of Change, The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations. New York: Doubleday.