Faculty of Information and Communication Studies

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    17 MOOCs In Six Emerging APEC Member Economies –Trends, Research, and Recommendation
    (Routledge, 2020) Jung, Insung ; Garcia Mendoza, Gibran A. ; Fajardo, Jennifer Christine ; Figueroa, Roberto B. Jr. ; Tan, Siaw Eng
    A collaborative team of five foreign researchers who reside in Japan purposefully conducted research to describe the development of MOOCs in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Mexico. It is important to point out that these countries represent six emerging economies that are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It seeks to answer three key questions: (1) When did MOOCs begin in APEC countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America? (2) How did they develop? (3) How were they supported? To accomplish these goals, research articles published in relevant local, regional, and international journals together with related books and reports were thoroughly examined. Furthermore, interviews of local experts were also conducted to provide meaningful context. This chapter begins with a review of the overall trends of MOOC growth in the six selected countries. It then discusses research findings and local experts’ comments on MOOC-based learning experiences and points out various challenges currently faced as well as apparent opportunities moving forward. Finally, it concludes with several valuable lessons learned from the MOOC experiences of those emerging economies.
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    ACES: Automated Academic Essay Scoring Using a Natural Language Processing-Based Regression Mechanism
    (Asian Association of Open Universities, 2022) Pugoy, Reinald Adrian
    Academic essays are essential testing instruments that evaluate the students’ ability to organize thoughts and synthesize information. However, grading them is an exhausting and cumbersome process that requires considerable manpower. It may be prone to errors, and there are also serious concerns about fairness, such that an essay graded B+ today may be graded B- tomorrow by the same checker. Therefore, the author proposes ACES, an essay scoring mechanism that employs natural language processing (NLP) to address the issue at hand. NLP is a sub-field of artificial intelligence (AI) concerned with granting computers the ability to understand texts in much the same way humans can. With essay scoring reformulated as a regression problem, ACES takes the essay answer as the input, converts it to a vector representation of numbers in the embedding space, and feeds it to the neural network model (which serves as the approximate regression function) to predict its score as the output. In this paper, the author successfully implements four versions of ACES that employ different embedding sources and neural network models, with the ACES variant that considers context and word frequency information performing the best (i.e., ACES-BERT).
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    Adapting the Compass Framework in a hybrid course on wearable technology design and futures thinking
    ( 2022-11) Maranan, Diego S.
    The Wearable Futures Hackathon (WFH) was a 12-week long, hybrid learning experience was collaboratively created with and for undergraduate students at UP Open University’s Bachelor of Arts program in Multimedia Studies (BAMS). The course explores wearable technology, e-textiles, speculative design, and futures thinking. The course is the first of its kind at the university in terms of the following aspects: - The course themes (i.e., physical computing, e-textiles, speculative design, and futures thinking); and - The use of a hybrid format (80% online, 20% face to face) for BAMS studio course. For this course, the Index Project's design thinking framework--the Compass--was integrated with UPOU’s standard principle and practices in outcomes-based online learning design resource-based course authoring.
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    Anthropology Of, For, And With Design: A Philippine Perspective
    ( 2014) Cajilig, Pamela G. ; Maranan, Diego S.
    The intersection of the fields of design and anthropology emerges as fertile ground for study as societies increasingly acknowledge the tremendous impact the objects we create for ourselves have on our lives. As anthropologists and ethnographers involved in running our own design research company in the Philippines, negotiating the alignments and contradictions between the two fields of knowledge is an essential component of our everyday research practice. This paper outlines different models of the relationships between design and anthropology as systems of knowledge and practice. We first extend a theoretical framework that distinguishes between anthropology of, anthropology for, and anthropology with design (Gunn and Donovan 2013): we maintain that anthropology with design underlies an approach increasingly used in commercial industries known as "design thinking", and describe the different ways by which knowledge is generated and mobilized in each of these relationships; we further describe how the artifacts of design can be seen to either materialize, shape, or probe culturally-mediated meanings, power relations, and values. We illustrate these concepts through client-commissioned projects that our organization has conducted in the Philippines. We next examine how and when these design-anthropology relationships are realized when working with clients. While anthropology with design will likely create better outcomes for our clients, larger clients must often settle for anthropology for design; we describe how we have negotiated these tensions and present our outcomes from our engagement with them. We end with a call for the development of a local prism through which practitioners in the field of design can further engage in critical reflection of the production of artifacts, particular those created with the intent of addressing social concerns. Specifically, we call for more localized conceptual frameworks of design that can be patterned (for instance) on India's notion of jugaad, and advance an increased engagement for anthropology with design across various sectors of Philippine society.
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    Archiving as Artistic and Personal Practice: Tools, Methods, Examples, and Learning Resources
    ( 2022-05-22) Maranan, Diego S.
    This presentation was given at the Philippine Documentary Heritage Webinar Series: Digital Technology and Documentary Heritage. See https://www.facebook.com/PHDHDigitalRepository/videos/2798957150400534 for the full video of the presentation. See also: *https://www.facebook.com/PHDHDigitalRepository/posts/171802621911907 *https://www.facebook.com/PHDHDigitalRepository/posts/174371968321639 *https://www.facebook.com/PHDHDigitalRepository/posts/173741721717997
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    Artificial Intelligence in Social Sciences: Behavioral Intention and Use Among Students in a State University in Central Luzon, Philippines
    ( 2025-04-17) Soliven, Paolo Carl
    This study assessed the views and usage of AI among social sciences students in a state university in Luzon, Philippines, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT) theory. A total of 311 students were chosen through stratified proportional sampling and surveyed using Google Forms for 8 days. Data underwent statistical tests such as T-test and correlations (Point-Biserial, Spearman's rank, and Phi Coefficient). The behavioral intentions and actual use of AI among students were high. They actively utilize AI such as chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT) and writing assistance tools (e.g., Grammarly and QuillBot) to enhance their learning and assist with academic tasks. They hold a positive perception of AI, particularly in terms of performance expectancy and effort expectancy. They believe that AI enhances their academic performance and is easy to use. However, students remain neutral regarding social influence and facilitating conditions, suggesting that they feel neither strongly encouraged nor discouraged by their peers to use AI. Additionally, they perceive external support for AI as neutral, indicating a perceived lack of encouragement from academic institutions regarding its use. Students' attitudes toward AI are also neutral, due to the absence of standardized guidelines and implementation strategies from academic institutions. This seems to have created uncertainty, as students are unsure whether they are encouraged or discouraged from using AI. As a result, they approach the ethical use of AI with caution. Despite these, they still intend to use AI to enhance their creativity and ideas, innovate their academic methods, and improve the quality of their work.
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    Artscience Thinking for the Global South
    ( 2023-03-16) Maranan, Diego S.
    Pluridisciplinary practices that span art and science are well-known in Western research and creative communities. Some of the most interesting and significant of these works confront audiences with deep questions about "life, the universe, and everything” (with apologies to Douglas Adams). But in the Global South—where addressing basic human needs, achieving economic and political security, and adapting to the unfolding climate crisis—are widely regarded as priorities, is there even space or time for the same? Using recent artscience research and creative projects I have been involved in, I argue that despite—or indeed because—of the challenges confronting the Global South, research, practice, and education on the intersections of the arts and the sciences is more necessary than ever.
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    Artscience Thinking for the Global South
    ( 2022-02-22) Maranan, Diego S.
    Pluridisciplinary practices that span art and science are well-known in Western research and creative communities. Some of the most interesting and significant of these works confront audiences with deep questions about "life, the universe, and everything” (with apologies to Douglas Adams). But in the Global South—where addressing basic human needs, achieving economic and political security, and adapting to the unfolding climate crisis—are widely regarded as priorities, is there even space or time for the same? Using recent artscience research and creative projects I have been involved in, I argue that despite—or indeed because—of the challenges confronting the Global South, research, practice, and education on the intersections of the arts and the sciences is more necessary than ever.
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    ASEAN CONVERGENCE. Towards an ASEAN Identity: Discourses on Communication and Culture
    (Faculty of Information and Communication Studies, UPOU, 2019) FLOR, ALEXANDER G. ; GONZALES-FLOR, BENJAMINA PAULA G.
    This monograph is a collection of papers used as required reading for ASEAN Studies 231. The course was developed as a contribution of the UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies to the Master of ASEAN Studies (MAS) Joint Program of the five open universities in Southeast Asia: the UP Open University; Universitas Terbuka in Jakarta; Sukhothai Open University in Bangkok; the Hanoi Open University; and the Open University of Malaysia. MAS was meant as a major initiative for the regionalization of education in the ASEAN region. Hence, this course takes on a regional outlook on communication. By communication, we refer to information and communication technologies and media (traditional, mass and new media). This course is also crosslisted under the UPOU Master of Development Communication program as DEVC242.
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    Beyond the Crescent: Exploring Perceptions of the Philippine Halal Logo Among Young Non-Muslim Filipino Consumers
    ( 2025-05-14) Jimenez, Maria Alexine P.
    Can a logo intended to represent religious principles transcend its roots and become a universal symbol of health? In the Philippines, where approximately 91.5% of the population is reported to be Christian ("Religious affiliation in the Philippines (2020 census of population and housing)," 2023), the government has actively promoted locally made Halal-certified products through initiatives mandated by the Philippine Halal Export Development Program (Senate and House of Representatives Philippines, 2016). Central to these efforts is the introduction of the official Philippine Halal logo (Caybot, 2019). But can this marker truly resonate beyond the Muslim community and symbolize broader notions of health, cleanliness, trust, sustainability, and quality for everyone? This research presents a creative visual perception test, describing how the logo’s design elements-particularly its prominence, messaging, and imagery-influence perceptions of health, trust, quality, and purchase intentions among young non-Muslim Filipino consumers residing in Quezon City. Using a purposive, non-random sample of 311 respondents, the study employed descriptive analysis to explore awareness of and attitudes toward the Philippine Halal Logo. Guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study used a mixed-methods research design, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative insights. The findings reveal that while respondents generally have favorable impressions of the logo and its visibility, statistical analysis showed no significant effect of logo size alone on perceived health benefits. Messaging such as the text “Clean Food” resonated well with safety-conscious consumers, but it did not show a statistically significant advantage over other text options. In contrast, a green color scheme for the imagery significantly enhanced associations with cleanliness and sustainability. The synergy of these design elements-rather than any single factor-created the strongest positive impact on health perceptions and purchase intentions within this sample. Furthermore, respondents who engaged in the central route of processing information demonstrated greater cognitive engagement and more positive attitudes toward Halal-certified products, supporting key principles of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). It is important to note that, due to the purposive and non-random sampling method, these findings are descriptive and reflect only the views of the surveyed group; they are not representative of all young, non-Muslim Filipinos in Quezon City or the Philippines. The study’s limitations highlight the need for future research across more diverse regions and with randomized samples to better capture the broader demographics. In terms of development communication, the results demonstrate how strategic visual design and messaging can help transform cultural symbols into more universal markers of trust, health, and quality (Page & Lim, 2022). Recommendations include optimizing the Philippine Halal logo’s design particularly through the use of green color and clear, health-focused messaging-launching targeted awareness campaigns that emphasize “Clean Food,” and establishing standard policies to unite MSMEs and businesses in communicating their Halal-certified products. By bridging cultural divides through effective branding and social marketing, this study highlights the potential of Halal certification to foster inclusivity and drive sustainable growth in the Philippine food industry.
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    Biodiversity Tower: A community art project by SEADS, Compostmeesters Willebroek & Kris Mys
    ( 2019-10-21) Vermeulen, Angelo ; Maranan, Diego S.
    This presentation was given during the 2019 Institute for Public Art (IPA) Research Network Meeting. The meeting was part of the 2019 International Award for Public Art event, during which Biodiversity Tower was awarded the Eurasia Commended Project designation. For more details, see https://www.instituteforpublicart.org/case-studies/biodiversity-tower/
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    Biomodd: A Case Study In Combining Online Learning With On-Site New Media Art Practice
    ( 2011-09) Librero, Al Francis D. ; Maranan, Diego S. ; Vermeulen, Angelo
    Biomodd is a new media art project that integrates cross-cultural dialogue, ecology and technology while encouraging innovative collaboration. The project started in 2007 in the United States, and has since spawned multiple versions that have been built both by the people that originally came up with the idea, and by other communities throughout the world. During its run in the Philippines, a team was formed to build an installation that went on display was exhibited in two cities in the Philippines. The UP Open University, in return for its sponsorship, employed the project as a springboard in a course for students to explore and practice new media art. Since Biomodd involved a series of on-site workshops and classroom sessions, the challenge was to find a way to engage students despite their ability to physically attend the workshops. This was addressed through the use of various online applications to accomplish tasks outside the construction of the art installation. Communication was coursed through several avenues, including the university's official learning management system, text messaging, mailing lists, online photo albums, personal blogs and mass media. Through an analysis of the exchanges conducted through these various channels of communication, we show how learners and course facilitators were able to build and sustain a sense of community, as well as connect with external stakeholders who enabled learners to extend their exploration in new media art practice as shaped by their experience of working on Biomodd, thus constituting a highly enriching learning experience.
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    Biomodd: Exploring Relationships Between Biological, Electronic, And Social Systems Through New Media Art
    ( 2014-11-17) Maranan, Diego S. ; Librero, Al Francis D.
    Biomodd is a collaborative new media art project that explores the symbiosis between biological, electronic, and social systems. The project started in 2007 in the United States, and has since spawned multiple versions globally. The Philippine team was led by educators from the UP Open University, who organized a course on new media art practice as a springboard for exploring and developing the project. We discuss the imaginative and abstract relationships between biological, eletronic, and social systems that learners articulated over the course of the project. We describe how local, culturally-specific narrative elements were imaginatively integrated into the physical and interactive design of the installation, resulting in a technically complex, visually poetic expression of the relationship between nature, technology, and humans.
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    Biomodd: the integration of art into transdisciplinary research practices
    (oekom verlag, 2023-05-20) Kuchner, Ulrike ; Nasser, Mona ; Steyaert, Pieter ; Maranan, Diego S. ; Birsel, Zeynep ; Haines, Agatha ; Peeters, Ann ; Vermeulen, Angelo
    Biomodd is an artistic project with the potential for supporting transdisciplinary practices in blended virtual and in-person environments. After describing the project components, we discuss the collaborative process of idea generation and participant engagement. In this paper, we argue for the integration of collaborative art practice in transdisciplinary (TD) research to generate ideas and engage researchers and non-academic stakeholders. We draw on the virtual and in-person (hybrid) participation of members of the TD collective Space Ecologies Art and Design (SEADS) during Biomodd, an art installation that addresses global challenges in ecology, humanity, technology, and technological waste. Using survey responses, diaries, and meeting minutes, we reflect on the process, methods and ideation during Biomodd and map them to the concept of the “idea journey” discussed by Jill E. Perry-Smith and Pier Vittorio Mannucci. We find that while in-person ideation was driven by utility, materiality, and emergence, the hybrid mode provided favorable conditions for a feedback loop of expansive, individual experimentation and online sharing.
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    Changing the Lives of the Filipino Teachers and Students: Participants' Perceptions of the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program
    (International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS), 2023-06-02) Amoloza, Emely M.
    As part of its role in serving the nation, the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) has collaborated with various institutions in implementing projects that support community development. One of which is the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program. To enable the participants to acquire the essential digital skills for 21st century teaching, learning, and working is the program’s goal while changing the lives of Filipino teachers and students is the program’s aspiration. This study focused on the third phase of the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program and sought to present the participants’ perceptions of the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program. Applying a case study method, this research made use of various available data that were gathered from messages, focused group discussions, and participant observations. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of this study showed that the participants have positive perceptions of the project; they feel grateful for the knowledge gained and the extended assistance. A complete list of the participants’ comments and recommendations on improving the modules, training, schedule, quiz, and program were included in this paper. Constant communication among partner institutions, conduct of FGDs, and cascading the training were the best practices identified by the participants.
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    Cinemaspace, Cyberspace: Mapping the Philippine Moving Image
    ( 2008-11-20) Trice, Jasmine ; Maranan, Diego S.
    This presentation will consist of two, interrelated parts, reflecting the interests of the participants in integrating the critical and theoretical, on the one hand, and the artistic and material, on the other. Operating under the same rubric and tackling parallel conceptual problems regarding nation, the moving image, and notions of the public, we hope to unravel some distinctions between art and criticism, following the cue of many practitioners and theorists in the Philippines, in order to sketch out possibilities for links between Philippine cinema as a digital mode of production, the usual way in which cinema and new media are linked, as well as examining the use of Philippine online spaces as a digital mode of circulation.
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    Collaborative Relational Database Software-as-a-Service as Authoring Tools for Online and Offline OERs: Using Airtable and Notion to Make Your Own Learning Management System
    ( 2022-11-22) Maranan, Diego S.
    In this presentation, I describe how specific collaboration, authentication, and sharing features of two popular, low-cost, relational database software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms, Airtable and Notion, can be used to create open educational resources (OERs) that are easily updatable, shareable, and repurposable. Not only do these SaaS platforms provide opportunities for student assessments to be closely align with course content, but they also afford course facilitators a way to quickly verify and monitor such content-assessment alignment. Using two examples of courses taught at the UP Open University, I additionally describe how SaaS relational database platforms facilitates the use of previous student outputs as learning material for subsequent iterations of courses and drives the continuous improvement of course design.
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    Conduct of Facebook Page Content Creation of a Not-for-Profit Virtual Community in the Philippines: An Autoethnographic Study of a Filipino Online Community Manager
    ( 2025-03-11) Lopez, Gabrielle Angeli V.
    This study explored how Facebook content creation is conducted by a not-for-profit virtual community in the Philippines and the meaning or motivations behind these practices from the perspective of the researcher, a Filipino Online Community Manager. Utilizing Autoethnography and Grounded Theory as a methodological frameworks, the researcher analyzed textual artifacts from 2021 to 2024. Thematic analysis was employed supported bu MAXQDA software, a qualitative analysis software, to guarantee organized coding and efficient theme identification despite the breadth of data. The findings revealed that Facebook content creation is conducted through practices such as employing diverse content themes and formats, promoting collaborative engagement with members and partners, implementing strategic content creation and management system (e.g., use of social media calendars, standardized design guides, and content storage banks), leveraging data-driven audience insights, and optimizing posting schedules and frequency strategies. The study further identified key motivations behind these practices, including building meaningful member connections, utilizing social monitoring for community improvement and as a content creation guide, increasing community awareness, promoting growth, fostering trust and credibility, and encouraging member participation. Recommendations include diversifying content formats and themes, conducting regular social monitoring, encouraging contributions from members and partners, and leveraging data-driven insights to refine strategies. Strategic content creation and management practices—such as maintaining content storage systems, using social media calendars, and optimizing posting schedules were also highlighted as vital for enhancing engagement and content creation process' effectiveness. The study's findings have broader applications in fields such as Advertising, Marketing Communications, Organizational Planning, Corporate Social Responsibility, Advocacy and Social Mobilization, Public Relations, and Information Studies. An assessment guide for social media content creators of for-profit and non-profit organizations, specifically Facebook content creators, and online community managers was also created by the researcher which can be potentially used as a reference in the conduct of their Facebook content creation process.
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    Conference Track Description: “Death, Degrowth, and Finitude in the Age of the Lifelike” (PoM Conference Aachen 2024)
    ( 2024) Maranan, Diego S. ; Vermeulen, Angelo ; Holt, Amy ; Kuchner, Ulrike ; Steyaert, Pieter
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    Construction of Entertainment News as a Collaborative and Negotiated Communication and Discourse: An Autoethnographic Study
    ( 2025-04) Donato, Jerry D.
    The qualitative study investigated how Entertainment news as a discourse and its meaning come into being. It also interrogated the roles of editorial and Public Relations and Corporate Communications personalities who take part in it, the communication systems and the power relations that enact and shape the construction of Entertainment news. Utilizing analytic autoethnography and thematic analysis, the 10 themes that emerged were “Source” of the “source” of Entertainment news; What and who lands on the Entertainment page; The avenues and sites for Entertainment news; What questions to ask and get to ask; Questions and answers as basis for Entertainment news; The culture of giving; The writer’s making sense of Entertainment event; Entertainment narratives: Events to personalities; Stories people are talking about and whose voice; and New way of gathering and writing Entertainment news. They also revealed different points of communication, collaboration, negotiation and tension in relation to the construction of Entertainment news. Themes were based on the recollections and experiences of the researcher and the five other informants. In the interplay of their voices, the researcher’s perspective took the lead in understanding how Entertainment news emerges. Using Fairclough and Foucault’s conceptions of discourse and Berger and Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality as lenses, the study analyzed and discussed Entertainment news, from the text and discursive levels to the social practice level and encompassing surfaces of emergence and authorities of deliminations, and the habitualization, institutionalization and legitimation of practices and policies. The qualitative study legitimizes the value of Entertainment news and that it is never a neutral site of communication and discourse.