Date: March 10, 24, and 31, 2022

Venue: Via Zoom

Author:

Ma. Janelle D.A Gabion 

Human Resource Development Office

With the increasing innovations and technological advancement in place, the opportunities for learning have increased in and beyond the four walls of a classroom. The Internet has openeddoorways to a wealth of information, educational resources, and possibilities of learning. And as the world plunges into uncertain times, organizations and the educational system must find alternative ways of learning, from the traditional method of teaching into a web-based experience. One provision of alternative learning platforms is the use of a learning management system–an online education hub that provides a substantial set of features to support learning activities of students, and even employees.

Last March 2022, the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO), in collaboration with the UP Manila Canvas Project Management Team, conducted a 3 half-day training focusing on the fundamentals of Canvas, its features, and roles of employees as “student” and as
“instructor/trainer” with a total attendance of 271 administrative employees coming from different units and colleges of University of the Philippines Manila. HRDO invited Prof. Joanna V, Toralba, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the College of Pharmacy, and a member of the UP Manila Canvas Project Management Team, to lead and guide the employees as they embark into a new journey and advanced way of learning–Canvas, a new tool in the flexible learning environment of UP Manila.

The first session happened last March 10, 2022, attended by 93 administrative employees. The second session was continued on March 24, 2022, and the third and last session was conducted last March 31, 2022 attended by 69, and 108 administrative employees respectively. Generally, the training was designed to give the employees an insight of what this platform has to offer, access their profile accounts, and learn how to navigate through the site. The first hour was used to make the employees appreciate the dashboard and personalized their account setting. Employees were given a chance to change their profile picture, set-up their personal account, manage the Canvas guide, and explore the calendar activities. The second hour was intended to access the published courses, take a quiz, communicate with other employees through the chat functions, and participate in online discussion. The last hour was then focused on the role of the instructor or trainer. Employees were able to create a quiz or assignment, create content, and navigate through the Sandbox course shells.

Overall, employees were engaging and responsive althroughout the training. They willingly participate in all the discussions and assignments prepared by our Canvas Project Management team. There were minimal reports on technical problems such as, not being able to access the site or downloading the app version, can’t navigate through the dashboard, and difficulties in publishing courses. But all the issues raised were acknowledged and solved right away by Dean Maria Eliza Ruiz Aguila, Project Head of UP Manila Canvas, and Mr. Al Reymund Merca of ILC.

The training of the administrative employees is timely as the Learning and Development Section of UP Manila HRDO adopts a web-based learning system where we incorporate learning and development interventions targeting specific competencies for the continuous development of UP Manila employees. Through this, employees will have access to a variety of learning methods and topics which they can pursue and work on within their own time. Succeeding sessions for advanced training on Canvas will be scheduled in the next quarter of the year for a more detailed and technical view of the platform.