The UP Open University (UPOU) has been delivering its programs and courses fully online since 2007. At UPOU, we adopt a learner-centered approach to education. We design our course materials and the way we teach according to the situation of the Learner – and that’s you in the middle.


Our form of distance education is not like a correspondence school in which you study your

modules without guidance from anybody. In our setup, we have faculty members and tutors

to guide you in every class. We also have student support staff and program advisers to

help the learners.


Our students basically study their lessons from UP-designed learning materials which could

be in the form of modules, books, websites, CDs, videos. Students also receive a course

guide which is like their road map to the subject. It tells them what class activities to do

within a schedule.


The key features of DE as practiced at UPOU are:

  • Students and teachers are physically separated from each other.They do not meet face-to-face in a physical classroom.
  • Students undertake guided independent study of carefully selected as well as specially designed learning materials in various media — print, video, and multimedia.
  • Interaction between teachers and students, and among students, takes place through online tutorials in a virtual classroom. Other forms of communication between teacher and student are email, text, and teleconferencing.
  • Midterm and Final examinations are usually administered through a network of examination venues here and abroad or through an online exam system.


Moreover, interactions between students and Faculties-in-Charge (FICs) through the UPOU MyPortal (student course site), are asynchronous. Students undergo self-directed learning where they take their subjects and attend to their requirements on their own time and place, as long as they follow their deadlines. UPOU students are not required to report physically to the UPOU Headquarters, unless specified by their FIC. If a student needs to report to the UPOU HQ, their FIC will inform them ahead of time. But if a student wants to visit the UPOU HQ after the pandemic, they are free to do so.