FINALLY, the University will be offering courses online.
A long-overdue project, UST will be introducing the Electronic Learning Access Program (e-LeAP) next semester. After pilot classes last semester, 14 web-enhanced courses, including the non-military components of the National Service Training Program (NSTP)—the Civic Welfare Training Service and the Literacy Training Service—will be offered online to UST undergraduate students.
With e-LeAP, UST, Church as well as regular holidays, the frequent flooding, and the ever absent and tardy professors, would no longer be hindrances to the students’ learning since the lessons are available on the Net. In addition, the courses have been standardized to ensure that all the topics are discussed.
The only major concerns would be electricity shortage and Internet access, both of which don’t seem to be that pressing, after all. As regards electricity shortage, week-long blackouts have become rarities, while Internet access won’t be much of a barrier since almost every nook and cranny in the metropolis has an Internet café.
Furthermore, to help students to access the Net, the University is working out deals with nearby Internet shops so students can be given discounts.
Another plus factor of the e-LeAP, which would surely augur well for the University and especially for the students, is the inclusion of the NSTP’s non-military components in its list of course offerings. The students will no longer have to wake up early to be in UST at 7 a.m. during Sundays and stay under the sun until noon. Moreover, it lessens the opportunity for corrupt practices because there are lesser cadets on campus who would be coerced to purchase “irregularly” priced paraphernalia.
It is also worth noting that the University did not charge additional fees for the project. In a way, UST would disprove the misappropriation theories of the groups that regularly condemn and berate the University for constantly increasing its tuition and miscellaneous fees. It would show that UST is doing something worth the money its students are shelling out for education in the University.
Despite the seemingly positive results that the program could bring, there are still professors who resist it. Apparently, these professors think e-LeAP would render them inutile when in fact it would make teaching less onerous for them.
However, UST must also be cautious about this bold step. Sometimes, attempts to cover everything in one attack turn out to be futile.
The University must ensure that proper guidelines are created and observed because only in this way can UST be sure that it is not sacrificing the quality of education it offers.
