By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

Sustaining its stature as a Center of Excellence in Teacher Education, Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) has partnered with the Kaisipan Foundation Incorporated (KFI) based in the United States to advance digital teaching and life-long learning. 

KFI is an international non-government organization that aims to transform learning and teaching by enhancing educators’ digital capabilities around the globe. 

Jumpstarting the partnership, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis and KFI President Maria A. Beebe officially signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in a virtual ceremony held March 15. 

Dr. Beebe committed to work with MMSU, particularly on cascading the KFI’s best practices on digital education to the university.  

Anchored on its digital capabilities framework, the nonprofit organization aims to enhance cognitive, technical, and humanizing competencies of educators through the use of information and communication technologies to learn, create, and share. 

“We are also willing to provide digital professional courses and on-the-job training opportunities to MMSU faculty and students, and to send experts to the university for its future lectures and trainings,” she added. 

Besides advancing digital education, MMSU and KFI also agreed to collaborate on the areas of faculty and student mobility, joint research activities, and exchange of academic materials and publications. 

Additional areas of collaboration between the two institutions include the sharing of faculty expertise or visiting lecturers, student development, access to library resources, faculty research or discussion, and benchmarking of best teacher education practices. 

Thanking the KFI for collaborating with the university, Dr. Agrupis said, “With the College of Teacher Education (CTE) as the lead implementer, we hope to contribute to high quality teacher education and to promote lifelong learning for all.”

CTE Dean Aris Reynold V. Cajigal hopes to carry out the activities stipulated in the agreement and sustain the partnership with the international organization. 

The KFI has been partnering with various K-12 schools and higher education institutions, tapping guest experts and fellows to promote digital education. 

Last year, Prof. Jeanette Dials, CTE faculty and chief for international faculty and student mobility, was tapped as a Kaisipan fellow. She was among the 26 grantees of the Open Education Resource Fellowship program in 2021. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)