Exploring Transformative Trends: The State of Higher Education in the Philippines

Leopoldo "Leo" Valdes has worked in various roles for international organizations, governments, and non-profit organizations in three world regions. He has an MBA from Simon Fraser University in Canada and a Master's in Human Resource Management from the City University of Seattle, USA. Acquiring a British Columbia professional Instructor Diploma, Leo taught for several higher education institutions in Canada. He returned to the Philippines in 2016 to join Holy Angel University as its project leader in eLearning and internationalization. During the pandemic, Leo was in charge of safe campus reopening. He now leads Holy Angel University as its OIC President.

Professor Anna Cherylle Ramos has been in the field of instructional technology for two decades in various capacities and appointments. She is a certified e-learning Specialist through a scholarship grant from the Federal Government of Germany and Global Campus 21 e-academy, and a Digital Leadership and Innovative Teaching alumna of the distinguished Australian Fellowship Awards (2015) from Queensland University of Technology (QUT).  

She is currently appointed as the Director of the Educational Technology Center of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) supervising the UST Cloud Campus Project where she specializes in massive-wide e-learning management for the oldest university in Asia with an average online deployment of 46,000 students per academic term. As an e-learning  leader, she ensures the professional development of the teaching workforce in the appropriate use of technology across the wide spectrum of online remote delivery modes. She has worked with UNESCO ICT for Education (Bangkok) and among Philippine teacher education institutions as Resource and Distribution Training Center (RDTC) coordinator in the promotion of the use of open and free educational resources (OERs). Currently, she is elected as the President and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine e-learning Society spearheading an exemplary league of e-learning professionals in the  advancement of online technologies  in the country.

Dr. Biag currently holds the academic rank of Professor III at Holy Angel University. He is currently the Vice President for Academic Affairs (Chief Academic Officer). Prior to his appointment as VPAA in July 2022, he was the Dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Medical Sciences for five years.

Aside from teaching, he is actively involved in research as an adviser/critic of students’ theses or dissertations, peer reviewer, principal investigator, and project leader of commissioned research. His research program focuses on nursing education and administration, instrument development, and measurement and evaluation in nursing. Some of his works were published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Philippine Journal of Nursing, Philippine Journal of Nursing Education, Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, Asian Social Work and Policy Review, Journal of Nursing Measurement, and Journal of Nursing Management.

He is involved in various capacities in professional organizations and entities with interests in research. At present, he chairs the Research Ethics Committee of the Central Luzon Health Research and Development Consortium of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). To date, he is the only Filipino member of the 115-member Research Advisory Network (RAN) of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), where he has done peer reviewing of research and scientific papers for presentation to the ICM’s triennial congresses and for publication to the Midwifery, ICM’s official journal. He is a member of the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice and a peer reviewer in several professional journals in nursing.

He is also a member of several professional organizations such as the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), Philippine Nursing Research Society (PNRS), Philippine Statistical Association (PSA), Philippine Association for Graduate Education (PAGE), Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Honor Society of Nursing, and the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing (INDEN).

Isaiah is an enterprise CSM working with customers around all of Asia Pacific. As a Filipino himself, he particularly loves engaging with customers in the Philippines and seeing the transformative change that Canvas can have on communities across the country.