The first day was dedicated to the Orientation on the IKM Mentorship Program. This included the project's overview, course introduction, and Canvas LMS navigation, the online platform to be used by the participants. In the course introduction, the learner-participants were provided with the guidelines, requirements, schedule, and outputs. Aside from the course introduction, the learner-participants were also provided with pre-test assessments to evaluate their knowledge on the topics to be tackled during the course implementation.
The welcome remarks of Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., Chair of SEARCA Governing Board and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Chancellor, was delivered by Ms. Nancy M. Landicho, SEARCA Program Specialist and Officer-in-Charge for Project Development and Technical Services (PDTS). In his message, Dr. Sanchez stressed the importance of the IKM Mentorship Program as helping the DA personnel in managing, utilizing, and sharing knowledge resources in the agriculture and fisheries sector. He also added that SEARCA will be sharing its KM practices and strategies through this IKM Mentorship Program.
Ms. Nancy M. Landicho, SEARCA Program Specialist and Officer-in-Charge for Project Development and Technical Services (PDTS), delivered the welcome remarks of Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., Chair of the SEARCA Governing Board, which emphasized that the objective of capacity building activities in KM is to maximize the gains and potential social benefits of DA’s research projects.
Ms. Julia A. Lapitan, DA-BAR Supervising Agriculturist and Head of Applied Communication Division (ACD), read the opening remarks of Dr. Nicomedes P. Eleazar, DA BAR Director, which underscored that there is a need to address the gap in disseminating agri-fishery researches to the public.
On the other hand, the opening remarks from Dr. Nicomedes P. Eleazar, Director of DA BAR, was delivered by Ms. Julia A. Lapitan, Supervising Agriculturist and Head of Applied Communication Division (ACD) of DA BAR. Dr. Eleazar emphasized the need to address the gap between disseminating technologies to their intended users in the agri-fishery sector. Dr. Eleazar encouraged the learner-participants to welcome the knowledge and skills they will gain from the session to address the lapses in science and research communication.
The remaining days were dedicated to the 1st Face-to-Face Session of the IKM Mentorship Program. The two days were conducted with lectures on Module 1 and on writing their article plans for the feature outputs for Module 2. The learner-participants also had the chance to listen to Ms. Salvacion M. Ritual, Chief of the DA-BAR Program Monitoring and Evaluation Division, and Mr. Glenn T. Dimayuga, Project Development Officer III of the DA-BAR Technical Commercialization Division, who discussed Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and National Technology Commercialization Program (NTCP), respectively.
Ms. Salvacion M. Ritual, Chief of the DA-BAR Program Monitoring and Evaluation Division, discussed about the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR).
Mr. Glenn T. Dimayuga, Project Development Officer III of the DA-BAR Technical Commercialization Division talked about the National Technology Commercialization Program (NTCP).
The session concluded with closing remarks from Ms. Lapitan, who expressed her gratitude to SEARCA and the project team for the time and effort invested in conducting this session. Ms. Lapitan also encouraged the learner-participants to not only participate, but also share their experience and knowledge in this IKM Mentorship Program. She also emphasized that the learner-participants should prepare for the new learnings that they will gain from the IKM Mentorship Program.
A total of three face-to-face sessions will be conducted under the IKM Mentorship Program. The next face-to-face session will be held on 26 February 2019.
Faculty members of UPLB College of Development Communication (UPLB-CDC) served as mentors and facilitators, namely: Asst. Prof. Elaine DC. Llarena, Project Leader and overall facilitator; Asst. Prof. Pamela Joyce M. Eleazar, Mentor on Online and Publications Writing and Production; Dr. Edmund G. Centeno, Mentor on Photography and Audio-visual Writing and Production; and University Extension Specialist Rikki Lee B. Mendiola, online learning expert and mentor.
Ms. Amy A. Antonio and Ms. Marie Antoinette F. Bangabang, Project Assistants at SEARCA's PDTS, provided technical and logistical assistance in the training. (Marie Antoinette F. Bangabang)