Even before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the rapid advancement of technology has altered the way by which educational institutions teach and learn. The combinations of technology with the educational processes have made it easier for students and instructors to communicate and help build a productive learning environment. With this, the demand for online learning has increased dramatically and continuously. This entirely new way of delivering instructions poses as a challenge to many educational institutions. 

Then the pandemic began and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have to adopt to new modalities of teaching and learning. The Bulacan State University (BulSU) committed to pursue her mission has implemented online learning to deliver relevant quality and accessible education to 21st-century learners and will continue to deliver more strategies and techniques to provide a new technologically advanced learning environment. This environment will allow instructors to deliver lessons more efficiently and become more effective educators, as well as students to continue their study despite the pandemic's issues. 

Such goal will be made possible through the implementation of Small Private Online Courses (SPOC). SPOC enhances students' learning experiences by using advanced instructional resources and educational concepts. The online SPOC teaching style is effective in increasing students' enthusiasm in learning and developing their comprehensive ability (Jia, 2021). Experts now believe that SPOCs have the greatest potential to be the most relevant and disruptive innovations to emerge from the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) exploding popularity (Strijbosch, 2016). 

Goal 1 of the BulSU Medium Term Development Goal (MTDG) 2021-2025 is about Quality and Relevant Education and its Subgoal 2 is Gearing towards 21st Century Learning and Innovation states that formulation of policy for the adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and other technology-based platforms for learning must be realized in the year 2022. The development and implementation of SPOC are considered as an initial step for the University to proceed to MOOC. SPOC will also lead the foundation of BulSU Open University in the year 2024. The University envisions making learning possible in any form of modality suited to the needs of the students. 

To establish standard procedures that will govern and promote the effective use of the SPOC while also ensuring compliance with the university’s rules, these guidelines are crafted by the Educational Development Office (EDO) under the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA). They are intended to bring light to the requirements of the university to implement SPOC and promote its efficient use in a manner that supports the university's academic goal and is compliant with all existing policies. 

Please see the attached files to read the full guidelines.

Enhanced Guidelines on the Implementation of Small Private Online Courses (SPOC) at Bulacan State University