Students’ Awareness and Usage of Open Educational Resources (OER) as Learning Tool in their Course Studies at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

The abundance of technology nowadays is contributing to the development of learning practices. This gives learners greater opportunity to find, access, and use resources to benefit learning. Open educational resources (OER) are one of the few educational developments that emerged with technology. While it is true that there are a lot of OERs available on the internet, it is unsure how many learners are aware of their existence. This research aimed to identify how many students are aware of OERs, where they use OERs, and whether the educational institution encourages OERs. The researchers surveyed several students within the University of the Philippines Open University. The survey included learner demographics, statistics on learners' awareness and usage of OERs, learners' OER access locations, and the challenges they encounter when using OERs. The survey showed that the learners, regardless of age, are aware of OERs. They mostly access videos, research, and journals on web pages and Wikis. They find the OERs accessible and relevant, but reliability and visibility are challenging.

Anthropometric and Physiological Parameters of High and Low Performance of Male Badminton Players: An Analytical Study of Sindh Province .

The ultimate concern of high performance sport in the final performance whether it is while training or at the competition. The final output observed is dependent on a complexity of factors. Performance level can be enhanced if the physical education teacher and coach more completely comprehend the structure and function of skeletal muscles. It can be analyzed by studying the size; shape and form of an individual and for this purpose, a set of selected anthropometric measurements and physiological parameters are taken on an individual. A desired relationship between any two parameters may play a positive role in performance. Numerous factors are responsible for the performance of badminton players. Fundamental skills of badminton like serving (low serve, drive serve, high serves and flick serves), lifts, smashing and blocking, requires a specific type of physique having specific proportions with certain conditional abilities, which can be seen in physiological variables such as vital capacity, heart rate, blood pressure and resting breathing frequency. The objective of present research work is to assess the anthropometrical and physiological differences existing in the high and low performance level of male badminton players belonging to Sindh province. Physical Education teachers and coaches are concerned at times with team selection as well as the training and preparation of the players for competitions. Their job as such demands a pertinent knowledge of the game concerned as well as the techniques and tactics in relation to that game along with an understanding of the anthropometrical and physiological variables, which form the basis of good techniques and tactics. Therefore, the study will be of significance in extending the horizon of knowledge in the field of Badminton. For present study National and all Pakistan Intervarsity level players are considered as High Performers while District, Region and Collegiate level Players are considered as Low Performers. A total of 60 subjects (30 from each category that is high & low performance Badminton players) were selected randomly from six districts of Sindh province such as, District Hyderabad, District Sukkur, District Khairpur, District Mirpurkhas and two Districts from Karachi (District South and District Malir). The findings of the study done on 60 subjects (30 High performance players and 30 Low performance players) revealed significant differences in the following variables of high and low performance Badminton players of Sindh. The anthropometrical parameters that were greater in high performance players are as follow: The mean weight (4.81) lower arm length (2.90), lower leg length (7.21), foot length (2.24), bicep muscle firth (6.76), calf muscle girth (4.74), vital capacity (5.55), mesomorphy (13.45),sitting height-stature index (13.45), thigh length (5.72), upper arm length – lower arm length index (2.26), hip width – stature index (8.37), shoulder width – stature index (5.15), hand length – wrist width index (4.06). The anthropometrical parameters that were lesser in high performance players are as follows: The mean hand length (2.23), shoulder width (4.34), hip width (7.47), biceps skin fold (18.90), heart rate (7.69), blood pressure systolic (9.18), blood pressure diastolic (9.12), resting breathing frequency (21.40). Present study concludes that high performance badminton players were greater than low performance badminton players in weight, lower arm length, lower leg length, foot length, vital capacity. The study also revealed that low performance badminton players were greater in biceps skin fold, heart rate, blood pressure systolic, blood pressure diastolic, resting breathing frequency, sitting height – stature index, thigh length – lower leg length index, upper arm – lower arm length index than high performance Badminton players of Sindh.