details... - Asian Association of Open Universities

.................................................... . . . . . . . . .
31 December 2015
Message from the President
Best wishes for a happy New Year to you all!
The 29th Annual Conference of the AAOU was held successfully in Malaysia at the Kuala
Lumpur Convention Centre from 30 November to 2 December 2015. The event was well
received, with about 250 participants from over 15 countries. I would like to express my
gratitude to the host, Open University Malaysia, for its excellent preparation and organization,
which gave all delegates a pleasant and memorable experience.
The theme of this year’s conference was ‘New Frontiers in Open and Distance Learning (ODL)’,
President:
Prof. Yuk-Shan Wong
BBS, JP
President
The Open University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
for which we received over 150 papers. I wish to extend my appreciation to the authors and
presenters for their useful contributions to the field. Apart from the paper presentations,
keynote speeches were also delivered by distinguished scholars on the current situations
and future developments in ODL. Their inspiring speeches gave many insights into the area.
There was also a forum held on the last day of the conference, where the Presidents of open
universities in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines discussed the way forward for ODL
in Asia in the near future. It offered a valuable opportunity for participants to learn from their
experience and the challenges they face in providing ODL nowadays.
.
.
The AAOU set up a Task Force on MOOCs in 2014 to explore the roles it could play for our
.
members on the vast development of MOOCs. Having received and considered the report
completed by the Task Force, the AAOU Executive Committee approved the proposal presented
.
at its annual meeting. A portal, namely ‘Asian MOOCs’, is to be established next year to link up
.
the MOOCs offered by AAOU member institutions.
.
.
Starting from 2016, we will have two new AAOU members: the Islamic Online University in
the Gambia, and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Open University System in the
.
Philippines. Their membership applications were approved by our Executive Committee. Let us
.
extend a warm welcome to them!
.
The AAOU’s 2016 Annual Conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in
Metro Manila, the Philippines, on 26–29 October. It will be hosted by the University of the
.
Philippines Open University (UPOU). Congratulations to the UPOU on its success in bidding
.
for hosting the grand event! At the closing ceremony of the AAOU 2015, the UPOU delivered
a wonderful introduction of the conference organization. With such early preparation, I
.
believe the conference will be a great success. I would like to invite you and your colleagues
to participate in this important event next year. Let’s mark the dates in our calendars now and
.
attend this significant annual conference.
.
At the end of 2015, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all every success in 2016!
.
.
Wishing you happiness and prosperity
in the New Year!
1
.................................................... . . . . . . . . .
Message from the Secretary-General
Warm greetings from the AAOU Secretariat. I wish all of you a peaceful and prosperous new
year.
The AAOU completed a remarkable event, the annual conference, in early December. I would
like to thank the host, Open University Malaysia, for the efforts and highly professional work
contributed by its staff. The conference would not have been so successful without them.
I wish to also congratulate all the winners of the AAOU awards. Their distinguished work
is much appreciated. The conference proceedings and photos are now available on the
Conference website, which you are welcome to browse.
Secretary-General:
Dr K C Li
Director
University Research Centre
The Open University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
At our last annual Executive Committee meeting, it was resolved that a portal for linking up
the existing MOOCs offered by AAOU member institutions would be developed. The portal,
‘Asian MOOCs’, aims to help promote the MOOCs in Asian countries. A Steering Committee
will be established to oversee the development of the portal. In addition, metadata of MOOCs
offered by institutions will be collected from our members for developing the portal. Further
information will be disseminated later on future work.
Your institution is encouraged to offer fellowships to support the AAOU Inter-university Staff
Exchange Fellowship Programme in 2016. This programme aims to provide a platform for
capacity-building and establish sustainable partnerships among open universities. Any AAOU
member institution (the donor) may contribute to the programme by offering one or more
short-term fellowships to staff from other member institutions (the recipients) to spend up to
one month at the donor institution in order to receive training, carry out an academic exchange
or undertake a collaborative research project. I sincerely hope you and your institution will seize
.
this opportunity to broaden each other’s horizons through mutual assistance and partnership.
.
For more details, please click here, where you can also obtain a template for offering
.
fellowships.
.
.
Time flies. The Open University of Hong Kong will complete its three-year Presidency in 2016.
I would like to invite you to nominate candidates for the President and Executive Committee
.
members for 2017–19. In accordance with the Constitution, ‘all candidates for the Presidency
.
of the Association shall declare their undertaking (in written format) to support and bear
.
all costs of the Secretariat, its furniture and communication infrastructure, as well as the
.
appointment of the Secretary-General and other required office staff’ (Section 1, Article VIII).
The election will take place in October 2016 at the General Body meeting to be held in Metro
.
Manila, the Philippines. Should you wish to submit a nomination, kindly send it to me at
[email protected].
.
If you have any news about your institution, such as forthcoming activities or projects, to share
.
with AAOU members in our newsletter or eBulletin, please contact us at [email protected]. In
addition, any suggestions on our work or publications are welcome. We value your input.
.
.
.
Wishing that 2016 showers success on
.
you. And hoping we continue our
association through many more years.
.
2
AAOUnews 31 December 2015
Happy New Year!
Snapshots of AAOU 2015
Opening ceremony
Speakers at the Presidents Forum: (from left to right)
Prof. Yoichi Okabe, Prof. Dongkook Lee, Prof. Anuwar Ali,
Prof. Ho Sinn Chye and Prof. Grace Alfonso
Prof. Nageshwar Rao
delivering his keynote
speech ‘The Open
Knowledge Movement’
Prof. Tian Belawati
delivering her keynote
speech ‘Quality
Assurance in ODL’
The Executive Committee and the President of Open University Malaysia,
Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali
The AAOU conference host for next year, the University of the
Philippines Open University (UPOU)
Participants joining the dance performance at
the Conference dinner
3
AAOUnews 31 December 2015
Cultural dance performance at the Conference
dinner
Participants dancing with performers at the
Conference dinner
New Members of the AAOU
We would like to welcome the following two institutions as our new members:
Institution
Country
Membership Type
Islamic Online University
the Gambia
Associate Member
Polytechnic University of the Philippines Open
the Philippines
Full Member
University System
The benefits of being an AAOU member include getting discounts for attending the AAOU annual conferences,
and obtaining the latest news about the AAOU web conferences. Interested institutions can obtain a membership
application form from the Secretariat, which should be completed and returned to us with the relevant documents
for assessment and approval by the AAOU Executive Committee at its annual meeting.
2015 AAOU Meritorious Service Award
The 2015 AAOU Meritorious Service Award (MSA) was presented to Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali
at the 29th AAOU Annual Conference. The result was based on the recommendation by the 2015 MSA
Adjudication Committee and approval by the AAOU Executive Committee. Congratulations to Professor Ali!
Professor Anuwar Ali has made outstanding contributions in the field
of lifelong learning and economics. Till the end of 2015, he has been
serving as the President/Vice Chancellor of Open University Malaysia
(OUM). He has over 40 years of experience in education, and has been
leading the first open university in Malaysia, OUM, since 2004. Under
his leadership, OUM has flourished, becoming one of the reputable
universities in Malaysia and Asia. It has established partnerships with
12 counterparts in ten countries, such as Vietnam and Hungary.
Professor Ali’s dedication and commitment to high-quality open and
distance education has helped to bring higher education to a wide
range of learners in Malaysia and other territories.
Every year, the AAOU may award the MSA to an individual for his/her
outstanding service and contributions to open and distance education.
If you intend to submit a nomination, you can view the details here and send your nomination by email to
[email protected].
AAOU 2016 website by UPOU
As noted earlier, the AAOU Annual Conference in 2016 will be hosted
by the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). It has been
scheduled for 26–29 October 2016 and will be held at the Crowne
Plaza Manila Galleria in the Philippines. The theme of AAOU 2016 is
‘Open Education in Asia: Changing Perspectives’. You may click on the
Conference website for more information.
4
AAOUnews 31 December 2015
2015 AAOU Best Paper Award, Best Practice Award and
Young Innovator Award
Congratulations to the following winners of the paper awards. Conference papers submitted to the 2015 Annual Conference
were evaluated and short-listed by the Conference Paper Committee. The Adjudication Committee for the Best Paper Award
and Best Practice Award chose six finalists for each award for an oral presentation session. After assessing the presentations of
the authors of the selected papers, three winners for each of the awards were decided. These six winners, and the three winners
of the Young Innovator Award chosen previously, were presented with their awards at the conference closing ceremony. We
wish to express our appreciation of their efforts and contributions.
Author(s) & Institution(s)
Paper Title
Best Paper Award
Gold
Medal
Maximus Gorky Sembiring
Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia
OER Impact Study Perceived by Faculty within an
ODL Framework
Silver
Medal
S. Vighnarajah P. K. Selvarajah, Farzanah Ali Hassan,
Norhasni Abd Aziz, and Ooi, Siew Lee
Wawasan Open University, Malaysia
Profiling Information Seeking Behaviour of
Distance Learning Students in Wawasan Open
University
Silver
Medal
Latifah Abdol Latif, Ramli Bahroom, and
Mohamad Afzhan Khan Mohamad Khalil
Open University Malaysia, Malaysia
Prioritizing Services and Facilities in a Higher
Education Institution: Importance-Satisfaction
Quadrant and Gap Analyses
Best Practice Award
Gold
Medal
Umi Hanim Mohd Ibrahim,
Fathinirna Mohd Arshad,
Mazlan Zulkifly, and
Janet Woo Tai Kwan
Open University Malaysia, Malaysia
The Growth of iRadio OUM as a Quality Audio
Learning Material Provider Silver
Medal
Chew Bee Leng, Kamsiah Mohd Ali, and
Ch’ng Eng Hoo
Wawasan Open University, Malaysia
Open Access Repositories on Open Educational
Resources: Feasibility of Adopting the Japanese
Model for Academic Libraries
Silver
Medal
Yeung Chung Lee
Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
Kwok Chi Lau
Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Valarie Yip
The University of Hong Kong, China
Blended Learning for Building Student-Teachers’
Capacity to Learn and Teach Science-related
Interdisciplinary Subjects: The Case of Hong
Photo credit: Chensiyuan
Kong
Young Innovator Award
5
Gold
Medal
Billy Tak-ming Wong
The Open University of Hong Kong,
China
Factors Leading to Effective Teaching of MOOCs
Silver
Medal
Hazalina Hashim
Open University Malaysia, Malaysia
Ontological Structure Representation in Reusing
ODL Learning Resources
Silver
Medal
Reinald Adrian Pugoy
The University of the Philippines Open University, the
Philippines
Mobile Solutions for Synchronized and Offline
Versions of Open Educational Resources
AAOUnews 31 December 2015
New President of
Payame Noor University
Congratulations to Professor
Ali Asghar Rostami Abousaidi!
Professor Rostami Abousaidi was
appointed as the new President
of Payame Noor University (PNU)
in November 2015.
New President of
Open University Malaysia
Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, our great supporter
of open education, has just retired from the Open University
Malaysia (OUM) as its Vice Chancellor and President. We
sincerely wish Professor Ali very happy retirement.
Established in 1988, PNU is the
Professor Dato’ Dr Mansor Fadzil,
largest public university in Iran.
who is currently OUM Senior Vice
With its headquarters based
President, will take over the helm
in Tehran, PNU currently has
of the University at the beginning
over 500 local study centres and campuses all around the
of 2016. He served OUM since
country. Following its motto of ‘education for everyone,
October 2001. With his substantial
everywhere and at every time’, the university has over 3,000
and extensive experience with
faculty members and 940,000 students.
OUM management, he will bring
PNU is a full member of the AAOU, and a member of
the University to new heights
the Executive Committee. We wish that under
and successes. Our heartfelt
Professor Rostami Abousaidi’s leadership, PNU will flourish
congratulations to Professor Fadzil!
further in the future.
OUM is a full member of AAOU and has been participating in
our events very actively. We look forward to working closely
with Professor Fadzil.
AAOU Journal
The December 2015 issue of the
AAOU Journal has been published on
the AAOU website. I hope you enjoy the
papers submitted by the award winners
and other contributors.
The AAOU Journal strives to serve as a
forum for academics and practitioners
to share their expertise and experience
in ODL. We want our Journal to
act as a catalyst for stimulating
scholars to produce high-quality
papers. Researchers, academics,
administrators and professionals in
this area are welcome to submit papers
to us at [email protected]. For the criteria for submission,
please view here.
Call for Papers for
OUSL Journal
The Open University of Sri Lanka, a full
member of the AAOU, is calling for
papers for its journal, OUSL Journal
2016. The OUSL Journal is a peerreviewed journal published annually by
the Open University of Sri Lanka. The
Journal provides a forum for previously
unpublished articles on theory, research
and pedagogy related to teaching at
university level and, in particular, to
distance education.
The deadline for submission is 31 March
2016. For more details, please click here.
May your institution succeed in the year 2016
and achieve all the goals it has set.
6
AAOUnews 31 December 2015