Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Universitas Terbuka (UT)195

Editor:Tian Belawati

ii

OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

OPEN AND DISTANCEEDUCATION IN ASIA
GOOD PRACTICES FROM AAOU MEMBERS
Authors

KNOU
Dr. Ko Songhwan
OUM
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Izanee Awang
Prof. Datuk. Dr. Mohd Tajudin Md Ninggal
Dr. Thirumeni T. Subramaniam
STOU
Assoc. Prof. dr. Taweewat Watthanakuljaroen
Prof. Dr. Sumalee Sungsri
Asst. Prof. Dr. Darunee Jumpatong
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thanathnuth Chatpakkarattana
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kemmanat Mingsiritham
Dr. Patthanan Bootchuy
Dr. Phantipa Amornrit
Dr. Piyapot Tantaphalin
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sungworn Ngudgratoke
OUC
Institute of Lifelong Education andInternational Department (Team)OUJ
Prof. Masaya Iwanaga
Prof. Tsuneo Yamada
OUSL
Prof. Samuel Anbahan Ariadurai, Ph.D.
UPOU
Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, Ph.D.
UT
Rahmat Budiman, S.S., M.Hum., Ph.D.
Dr. Ir. Durri Andriani, M.Ed.
Adhi Susilo, S.Pt., M.Biotech.St., Ph.D.
Dr. Lidwina Sri Ardiasih, S.Pd., M.Ed.
Made Yudhi Setiani, S.Ip., M.Si., Ph.D.
Dr. Mery Noviyanti, S.Si., M.Pd.
Olivia Idrus, S.E., M.Sc.
Dr. Ernik Yuliana, S.Pi., M.T.

LayouterBangun Asmo Darmanto, S.Des.

Publisher

Universitas Terbuka
Jalan Cabe Raya, Pondok Cabe, Pamulang,
Tangerang Selatan - 15437, Banten - Indonesia
Phone.: (+62 21) 7490941 (hunting),
Fax.: (+62 21) 7490147
Website: www.ut.ac.id/en
ISBN: 978-623-480-779-0

e-ISBN: 978-623-480-821-6

First Edition
First Printing, October 2022
2022 by Universitas Terbuka Copyright protected bylaw is with the Universitas Terbuka Publisher
Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.

This book is licensed under *Creative Commons* Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License by the Open University, Indonesia.
License conditions can be seen in http://creativecommons.or.id/

Universitas Terbuka: Catalogue In Issue (RDA Version)

Design Director

Name: Ko Songhwan
Title: OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION IN ASIA (BNBB) / authors, Dr. Ko Songhwan,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Izanee Awang, Prof. Datuk. Dr. Mohd Tajudin Md Ninggal, Dr.
Thirumeni T. Subramaniam, Assoc. Prof. dr. Taweewat Watthanakuljaroen, Prof. Dr.
Sumalee Sungsri, Asst. Prof. Dr. Darunee Jumpatong, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thanathnuth
Chatpakkarattana, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kemmanat Mingsiritham, Dr. Patthanan
Bootchuy, Dr. Phantipa Amornrit, Dr. Piyapot Tantaphalin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sungworn
Ngudgratoke, Institute of Lifelong Education and International Department (Team),
Prof. Masaya Iwanaga, Prof. Tsuneo Yamada, Prof. Samuel Anbahan Ariadurai, Ph.D.,
Melinda dela Pena Bandalaria, Ph.D., Rahmat Budiman, S.S., M.Hum., Ph.D., Dr. Ir.
Durri Andriani, M.Ed., Adhi Susilo, S.Pt., M.Biotech.St., Ph.D., Dr. Lidwina Sri Ardiasih,
S.Pd., M.Ed., Made Yudhi Setiani, S.Ip., M.Si., Ph.D., Dr. Mery Noviyanti, S.Si., M.Pd.,
Olivia Idrus, S.E., M.Sc., Dr. Ernik Yuliana, S.Pi., M.T. ; contributor, Dr. Mohamad
Yunus, S.S., M.A., Prof. Dr. R. Benny Agus Pribadi, M.A., Erika Pradana Putri, S.T.,
M.Sc., Dr. Heriani, S.IP., M.A., Fawzi R. Zuhairi, S.Si., M.Sc., Hilma Erfiani Baroroh, Lc.,
M.Hum. ; editor, Prof. Ir. Tian Belawati, M.Ed., Ph.D. ; cover designer, Faisal Zamil,
S.Des. ; illustration, Sunarti, S.Des., Daniel Aditya Nofaldo, S.Ds. ; layouter, Bangun
Asmo Darmanto, S.Des.

Cover Designer

Edition: 1 | Print: 1
Description: Tangerang Selatan: Universitas Terbuka, 2022 | 209 pages ; 27 cm(including the references)

Contributors

Dr. Mohamad Yunus, S.S., M.A.
Prof. Dr. R. Benny Agus Pribadi, M.A.
Erika Pradana Putri, S.T., M.Sc.
Dr. Heriani, S.IP., M.A.
Fawzi R. Zuhairi, S.Si., M.Sc.
Hilma Erfiani Baroroh, Lc., M.Hum.

EditorProf. Ir. Tian Belawati, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Center for Multimedia Production UT
Faisal Zamil, S.Des.

Illustration

Sunarti, S.Des.
Daniel Aditya Nofaldo, S.Ds.

Catalogue in Publication

ISBN: 978-623-480-779-0			

e-ISBN: 978-623-480-821-6

Subject:

3. Open Learning
4. Distance Education

1. Pembelajaran Terbuka		
2. Pendidikan Jarak Jauh		

Classification Number: 378.175 [23]		
Printed by

202200521

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

TABLE OF CONTENTOPEN AND DISTANCEEDUCATION IN ASIA
GOOD PRACTICES FROM AAOU MEMBERS

iii

Table of Content

iv

Forewordvi

Introduction

01

Korea National Open University

19

Open University Malaysia

47

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

71

The Open University of China

99

The Open University of Japan121

The Open University of Sri Lanka

145

University of the Philippines Open University

167

Universitas Terbuka

Table of Content

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

FOREWORD

President of
AAOU 2020-2022
Rector of Universitas Terbuka
Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D.

The idea of ​​writing this book was first initiated by Prof. M. Atwi Suparman in 2018, the formerof UT Rector and AAOU President. Up to the present, a comprehensive book discussing andhighlighting distance higher education in Asia has not been published yet. In contrast, books
on distance education or distance learning in other parts of the world have been published.
Publishing a book on distance education in Asia then became a necessity. This idea was thenpresented in the OU5 Researchers forum in Da Nang, Vietnam and received a good response

Foreword

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

This book of open and distance education in Asia is an important
contribution from AAOU members and is dedicated to theglobal ODE field. It will be continued in subsequent series and is
expected to enrich references to ODE practices.
from representatives of OUT Researchers, namely Universitas Terbuka (UT), HOU (Hanoi Open
University), University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Sukhothai ThammathiratOpen University (STOU), and Open University Malaysia (OUM).
Subsequently, in 2019 at the OU5 President Meeting in Surabaya, which was attended by
UT, UPOU, WOU (Wawasan Open University), and AIOU (Allama Iqbal Open University)
the outline of the book was approved. This book was expected to contain a portrait of thedevelopment of distance higher education in each country, including the foundational
philosophy of its establishment and the development of its technology utilization. The AAOU
Secretariat sent invitations to all AAOU members. There are 8 institutions that responded to
be involved in writing this book, i.e. Korea National Open University (KNOU), Open University
Malaysia (OUM), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Open University of China(OUC), Open University of Japan (OUJ), Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), University of thePhilippines Open University (UPOU) and Universitas Terbuka (UT).
It has been a long journey. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation
to all the authors for their hard work and those who have supported in making this bookpossible. I would also like to thank all those who have provided valuable input in the process of
preparing this book. Finally, I hope this book can be a keyhole for anyone who wants to know
about distance higher education in Asia as it contains a comprehensive explanation of thedevelopment of distance higher education in respective AAOU member country.

October, 2022
President of AAOU
Rector of Universitas Terbuka,

Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D.

Forewordv

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

INTRODUCTION
Prof. Tian Belawati, M.Ed., Ph.D.
CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

Asia accounts for 54.9% of the global
population and is the largest continent, witha total population of over 4.3 billion (Internet
World Stat, 2022). The Asian Community has
long placed a high value on education, andeducation is seen as the catalyst for social

Introduction

welfare, upward social mobility, and overall
human well-being (Marginson, 2017). For
most Asian countries, the lack of access toan education system makes it difficult todevelop their people resources due to theirlarge populations. The job landscapes havealso changed as a result of the Industrial
Revolution 4.0’s key innovations. As a result,Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

the current human capital force needs
constant up- and re-skilling. Countries must
work to develop an educational system thatwill increase their capacity to expand accessto education while simultaneously improving
the standard for instruction. Since facts
and literature demonstrate that distanceeducation (DE) has been shown beneficial toincrease access to and equity in education,
particularly at the higher education level,
many nations have adopted the DE system
and method. Asia thus emerges as oneof DE’s major beneficiaries and players.
The benefit of DE for Asian people can be
represented by the enormous number ofstudent enrolment. In India and China alone,over 10 million students are enjoying higher
education through DE (Qayyum & ZawackiRichter, 2019)reached $43,790 million (Asia E-Learning
Market Statistics 2030, 2022). The massive
growth of online learning is both the cause
and the effect of Internet penetration in
Asia. InternetWorldStats estimates that
Asia’s Internet penetration increased by over
2,500 percent between 2000 and 2022. Witha total of 2,772,013,116 internet users, thepenetration rate in 2022 will be around 67
percent (InternetWorldStats, 2022). Figure 1
compares the growth of Internet penetrationin Asia to that of the rest of the world from2009 to 2021.
Figure 1
Growth of Internet Penetration 2009-2021

Even though the majority of DE programsin universities across Asia were developed
before the advent of the internet and thus
relied on the use of printed and multimedia
learning materials, broadcast radio, andtelevision, in addition to in-person tutorial
sessions; the current DE were starting to be
dominated by online learning mode, which
has generated a sizable online learningmarket on a regional level. According toAllied Market Research, e-learning (which
is another term used for online learning)market in Asia valued at $38,257 million in2020 and is estimated to reach a value of$162,158 million by 2030 (Asia E-Learning
Market Statistics 2030, 2022). Furthermore,
the occurrence of COVID-19 Pandemic
which limits people’s physical mobility, has
accentuated the need for online learning andthe size of the Asia e-learning market in 2021

Introduction

vii

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

DISTANCE EDUCATION AND
OPEN UNIVERSITIES IN ASIA

Distance education has a long history in
Asia. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher,
introduced the concept of education for
all without discrimination more than 2,500
years ago and advocated that everybody
who is ready to study should have access to
educational opportunities (Song, 2022). Asia
is also one of the first continents to widelyadopt the principle of open education inorder to increase access to higher education
by creating open universities based on the
United Kingdom Open University (UKOU)
model (Belawati, Alfonso, & Saludadez,2020). The Korea National Open University(KNOU), established in 1972, was the first
open university in Asia. It was soon followed
by Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU), founded in 1973. Since that time,other additional open universities have risen
up in various Asian nations, where they now
dominate the region’s DE market. These
open universities (OUs) are single-mode
institutions that only provide DE for theirdegree and continuing education programs.
By 2011, there were around 70 open
universities, at least 10 mega-universities(universities with student populations above
100,000), numerous traditional schools
offering DE, and an increasing number ofcommercial and/or for-profit DE providers
functioning throughout Asia (Jung, Wong, Li,
Baigaltugs, & Belawati, 2011). The number
has undoubtedly increased and currently,
India alone has one national open university(The Indira Gandhi National Open University
or IGNOU) along with 15 state open
univerisities(https://www.eduvidya.com/
Open-Universities-in-India); South Korea has
no less than 17 cyber and digital universities
which provide education completely online,
in addition to the Korea National Open
University (Lim, Lee, & Choi, 2019); China
has 6 open universities (previously named
Central Radio and Television and 5 provincial
radio and television universities (RTVUs)
and 39 remaining RTVUs that runs similarly
to open universities (Zhang & Li, 2019); andMalaysia has at least two open universities
and one cyber university. In addition to
those institutions specifically focused on
DE, an increasing number of campus-based
universities are also providing DE programs,
particularly in light of the COVID-19
pandemic’s recent outbreak. As an example,
the pandemic forced over 4000 higher
education institutions in Indonesia that wereentirely campus-based to shift their courses
to online formats. Many of those institutions
are predicted to continue offering DE evenafter the pandemic is ended.

“

The Asian community has long placed a high value on
education and education is seen as the catalyst for social
welfare, upward social mobility, and overall humanwell-being. Nowadays, Asia emerges as one of DE’s major
beneficiaries and players.

Introduction

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Although not all DE providers are open
universities, but the role of OUs in Asia’s DE
is undeniable. OUs have provided access tohigher education to millions of Asian people.
The 47 full members of the Asian Associationof Open Universities (AAOU) alone havemore than 10 million students dispersed
throughout more than 20 countries(AAOU Full Membership, 2022). The
AAOU, established in 1987, is a non-profit
association of institutions of higher educationthat focuses on open and distance learning.
It aspires to enhance educational access for
all people in Asia and elevate the standard
for institutions in terms of management,
instruction, and research related toeducation. It promotes the development ofopen and distance education opportunities,
works with government agencies and others
that are directly or indirectly engaged in DE,
and supports collaboration with other similar
regional and worldwide organizations (AAOU
website, 2022). The members of AAOU are
working together on a number of initiatives
to increase the usage of DE and open
education. Most importantly, by sharing theirknowledge and experiences through AAOU,
members are able to contribute to the Asia
DE’s steady transition to more contemporary
DE methods.
Since improving educational access was one ofthe primary drivers behind the establishmentof an open university, the majority of OUs in
Asia follow the concept and principles of open
education. They provide everyone access totheir systems, irrespective of their age, placeof residence, or level of income. It is clearthat the vast majority of OUs encourage andenable lifelong learning through their policies

and initiatives. Therefore, adult and working
people frequently make up the majority of
OU students. One extreme instance is thegraduation of a student at the age of 93
from Universitas Terbuka (also known as
UT, Indonesia Open University). However,the demographics of the student body haverecently shifted, with a rise in the proportionand quantity of younger students (Kawachi,
Sharma, & Mishra, 2006).
Prior to the advent of the internet, OU services
were offered to students via pre-produced
printed materials (supplemented with audio/
video materials), in-person services including
face-to-face tutorials, as well as penciland-paper tests. This is why the majority
of OUs stand out by having a Head Officeequipped with production and distribution
facilities, which are uncommon for campus
facilities in traditional institutions, as well
as a network of regional offices or learning
centers in the regions where they operate.
As illustrations, the Indira Gandhi Open
University (IGNOU) has 56 regional centers,
11 recognized regional centers, and almost
2,000 learner support centers across India1;
the Bangladesh Open University (BOU) has
12 regional centers, 80 regional centers, and1,550 study centers2; the Open University of
China (OUC) has 45 provincial branches and3,735 study centres3; and UT has 39 regional
offices, 1 overseas student center, 70 learning
centers, and around 1000 learning group
points (which are independently formed andmanaged by students’ study group)4.
1.
2.
3.
4.

IGNOU’s website at http://www.ignou.ac.in/ignou/aboutignou/regional/about
BOU’s website at http://www.bouresult.info/php/
rc-src.html
OUC website at http://en.ouchn.edu.cn/index.
php/about-v2/brief-introduction1
Internal information from the office of Vice Rector
for Institutional Development and Partnerships
Introductionix

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

The practice of DE in Asia is shifting more
and more toward online education as aresult of the accessibility of the Internet
and the development of information andcommunication technology (ICT). Several DE
universities in Asia are even founded directly
as virtual or cyber universities. Nevertheless,to serve all types of students, most OUs
continue to deploy more conventional
DE based on the previous delivery model.
The movement toward digital and online
education can be observed from the vast
research interest around the use of ICT forvarious aspects of the OUs’ operations.
Digital transformation among OUs can also beseen from the adoption of open educational
practices such as Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational
Resources (OERs). DE in Asia has evolved
from being educational opportunities forpeople who otherwise would not have accessto education into opportunities for lifelong
learning for everyone using cutting-edge
technologies.

PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

Since DE has a long history in Asia and iscontinuously evolving, creating a significant
amount of human capital and economic
growth, it is imperative to track this progress,
particularly as it is practiced by open
universities. As the largest OU associationin Asia, AAOU, feels compelled to do this.
The book would initially include chapters
produced by each institutional full member of
AAOU. However, due to time constraints, only
eight chapters - written by the Korea National
Open University (KNOU), Open University of
China (OUC), Open University of Japan (OUJ),Open University Malaysia (OUM), OpenIntroduction

University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), Sukhothai
Thammathirat Open University (STOU) of
Thailand, University of the Philippine Open
University (UPOU), and Universitas Terbuka(UT) of Indonesia - are included in this book.
Each chapter provides a thorough explanationof the origins, growth, and development of
DE in the respective country as well as theevolution of the country’s open university.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)HIGHLIGHT OF THE CHAPTERS
Korea - KNOU

Korea National Open University has been
serving as the dedicated DE university in
Korea for over 50 years and have gone
through several changes but continuously
growing. Since 2000, KNOU has pursued
educational reform based on openness,diversity, flexibility, and excellence. By giving
everyone access to possibilities for higher
education in new knowledge and technology,
KNOU’s educational mission is to cultivate
talent that can adapt to a rapidly changing
information-oriented society. KNOU students
can attend online lectures through cable TV,
the Internet, mobile devices, and offline
classes based on study guides and course
materials. The four categories that makeup KNOU’s online content are TV lectures,
multimedia lectures, web-based tutorials,
and audio lectures. As parts of governmentinitiated Korean MOOCS (K-MOOC), KNOU
is supporting the idea of free public online
education. KNOU also offers scholarships to arange of social groups and individuals to help
them achieve their educational goals.

Malaysia - OUM

In Malaysia, DE started at the Centreof Distance Education known as Pusat
Pendidikan Jarak Jauh (PJJ) at the Science
University of Malaysia (Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM)) in the 1970s. Over 30
years later, Open University Malaysia (OUM)
was established on 10th August 2000 as thecountry’s 7th private university. Although
today, almost all the public universities
have a dedicated centre that promotes
distance education, OUM as the pioneerODL institutions in Malaysia aims to provide
sustainable quality digital education thatmeets the national and global market needs.
Under the new strategic planning, OUM
has created plan focusing on four areas:(1) growth, (2) sustainability, (3) visibility,and (4) harmony. At present, OUM offersa total of 53 fully accredited programmes
and 2 partial accredited programmes. Thereare eight (8) programmes at doctoral level,
21 programmes at master degree level,
1 post-graduate diploma programme, 17bachelor degree programmes and only 6
diploma programmes. In order to remainin the frontier of global open education,
the university collaborates and engages incollaborative research with other ODL players.
Emphasis in research is also motivated by
the need change and to exist in the frontierof open education and in the selected nicheareas amidst global challenges. As other
DE and ODL institution, OUM is also going
through a digital transformation which is
supported by the Strategic Roadmap that isdeveloped to bring the university to greater
heights and recognition within the next five
years. In addition, OUM has plans to actively
engage in social innovations and contributeto efforts for creating equal opportunities
through education and particularly equity in
education.

Introduction

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
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Thailand - STOUThe Foundation for DE by Satellite wasfounded in 1995 with the blessing of His
Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Maha
Bhumibol Adulyadej (King Rama IX). STOU as
the first OU in Thailand is designed to provide
lifelong learning using DE system to respondto individual and societal needs. STOU’s
University Development Plan of 2018–2037
focuses on adjusting the university to copewith more challenging external contexts,
to create the new and stronger identityof the university, to focus on provision of
up-to-date lifelong education including
formal education, non-formal education,and informal education, and to respondto the needs for learning and skills of the
future world. Textbooks, workbooks, andstudy guides serve as the primary learning
media, with additional multimedia programs

Introduction

serving as a supplement. However, STOU
has recently introduced computer-based
DE in addition to printed-based materials,
including E-learning, M-learning, Video on
Demand, Video Conferencing, Computer
Conferencing, Computer-Based Instructions,
Web-Based Instruction, and Face-to-Face
Interaction. In order to increase learning
options for students, STOU developed STOUMOOC in collaboration with the Thai Cyber
University (TCU) and the Office of the Higher
Education Commission (OHEC). MOOCs areseen to be more suited to students’ demandsin the digital age.

China - OUC

China has a longstanding history ofdeveloping DE, which has allowed it tobecome the largest provider of DE in Asia, if
not the entire world. Following the reformAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

and opening up, economic development wasgiven priority, and the Chinese government
made the decision to actively promote
adult education through satellite radio andtelevision. As a result of the developmentof radio and television universities (RTVUs),a nationwide distance education system
made up of one central RTVU (CRTVU)
and 35 provincial RTVUs had emerged in
China by the year 1985. The CRTVU andfive provincial RTVUs were transformed
into open universities in October 2010,
and by the end of 2021, all remaining 44
provincial RTVUs had also adopted the term
“open universities.” From a technologicalstandpoint, the open and distance education
system in China over time demonstrates
how the creative use of technology has
been crucial in modernizing the educational
system. The learner-centered theory has also

received increasing attention, and it has beenreflected in numerous practical ways as theteaching system has grown. The global open
movement has also received active support
from China and OUC. The development of
MOOCs in China over the past few years has
been successful thanks to the collaborationof academic institutions, governments, andother organizations. According to figuresfrom the Ministry of Education, more than 10
MOOC platforms have been built by the endof 2017 by domestic institutions of higher
learning and allied organizations, 3,200
courses had been uploaded by around 460
institutes of higher learning, and 55 million
college students and other learners from allwalks of life had participated in the courses.
By October 2021, up to 47,500 online courses
had 364 million participants, and 290 million
students had acquired MOOC credits.

Introduction

xiii

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
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Japan - OUJ

Prior until now, lifelong learning was thought
to be the most distant aspect of Japanesehigher education. The common perceptionof lifelong learning as a continuation ofsocial schooling and “leisure learning” or“time killing” for persons with lots of freetime could be one explanation for this.
The deeper problem, however, is that themechanisms in existence at higher education
institutions were not designed to adequately
meet the needs of lifelong learners. Instead,
it was widely acknowledged that they wererelatively closed systems for adult learners.
Over the years, the higher education
system in Japan has gone several changes
and movement towards diversification ofhigher education institutions providing theopportunities for adult learners to use higher
education for lifelong learning. Currently,
there are more than ten types of postsecondary educational institutions that canbe used as lifelong learning opportunities
in Japan including university extension,correspondence education at universities
and junior colleges, specialized training

Introduction

colleges and miscellaneous schools, private
education and cultural businesses, and social
correspondence education. The OUJ wasdeveloped in 2007 based on the previously
DE institution called the University of the Air,
which was founded back in 1983. The OUJ is
legally classified as “Private University” that isfunded by the Government’s “Management
Expenses Grant” and aims to be a lifelong
learning institution providing a wide rangeof people with opportunities for obtaining
higher education. In addition to its formal
education programs, OUJ has also been
active in developing and offering OERs andMOOCs in collaboration with Japan’s MOOC(JMOOC).

Sri Lanka - OUSL

The first non-traditional higher education
institution in Sri Lanka was founded in 1972
when the government of Sri Lanka establishedthe External Services Agency (ESA) to register
students for the university’s external exams.
The OUSL was ceremonially launched onJune 19, 1980 but was legally instituted asa university on July 22, 1980. The mission

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

statement states that OUSL’s goal is toachieve excellence in life-changing education
by offering equitable learning opportunities
through open, distance, and flexible
education while maintaining a commitment
to excellence in teaching and research. Oneof the OUSL’s distinguishing features incomparison to other OUs is its provision ofscience-based degree programs, including an
accredited engineering degree that is on parwith those provided by Sri Lanka’s traditional
universities. As a DE university, the OUSL
largely relies on printed and electronic lesson
materials, enhanced using contemporary
technologies. All of the university’s courses
are currently provided online in one of threeformats: Supplementary, Blended, or OnlinePlus. Each course will fall under one of thethree classifications based on the quantityof online participation that is offered for thatparticular course. Additionally, the OUSL has
been a leader in embracing new technologies
and approaches, such as e-learning andteaching materials based on Open Education
Resources (OER).

The Philippines - UPOU

Distance education in the Philippines wasestablished through the initiatives of various
individuals and organizations which shaped
its development to its current status andarticulations. Most of the literature published
about DE in the Philippines would trace it backto radio through the following initiatives: the“farmers’ school” in 1952, Pacifico Sudario
in 1959; and the school format radio in
1963. Another important contribution to theestablishment of the DE in the Philippines
is the Science Teaching Using Distance
Instruction (STUDI) in 1984 by the Universityof the Philippines Los Banos, which eventually
led to the establishment of the University of
the Philippines Open University (UPOU) in
1995. The Internet has played a significant
role in the development and transformationof UPOU, especially since it enables theuniversity to reach learners even beyond
the geographical confines of the country.
The online component was first formallyincorporated into UPOU’s instructionaldelivery system in 2001, primarily to replace
face-to-face and teletutorial sessions and go

Introduction

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

beyond serving as a simple communication
tool for students. In 2007, the UPOU fullytransitioned to the digital format, digitizing
all of its contents and operations, particularly
those that involved students. The discourse
about openness and attempts to offer open
online courses started at UPOU at about
the same time as online learning in 2001. In
2013, the first MOOC was offered by UPOU
under the partnership with one of the leading
mobile service providers of the country,
SMART Telecommunications. Since then,
UPOU has created a variety of MOOC setsin partnership with other partners, including
MOOCs on the Service Management Program(2014), MOOCs on Child Rights Protection andPromotion (2015), and MOOCs on teacher
preparation for online teaching (2015). As
part of its articulation of open education
practices, UPOU also began publishing an
open journal, the International Journal on
Open and Distance eLearning (IJODeL), in
2015. In 2017, the UPOU began to offer
MOOC Certification programs, which are
actually 3 or 4 related MOOCs combined todeliver a specific set of knowledge and skills.

Indonesia - UT

The Education Radio Program and the teacher
training program by correspondence were
the first DE in Indonesia, which started in the
1950s. The type of correspondence course
was replaced more than 30 years later in1984 with the founding of UT. Before 2001,
when all institutions of higher learning wereallowed to provide distance learning courses,
UT was the only university authorized by
the government to offer higher education
through this method. UT was establishedwith two specific aims: to improve in-service

Introduction

teachers’ qualifications and to increase
Indonesian students’ access to higher
education. Therefore, it is not unexpectedthat the majority of UT students were initiallyworking adults and practicing teachers.
However, that has shifted over the last few
years to favor younger adults in a variety ofprofessions. The era of online learning system
at UT started in 1997 when UT introduced
online student support services through its
website. At present, UT is in its initial stageof utilizing the latest technology such as
augmented and virtual reality/extended
reality for delivering the academic content. In
addition, since 2014, UT has developed andmade available OERs and MOOCs in order todeliver nationwide community services via
online platforms. Through its most recent
division, the Indonesia Cyber Education
Institute (ICE-Institute), UT has establisheda collaboration with other higher education
institutions in order to further promote theopen education practice in Indonesia. This
consortium is encouraged and supported by
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research,
and Technology. Through ICE, UT reaffirms
its dedication to provide open access, free
university courses.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

REFERENCES

AAOU Full Membership. (2022, March 3).
Retrieved from Asian Association ofOpen Univerisity (AAOU): https://www.
aaou.org/full-members-1/
Asia E-Learning Market Statistics 2030.
(2022, March 3). Retrieved from
Allied Market Research: https://www.
alliedmarketresearch.com/asia-elearning-market-A13093
Belawati, T., Alfonso, G. J., & Saludadez,
J. (Eds.). (2020, p. 137). Capitalizing
Open Education: The State of Practice in
ASEANRegion. Los Banos, Philippines: The
Philippines University Open University.
Cheolil Lim, C., Lee, J., &Choi, H. (2019). South
Korea. In O. Zawacki-Richter & A. Qayyum(Eds.), Open and Distance Education in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East: National
Perspectives in a Digital Age (pp. 87-100).
Springer OpenInternet World Stat. (2021, June 27). Retrieved
from Internet World Stat: https://www.
internetworldstats.com/
Jung, I., Wong, T. M., Li, C., Baigaltugs, S., &Belawati, T. (2011). Quality Assurancein Asian Distancce Education: Diverse
Approaches and Common Culture.
International Review of Research in Openand Distance Learning, 11(6), 63-83.
Kawachi, P., Sharma, R.C., & Mishra, S.
(2006). The Asian age variable in open
and distance education. Asian Journal ofDistance Education, 4(1), pp 1-3. http://
www.asianjde.org/

Kuo, Evelyn. (2021, February 26). E-learningin Asia is on the rise: CDN is key to ensurestable and secure user experience.
Retrieved from IABM Member Blogs:
https://theiabm.org/e-learning-in-asiais-on-the-rise-cdn-is-key-to-ensurestable-and-secure-user-experience/
Marginson, S. (2017). Higher education,
economic inequality and social mobility:
Implications for emerging East Asia.
International Journal of Educational
Development, 3-23.
Qayyum, A. & Zawacki-Richter, O. (2019). The
state of open and distance education. In
O. Zawacki-Richter & A. Qayyum, Openand Distance Education in Asia, Africa andthe Middle East: National Perspectives
in a Digital Age (pp. 125-140). Springer
Open
Song, Candice. (2022, February 24). China
Ancient Education. Retrieved from China
Highlights: https://www.chinahighlights.
com/travelguide/ancient-education.
htm#:~:text=Ancient%20Chinese%20
education%20began%20with,to%20
learn%2C%20in%20order%20toZhang, W., & Li, W. (2019). Transformation
From RTVUs to Open Universities in
China: Current State and Challenges. The
International Review of Research in Openand Distributed Learning, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v20i4.4076

IntroductionxviiOPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

Korea National
Open University(KNOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

011

01 ODE in

Korea: Korea
National Open
University
Ko Songhwan
Korea National Open University

ESTABLISHMENT

Although higher education through distancelearning has been developing in the West forover 100 years, it has only been developedin Korea over a short period of time. In 1972,
Korea National Open University (KNOU)
was first launched as the Department of
Telecommunications affiliated with Seoul
National University as a Type 2 college. Ten
years later, KNOU was separated from Seoul
National University and became a Type 5college that runs an independent program.
KNOU is the first national open university
in Korea. It was established by the Ministryof Education in 1972 as a solution forproviding higher education and responding
to great demand in society. Ever since, manyother distance education institutions being
founded and operated including the cyberuniversities. As of June 2020, there was a
total of 21 cyber universities in Korea. The
number of cyber universities has expanded
including a total of 16 special cyber graduate
schools that had been opened in nine other

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)KNOU has been contributing to the lifelong education
system with its foundation philosophy to ‘realizing alifelong learning society by providing the opportunityof higher education through a distance learning’.

universities. In addition, a cyber university
project, initiated by the Ministry of Educationin 2018 as a means of “content development
to increase student competencies over the
lifecycle”, was also expanded to a project
aimed at fostering innovation in online
university competencies in education in
2020. Currently, cyber universities focus on
enhancing the distance education system toincrease social capabilities of adult learners
and to enhance industrial personnel’s AI
competencies in creative convergence.

As the first national open university in
Korea, KNOU has been contributing to thelifelong education system with its foundation
philosophy to ‘realizing a lifelong learning
society by providing the opportunity of higher
education through a distance learning’. KNOU
aims to: (1) provide opportunities for higher
education, (2) improve education levels of
Korean citizens, (3) develop and expand adulteducation, and (4) cultivate talent in many
fields. To commemorate its 50th anniversary
in 2022, KNOU has established the new vision

which is to become “The Hub University ofKnowledge Network that is Ushering in theAge of Wisdom”.
The foundation of KNOU in 1972 was deemed
to be an innovative event and an “academic
revolution” that fundamentally transformed
thepreexistingcollegeeducation’s
philosophy, system, and methods. The
emergence of KNOU significantly changed the
traditional concept of college students. Adult
learners involved in both work(housework)and study started playing a leading role incollege. As the open admission system appliedwith the document screening process, thedoor to college opened up for adults beyond
college-age. KNOU established a foundation
for lifelong education by extending the rights
for learning over a lifetime and providing
learning opportunities to people of all social
classes.

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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4OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTAs the Lifelong Education Act was established in 2000, KNOU strengthened its status in the eraof lifelong learning. Based on its philosophy of lifelong education, KNOU has proclaimed thebasic direction of education through the ‘Charter of Korea National Open University’ (revisedon May 31, 2001) based on the following philosophy:
Lifelong intellectual development to all members of society, regardless of timeand space, through advanced distance education.
Considering the basic direction of education, KNOU has been aiming for educational reform
based on openness, diversity, flexibility, and excellence since 2000. The educational purpose of
KNOU is “to foster talent who can adapt to a rapidly changing information-oriented society byproviding opportunities for higher education of new knowledge and technology to all people.”
Following up the afore mentioned new direction, KNOU established new schools and colleges,
as well as sets up new registration schemes and learning tracks. First, KNOU founded a graduate
school for master’s degrees in 2001 to provide opportunities for quality higher education.
Although the enrollment quota of the graduate school was 200 in 2001, it increased to 3,500
as of 2015. Second, KNOU established Prime College in 2012 and introduced the course-based
registration system in to provide a variety of learning media. With the revision of the school
regulations in 2013, KNOU introduced the cross-registration system between Prime College
and the preexisting departments.
Figure 1
Organization of Prime College and its Academic Affairs

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Third, KNOU, as a hub of lifelong college learning, has been carrying out some government
tasks relating to the Lifelong College Learning Promotion Projects emphasized by the ‘3rd
Master Plan to Promote Lifelong Learning’(2013~2017). KNOU launched the ‘Blended Learning
Environment Development Project’ in 2012 to support the baby boom generation in theirlater years and conducted the ‘National Smart Entrance System Project; of the Ministry of
Education in 2013.
Figure 2
Major Tracks and Programs for KNOU Students who are Working after High School Graduation

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

There are three offices and one bureau at
headquarters of KNOU: Office of Academic
Affairs, Office of Student Affairs, Office ofPlanning Affairs, and Bureau of General
Affairs as shown on the organizational chart(Figure 3). They control the entire system of
KNOU.
The Office of Academic Affairs consist of
the Department of Academic Affairs andthe Department of Education Affairs. The
role of the Department of Academic Affairs
is to manage human resources, establish
departments and curricula, and publish
teaching materials. The Department of
Academic Affairs are divided into the Teaching

Staff Management Team and the Academic
Affairs Management Team. The Teaching
Staff Management Team manages teaching
staff, researchers, and their education,
operates the Academic Affairs Committee,
and issues certificates. The Academic Affairs
Management Team establishes or abolishes
departments, evaluates professors, provides
teaching staff with overseas training, andholds a professors/deans meeting.
The Office of Student Affairs consistsof the Class Management Team, theCourse Management Team, and the Test
Management Team. The Class Management
Team manages broadcast lectures, offline
courses, and teaching staff’s career

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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6OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

development. The Course Management Team manages students’ attendance, tutoring,seasonal class/test, and internet learning. Lastly, the Test Management Team evaluates
lectures and manages graduation requirements and school records.
The Office of Planning Affairs consist of two departments: Department of Planning and
Evaluation, Department of Public Relations. They are mainly setting the vision and making longterm goals of the university. This office issues report on ‘University Development Strategy’annually.
Figure 3
KNOU’s Organizational Structure

Academically, KNOU offer educational programs through several academic departments:
Graduate Schools including Graduate School of Business, Undergraduate Colleges, andPrimes College with two divisions (Figure 4). the Administrative Office of Graduate Schoolis operating independently. The Administrative Office manages graduate students’ school
registration, academic records, dissertations, and graduation. The Prime College has the
Degree Management Team under the Operation Support Office. The Degree Management
Team manages admission and class registration, holds the curriculum deliberation committee
meeting.

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 4
KNOU’s Academic Programs

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND
TECHNOLOGY USE

KNOU students take online lectures using
cable TV, the Internet, and mobile devices
and offline classes based on teachingmaterials and workbooks. In relation toteaching materials, KNOU has a DigitalMedia Center and a publisher called KNOU
Press. The Digital Media Center produces
and distributes distance education contents
and the KNOU Press plans, publishes, andsells teaching materials. In addition to the
production and distribution of teachingmaterials and supplementary materials, the
KNOU Press, an independent corporation,
publishes academic books and articles of
KNOU professors as part of the KNOU Press
Policy Project.
KNOU’s online contents are divided into fourtypes: TV lectures, multimedia lectures, webbased instructions and audio lectures.
(1) TV lectures
TV lectures, one of the most accessible
forms of media, are distributed via TV
which is the main medium of distance

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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8OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

learning. TV lectures are the most common lecturing medium in the sense that anyone
as well as KNOU students can easily access them. Since 1995, TV lectures have beentransmitted via KNOU cable channel OUN. TV lectures are divided into undergraduate
lectures and TV liberal arts lectures. Undergraduate lectures are provided so that students
can understand educational contents in depth. In addition to professors’ instructions,
TV lectures include expert interviews, case studies, etc. Lecture contents are producedin various ways using multimedia materials. Through TV liberal arts lectures, students
can understand higher education contents more deeply and easily. These lectures areproduced as lectures, conversations, documentaries, etc.
Students can watch lectures via OUN of cable TV/satellite TV/IPTV and study anywhere,
and at any time using the Internet LOD. In addition, they can connect to U-KNOU+ Mobile
Service using their smartphones anywhere. OUN broadcasting scheme is as shown in
Figure 5.
Figure 5
OUN Broadcasting(2) Multimedia lectures
Multimedia lectures are a type of e-learning lectures that maximized learning effects
using videos, texts, and various visual materials. Therefore, multimedia lectures are
based on e-learning tools. Multimedia lectures are divided into Video+PPT(PowerPoint),
Audio+PPT(PowerPoint),
andVideo.
Video+PPT(PowerPoint)
and
Audio
Lecture+PPT(PowerPoint) delivers lecture contents using e-blackboard.
Multimedia lectures consisting of Preparation, Lecture, Quiz, and Summary is designed
so that students can study the subject in order. In addition, these lectures provide Expert

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Interviews and Practice as advanced
menus. Students can study the subject
via the Internet LOD or connect U-KNOU+
Mobile Service using their smartphones
anywhere and at any time.
(3) Web-based instructions
Web-based instructions (WBI) is a typeof e-learning that facilitates various
teaching-learning activities through twoway interactions between instructors
and students based on the Internet.
WBI is mainly developed for graduate
courses. KNOU web-based instructions
utilize a variety of multimedia materials
such as video, audio, animation, etc.
It facilitates team projects as well as
online discussion and induces voluntary
participation from students. The types of
web-based instructions are as shown in
Figure 6.

Figure 6
Types of Web-based Instructions
Category
Tutorial
type

Description
A general of WBL.
Students interact withlearning materials
without direct assistanceof the instuctors.
Discussion- Students share theircentered
information, ideas, andtype
opinions with otherstudents or instructors tosolve a problem.
Project
Self-directed learning
type
activities throughprojects.
PracticeIt suggests practice
centeredtasks or processes andtype
the instructor showsdemonstration videos.

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

910OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

Web-based instructions are provided
for a few undergraduate courses andall graduate courses. Video lectures
and audio lectures are provided via thewebsite. Students can participate invarious activities through the message
board. WBI facilitates interactions
between the instructor and students.
WBI also provides tutoring.
(4) Audio lectures
For students who could not accessbroadcast lectures, KNOU establishedthe Audio Library so that they could
borrow lecturing cassette tapes. Regional
learning centers lent or sold audio/video
recorders so that students who missed
radio/TV lectures could record broadcast
lectures which are also sent out by mail.
At present, instruction-centered classes
such as languages are distributed asaudio lectures. Audio lectures are

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

distributed on the internet and students
can download them as mp3 files using
their mobile devices. Students can study
audio lectures anywhere and at any time.

MOOCs AND OTHER OPENEDUCATIONAL PRACTICESK-MOOCThe Ministry of Education in Korea initiated
K-MOOC (Korean Massive Open Online
Course) in 2015 as a response to theinternational expansion of Massive Open
Online Course (MOOC) and the changing
paradigm of higher education. K-MOOC
revolutionized the learning method of
universities and suggested equal opportunity
for higher education. This will contribute toimproving the quality of higher education andultimately enhancing the competitivenessof universities through the spread anddissemination of higher education.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 7
K-MOOC Platform

Top Korean universities such as Seoul National
University, Yonsei University, and Korea
University, were selected as the test bed for
K-MOOC pilot operation in 2015. While theselection process of the content was centered
on top universities until 2018, the Ministry
and National Institute for Lifelong Education(NILE) changes the selection process toprioritize the course content. Specifically,
they began to select a bundle of 4~5 courses
to create a curriculum mostly related to the
topic of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Eachbundle is selected under topics that arepolicy driven while other individual courses
can choose their topic autonomously.

survey showed that 85% of the respondents
who took the K-MOOC courses were satisfied
with their learning outcomes, which is similar
to the result in 2017 (84.5%). As of 2019, 116
institutions were providing a total of 1,703
courses at K-MOOC website (http://kmooc.
kr). The number of enrollments in 2019was 1,168,288 and the number of visits to
K-MOOC website was 12,054,483.
K-MOOC plans to develop and manage
excellent content which meets highdemand of learners based on autonomyof participating organizations. K-MOOC is
expected to expand its number of courses
and participating institutions every year.

After three years since its launch, theinterests of individual learners have increased
consistently, and it is expected to growfurther as the learning record system is more
widely acknowledged and used. The 2018

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

Table 1K-MOOC in Numbers
Year
Developed Lectures
Participating Institutions
Budgets (unit: KRW)

2017

2018

324
510
69
95
6,928,000,000 7,840,000,000

Other Open Educational Practices

As Korea’s first and unique national distancehigher educational institution, KNOU has
been establishing its educational and student
support systems based upon social needs.
KNOU has computerized and automatized
its services in response to an increase in thenumber of students and has made efforts toprovide an optimal educational environmentby systematizing the Office of Student Affairs.
The traditional education system focusing oncollege-aged students was shifted to adultstudent centered lifelong education due tothe changing of the times. KNOU has been
striving to meet various students’ needs
such as career development and academic
counseling. This is shown in the KNOU
systems focusing on “life cycle-customized
lifelong learning strategies” and “lifelong
learning network strategies”.
KNOU grants scholarships to a variety ofsocial groups and students to realize higher
education welfare. In addition, it supports
independent student bodies so that adultlearners can strengthen their social learning.
KNOU is considered a world-class distancehigher educational institution and lifelong
educational institution because of its
outstanding educational systems and social

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

2019
1,703
116
9,734,000,000

contributions. However, the number of
new students is slightly decreasing due
to diversified distance higher educational
institutions and an increase in higher
education rates. As such, it is time for KNOU
to reconsider how to lead future education.
In order to overcome the current issues
and to grow as a more successful distancehigher educational institution and a lifelong
network university, KNOU should provide
more quality educational services than thepreexisting degree-oriented system andquickly respond to social changes. To achievethis, KNOU should operate various curriculaand innovate its student service systems in
the near future. In addition to quantitative
growth in education, KNOU should secure
qualitative excellence and provide anextensive range of quality educational
contents in response to students’ needs.
Furthermore, KNOU should strengthen
the connectivity between online-offline
education and student activities, improve
its mentoring system, and reinvigorate thestudy groups as new paradigms.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)RESEARCH AREAS

Institute of Distance Education, an auxiliary facility to KNOU, carries out various policy studies
and academic projects to improve the competitiveness of the tertiary education that KNOU
offers. Table 2 lists the titles of research conducted from 2017-2020, which indicates the areaof topics that interest and are considered important by KNOU and KNOU professors.
Table 4
List of Research During 2017-2020
Year
2017

Research Title
1. A Study on Strategies to Introduce KNOU MOOC Service, based on KNOU’s Poolof Contents
2. A Study on the establishment of a distance higher, lifelong education support
system for educationally disadvantaged people: A Case of learners withmulticultural backgrounds
3. A Study on the plan to support innovation at national universities (PoINT )4. A study on an analysis of educational needs among KNOU graduates: A surveyof KNOU graduates between 2014 and 2017
5. A study on the development of investigative tools for KNOU learners’ learning
outcomes
6. A study on KNOU learners’ needs per generation and ways to find new sourcesof students
7. A study on future distance higher, lifelong education in an intelligent informationsociety of the fourth industrial revolution
8. A study on the IDE’s performance for the last 40 years and its future developmentplans
9. A study on ways to reorganize the education system to create a new pool ofstudents
10. A study on measures to introduce intensive semesters
11. A study on evaluation methods focused on learning process to improve KNOU
students’ learning effects
12. A study on the development of guidelines to offer face -to -face lectures indifferent ways
13. A study on the design of a future KNOU knowledge portal based on smart
learning in preparation for the advent of the fourth industrial revolution
14. A study on the diagnosis for KNOU organization
15. A study on ways to offer new elective courses and an implementation roadmap
16. A study on the HR management of teaching faculty to support teaching andresearch
17. A study on a pilot operation of the tutor system improvement measures, andthe development of action plans to measure their effectiveness18. A study on the plan to establish a system to evaluate the finance of KNOU
projects
19. A study on the measures to analyze KNOU faculty’s research activities and to
improve the university’s research policies

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
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Year
2017

Research Title
20. A study on the policies and sustainable development plan of a newly introduced
department of social welfare
21. A study on the KNOU self -assessment of research (2015 -2016): A case ofcolleges and research institutes
22. A study on the measures to introduce a free engineering major department to
KNOU
23. A study on the measures to revise the course on “Understanding of DistanceHigher Education”, which aims to help new students adapt to KNOU in the firstsemester2018

1. A policy study on the validity of introducing MakerSpace
2. A study on exploring the use of big data and creating an application mode
3. analysis of and development direction for KNOU lifelong curriculum development
and management
4. A study on the user assessment of diagnostic tools for learning readiness andcustomized learner supports
5. A study on the characteristics of excellent online lecture-based courses: A focusof learner satisfaction.
6. A study on the introduction of interdisciplinary departments and majors to
KNOU undergraduate studies and Prime College
7. A study on the specifications of ePUB 3.0 and mobile-based digital textbooks forbetter interaction
8. A study on the internal assessments done by KNOU graduate school (2016 –2017)
9. A study on the internal assessment of KNOU departments and regional
campuses (2016 – 2017)
10. A study on establishing KNOU’s long-term international cooperation plan
11. A study on ways to improve the working conditions of KNOU research andteaching assistants

2018

12. A study on ways to improve the competitiveness of KNOU graduate school andbusiness school by reforming the operations and systems
13. A study on introducing a cloud-based next service platform in preparation for
the advancement of KNOU learning systems
14. A study on the laws governing the KNOU establishment and operations
15. A study on the plan to organize the space of a future central library
16. A study on the plan to introduce an examination system based on a test bank
17. KNOU’s role in preparation for reunification & the exploring of distanceeducation possibilities in North Korea
18. A study on the establishment and effective implementation of special bills
installing and operating KNOU law school

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Year
2019

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

2020

Research Title
A study on mid- and long-term development strategies in preparation forchanges in future educational environment
A study on how to make full use of KNOU centers for Instructional Technology
and Training (CITT)
A study on managing a digital, online library
A study on developing lifelong learning program to rejuvenate “Project Local
Lifelong Learning Community Center”
A study on reducing the number of credits required for KNOU graduation
A study on the development of a design model for Spotfire bigdata analytics in
U-KNOU Campus
A study on the trend of cloud-based virtual lab learning contents and pilot
development
A study on service improvement of the statistical information system
A study on the operations of Prime College youth counseling psychology
program

1. Exploring Admission Support Services through Analyzing Prospective Student
Resources
2. An Analysis of the Future Student Estimation of KNOU by Linking University Datawith External Big Data
3. The Effect of Academic Performance and Program Management on Academic
Persistence
4. Investigation and Data Analytics on Prime College Students’ Learning
5. The analysis on the effectiveness of mentoring program for enhancing students
support services in KNOU
6. A Study on Constructing Methods for the Performance Management System of
KNOU’s Development Plan
7. Analyze the convenience of using the Question Bank and Online Test System
8. A Study on the Development Plans for KNOU Scholarship System
9. Analysis of Learning Data and Design of Learning Data Analysis System of NOU
10. A Study on the Diversification of Teaching & Learning Methods in Graduate andBusiness University
11. A study on the enrollment size and students’ characteristics of KNOU by
departments
12. Prospects of Distance Higher Education and the Challenges of KNOU in PostCorona Era
13. A Study on User Charge Models of Tutoring
14. A Research for construction plan for Museum and Archives of Korea National
Open University
15. Research on KNOU Regional Campuses’ Role Reestablishment
16. A Research on the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Establishment andOperation of Korea National Open University
17. A Study on the Operation of Online Attendance Classes in Real-Time

Korea National Open University (KNOU)

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
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CONCLUSION

For over 50 years since its foundation in
1972, KNOU has been developing as Korea’s
first open university. In terms of its teachinglearning methods, KNOU has gone throughcontinuous development.
First and foremost, the development ofhigh-quality teaching materials has become
increasingly vital. KNOU has placed a strongemphasis on releasing high-quality teachingmaterials, believing that these are criticalto the success of beginning correspondence
education. Since that time, the KNOU Press
has remained true to its mission of publishing“specialist instructional materials.” Basedon-printed instructional materials andtexts, TV, radio, and audio lectures havebeen offered. Without printed instructional
materials, it is difficult to create good lecture
content. Multimedia lectures and web-based
instructions, on the other hand, can beaccompanied with a variety of references andtexts. This feature has a lot of potential, andit has the potential to outperform traditional
printed training materials.
Second, KNOU has been looking for atechnological change to bring about atransformation in broadcast media. Initially,
KNOU’s broadcast lectures were only
available via radio and terrestrial television.
Many employed students, on the other hand,found it difficult to attend TV lectures orlisten to radio lectures that were transmitted
at regular intervals. Students might listen
to audio lectures at any time, which could
substitute TV/radio lectures. Radio lectures
were, in particular, losing popularity andwere unable to give visual information.

Korea National Open University (KNOU)Radio lectures were seen as a limiting andantiquated medium in this regard. Even
though they required a lot of effort toproduce, TV lectures might contain a large
number of audiovisual resources. The TV
lectures were well received by the students,
and they helped to improve their reputation.
Despite the fact that the amount of lecture
content is limited, TV lectures have provento be popular due to their benefits. KNOU
was able to take the lead in realizing a truelearning society as a future university that
leads an information-oriented society after
obtaining the permission to run a cable TV
channel.
Third, multimedia lectures have progressedsignificantly. Web-based instructions havebeen used in all graduate courses since
the twenty-first century, while multimedia
lectures have been used in all undergraduate
courses since 2006. In both technology andeducation, they have advanced enormously.
As a result, they can now replace pre-existing
radio/audio and television lectures. Webbased instructions and multimedia lectures
could partially replace printed teachingmaterials and mimic the impact of face-toface lecturing in offline classes.
Furthermore, the widespread availabilityof the internet and the slow rise of cybercolleges in Korean culture have increased
the standing of web-based and multimedia
lectures at KNOU.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

REFERENCES

KERIS. (2020). ‘White Paper on ICT Educationin Korea’
Korea National Open University. (2016).
‘KNOU White Paper’
National Institute for Lifelong Education.
(2018). ‘2018 Lifelong Education White
Paper: An Overview’Korea National Open University. (2020).
‘Annual Report’, Institute of Distance
Education

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Open University
Malaysia (OUM)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

0219

02 Open

University
Malaysia:
Sustainable
Quality Digital
Education forAll
Ahmad Izanee Awang,
Mohd Tajudin Md Ninggal, andThirumeni T Subramaniam
Open University Malaysia

ESTABLISHMENTIn Malaysia distance education started at theCentre of Distance Education known as Pusat
Pendidikan Jarak Jauh (PJJ) at the Science
University of Malaysia (Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM)) in the 1970s. Today, almost
all public universities have a dedicated centre
that promotes distance education. Over
30 years later, Open University Malaysia(OUM) was established on 10th August 2000
as the country’s 7th private university. In
August 2001, OUM offered 4 programmes
and enrolled 731 learners for its inauguralintake. OUM was officially launched on 26
August 2002 by the then Prime Minister of
Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri
Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The university wasestablished as part of the strategies to build
knowledge-based society, with the mottoof “University for All”. Today OUM is joinedby two other private open and distancelearning (ODL) universities: Wawasan Open
University (WOU) established in 2006,
and Asia e-University (AeU) which wasestablished in the subsequent year. Others

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

As a pioneer ODL institution, OUM is recognized for its
experience in blended learning mode, instructional design,
pedagogical approaches in teaching and learning, as wellas in formative and summative assessment(conventional and dual mode universities)
were given the permission by the Ministry ofHigher Education to offer ODL programmes.
All who offer ODL programmes must adhere
to the Code of Practice for Programme
Accreditation: ODL (COPPA:ODL) developedby the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA)(MQA, 2019).
At the onset of its establishment, its focus
was centred around education programmes
where most students were government
school teachers under a loan scheme thatcan be turned into scholarships based on
their academic performance. OUM was
identified as strategic host to achieve thenational target of having 100% secondary
school graduate teachers and at 50%
of primary school teachers with tertiary
education, without having the teachers
leave school (MOE, 2003). Today the student
population are well-distributed amongfour faculties: Faculty of Education (FOE),
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities(FSSH), Faculty of Technology and Applied

Sciences (FTAS), and Faculty of Business
Management (FBM). In total these faculties
offer 53 fully-accredited programmes via
online platform and 35 strategically locatedlearning centres throughout the country.
At any one semester, the number of active
students exceeds 25,000 at present fromvarious background. The shift has an impact
on the curriculum design. In the industry, soft
skills are usually emphasised by employers(Sungsri, 2017). Apart from the shift in workbackground, a slight shift towards younger
age was also observed over the years. The
largest age group has shifted from 41 to 50
years old, to 31 to 40 years old learners.
Observing changes in the student profile
helps the university to understand and serve
the learners better.
As a pioneer ODL institution, OUM isrecognised for its experience in blended
learning mode, instructional design,
pedagogical approaches in teaching
and learning, formative and summative
assessment. An important strength of theOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

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university lies in its years of experience andadvancement in the development of selfinstruction learning modules. The Centre
of Instructional Design and Technology(CIDT) also produces supportive learningmaterials (technology-enhanced materials)
in addition to the learning modules. The
once printed modules are now hosted in a
Moodle-based learning platform known as
myINSPIRE. The platform is managed by theCentre for Learning Technology (CLT) who
also host the online assessments. One reason
for its recognition is due to the university’s
investment in its part-time tutors/facilitators
who are trained at OUM. Many are fromother higher education institutions. An
annual colloquium is usually organised
enabling tutors/facilitators interact with eachother and full-time academic staff, and be
informed of the recent developments in ODL.
The management of tutors/facilitators areunder the purview of the Centre for Teachingand Learning Management (CTLM).

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

In 2006, OUM became the first private
university to implement open entry system
which is known today as Accreditation ofPrior Experiential Learning (APEL). The APEL
system refers to a systematic process thatinvolves the identification, documentation
and assessment of prior experiential learning,i.e. knowledge, skills and attitudes, todetermine the extent to which an individual
has achieved the desired learning outcomesfor access to a programme of study and/or
for the award of credit (MQA, 2019). TodayOUM’s APEL Centre which function as APEL
assessment centre manages three forms APEL
mode: APEL A, APEL C, and APEL Q enabling
open access, credit award, and award ofacademic qualifications respectively. In
January 2022, number of APEL registrations
at OUM is close to 1000. Research haveshown that the learners who have joined
the programmes through APEL A haveequal chances of succeeding as those whohave enrolment by meeting the programme
entry qualification (Cheng and Heng). OUM

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

advocates APEL formats as a way to create
access to education for all.
OUM’s vision is to be the Leading Providerof Flexible Learning. This vision is motivatedby the university’s aim to support its adultlearners who face huge demands on theirtime due to their commitment for work, family
and society. Studies have shown that largely
the factors that cause a learner to drop out
are related to work, finance and family. We
believe that flexible learning would enable
learners learn from anywhere and at any
time. Flexible must be not misinterpreted asoffering flexibility at the expense of quality.
OUM mission clearly states its mission as
to widen access to quality education andprovide lifelong learning opportunities byleveraging on technology, adopting a flexible
mode of learning, and providing a conducive
and engaging learning environment atcompetitive and affordable cost. In achieving
its vision and mission, the university believesin the following five shared values: Integrity,
Professionalism, Caring, Teamwork, andInnovativeness.

Similar to the rest of the world, the COVID-19
pandemic has pushed to rethink our model.
With all other higher education institutions(HEIs) moving towards online learning, weface challenges and in order to be relevant
we need re-evaluate what the present
educational needs of our learners are andhow can we create a learning experiencethat enable efficient achievement of thetargeted learning outcomes by learners.
OUM redefined the term quality educationin its mission to the United Nations 4th
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It isalso important for us to be part of the global
solutions. Right before the pandemic, OUM
redesigned its learning skill course to focus
on Learning Skills for 21st Century Learning
for all its diploma and degree learners. Apartfrom the basics on self-directed learning,
literacy skills, and 4C Skills (Creative Thinking,Critical Thinking, Collaborative Skills, andCommunication Skills), awareness andknowledge on the concept of sustainability
and SDGs were emphasised throughtopics on Global Citizenship Education andEnvironmental Education.

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PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Redefining OUM Identity

In the first 15 years since its inception,
the university branded itself as a teaching
university. As a private university, developing
marketable programmes and supportingthem became the upmost priority. In addition
to programme development, accreditation
and revision, other key activities weredevelopment of: (i) appropriate pedagogies
for ODL through the ODL Pedagogy Centre;(ii) self-instructional learning material
through CIDT; (iii) social-constructivism
based facilitation strategies (Asynchronous
Facilitation though Online Forum andSynchronous Facilitation through Face-toface Tutorials/Seminars); (iv) Formativeand Summative Assessment Formats; (v)Learn Managing System (LMS); and (vi)Managing Adult Learner. Intensive capacity
building activities were carried out in thefollowing areas: curriculum design (centredaround Outcome-based Education since2008), module writing skills (centred around
Instructional Designs), tutor training (online
facilitation and face-to-face tutoring), andwriting assessment papers and writing
effective feedback. Research activities wereorganised based on institutional needs
and learner retention (Latif et al., 2009).
Numerous programmes at various levels(Diploma, Bachelor Degree, Master’s Degree,and Doctor of Philosophy) were developed.
Later post-graduate diploma and doctoral
studies were included into the list. The
university developed its Quality Management
Systems based on ISO standards as well as the2009 COL Quality Assurance Toolkit Distance
HEIs and Programmes. Network and linkages

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

with regional open universities helped tostrengthen the universities efforts. The
reputation of the university as an esteemedODL university made it an ideal choice for
consultation and collaborations among otheruniversities and government agencies.
Beyond 2015, the university began to
explore teaching innovations through various
digital content to support its learners; aMoodle-based learner management system(myINSPIRE was introduced in May 2016),
online system to support APEL assessment,
paperless initiatives (by introducing
e-module in pdf format instead of print)
and broaden its research scope to support
its postgraduate learners. As a result,when the world was hit by the pandemic
at the end 2019, the university was able totransform at ease into digital environment.
Nevertheless, the surrounding environment
also changed and became more competitive.
This creates a motivation for the university
to analyse its status as a sustainable quality
digital education provider and transform
itself through research and innovation. In
2022, under the new management led by
the present President/Vice Chancellor 8
Strategic Focuses was drafted to reach its
aspiration as a reputable sustainable quality
digital education provider. Under thesestrategic objectives, additional focuses andaction plans have been drafted to reachgreater reputation under the national
university ranking exercise. This certainly
demands a change in culture. Finding theright enabler for a shift in culture require
well-planned engagement with stakeholders.
The centre for research and innovation has
drafted action plans under selected areas

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to enable innovative solutions and/or social
innovations. This plan when supported by thecurrent management efforts in network andlinkages can indeed place OUM in the frontierof Sustainable Quality Digital Education.

Positioning OUM in the Frontier ofSocially Responsible and Sustainable
Quality Digital Education
In line with the university’s aspiration to
be sustainable and to offer quality digital
education, OUM is hoping to position itself
as a socially responsible and sustainable ODL
university that offers quality state of art digital
education. In realising this, the university
is undertaking the following initiatives: (i)strengthening its academic programmes;(ii) establishing research projects withtargeted in – niche areas, key strategic areas(which includes literacies, good health andwellbeing, technology-enhanced learning
design towards creating engaged learning
environment, environmental, social andgovernance (ESG) as well as student-centredstudies); (iii) smart learner management
systems; (iv) intellectual properties, social
innovations and services as researchoutcomes; (v) regional and global networkand linkages; centre of excellence and stateof art facilities in selected fields; (vi) quality
management system for ODL; and (vii) higher
ranking in the national ranking exercise andresearch rating system. The initiatives consistof a short-term action plans for 2022, withextended targets for 2024, and 2026 which
will be referenced against target set for thenational ranking exercise and research rating
system. Growth is also ascertained by a plan
to offer marketable programmes, and new
ventures (local and international) to ensure

the sustainability of the university. Anotherplan that has been incorporated is Risk
Management. A dedicated team will be setup by the end of 2022 to help the university
identify new trends in technology-enhanced
education and its surrounding environment todevelop a plan for 2030. At present planningto support technology advancement for the
next five years (until 2026) are in place. What
we do expect? What we hope for is greater
extend of integrated and adaptive intelligent
systems that corresponds to the targets
under the SDGs.

Future Challenges and Opportunities

As a private higher education institution in
ODL, OUM shares the market with two otheropen universities in a country with only 33.94
million population and only 24.65 million
adults aged over 18 (estimated 2022 datafrom United Nation (2022 World Population
Review)). This added to the competitions
from the public university distance education
centres (PJJs) and universities running ODL
programmes, particularly in the present post
Covid-19 education landscape, OUM certainly
face a great challenge in sustaining itself.
Fortunately, as a pioneer ODL institution andgood branding, OUM has sustained itself. Its
learner population are mostly self-financed
working adults with children. As such thelearner population are prone to experience
three situational learning barriers: work,
finance and family that would continue tobe a challenge. Hence, the motivation for
the university to establish the new Facultyof Social Science and Humanities. In addition
to the offer of psychology and counselling
programmes, the faculty has initiatedresearch projects that aims to develop aOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

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web-based psychometric profiling system
to provide analysis and focused remedialsolutions as one of the OUM’s support
services (Md Ninggal et al., 2020). The smart
system will consist of several psychologicalassessment tools to provide evidence-based
data about our learners.
At national level, open universities in the
country face other common challenges.
One challenge that require a collective voice
concern quality assurance that also involve
ranking and rating criteria that designed forconventional universities. A common voice
and presence in consultations on education
policies and guidelines with government
agencies is also needed. Government
support in the realisation of access to
education for all (particularly those below
certain income as well as those in ruralcommunities is important. In addition, ajoint voice will also give the universities astronger voice in forming supportive linkage
with other economics sectors, particularly
with financial institutions. OUM is certainly
appreciative of government initiative
through the National Digital Infrastructure
Lab (NDIL) in the formation of the National
Digital Network Plan (Jalinan Digital Negara
known as JENDELA) in 2020 under the theme
Coverage for All. The plan sets targets for2022 (Phase I), and 2025 (Phase II) in orderto ensure access to internet and technology
infrastructure supporting connectivity isavailable for all.
Likewise, the open universities in the
ASEAN region face common challenges
and opportunities. Together the open
universities are adapting to rapid growthOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

and socio-economic changes requiring
dynamic changes to curriculum design,
pedagogical approaches, use of technology
in education (online delivery, assessment andenvironment), smart governing systems andan insight to future skills. OUM is privileged
to have established a regional network withother open universities: Universitas TerbukaIndonesia, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open
University, University of Philippines Open
University, and Hanoi Open University.
Current work initiated at the network toconceptualise ‘university of the future’.
The connected world that we live today
creates an opportunity to exist in aborderless platform that enable a much
more efficient resource sharing. At the sametime, it also enables global societies to workcollectively and effectively in mitigating
global crisis including climate change. In
such world, as open universities we havethe social responsibility and opportunity
to create knowledge sharing programmes
and other measures to help to create anequitable education. In this, OUM is working
on new research initiatives in creatingsocial innovations that would enable andsupport a wider access and through strategic
knowledge sharing programmes. One that it
has started to promote is literacies for 21st
century. Phase I of the literacy knowledge
dissemination webinar was organised in July
2022. It focused on English language literacy,
numeracy, information literary, digital
literacy, and media literacy. The second
phase planned for January 2023 would
focus on health, environmental, civic, andfinancial literacies along with globalisation.
The organising team is also hoping to include

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

future literacy that is promoted by the United
Nation. It hopes to continue to support bycreating awareness particularly in STEM andothers areas that requiring such support.

MANAGEMENT
Organizational Structure

OUM operation is well distributed
throughout the country with 35 learning
centres, thus has presence across the nation.
The learning centres serves as the contact
point for learners across the country. OUM’s
operation is centred at the headquarters at
in Kelana Jaya, Selangor. OUM also operates
outside Malaysia through various partners
through shared functions that may vary fromone partner to another.

OUM is managed under the leadership of a
President/Vice-Chancellor. The University
Board of Governors provides the university
academic and industrial guidance to OUM’srole as a HEI provider that contributes tonation building. There are four key functions
that are directly under the president/vicechancellor: human resource, legal, corporate
communication, and quality assurance. OUM
organisation structure is shown in Figure 2. All
academic matters are under the leadershipof the vice-president (academic). In addition,
there are four other key functions that aremanaged separately, namely finance, registry,business ventures, and digital services.

Figure 1
OUM Learning Centres in Malaysia

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OUM is managed under the leadership of a
President/Vice-Chancellor. The University
Board of Governors provides the university
academic and industrial guidance to OUM’srole as a HEI provider that contributes tonation building. There are four key functions
that are directly under the president/vicechancellor: human resource, legal, corporate
communication, and quality assurance. OUM
organisation structure is shown in Figure 2. All
academic matters are under the leadershipof the vice-president (academic). In addition,
there are four other key functions that aremanaged separately, namely finance, registry,business ventures, and digital services.

Academic Affairs

All academics programmes offered at OUM
are accredited by the national qualification
agency. At present, OUM offers a total of
53 fully accredited programmes ranging
from diploma to doctoral degrees. These areoffered through four faculties (FOE, FSSSH,FTAS, and FBM). Each faculty is headed by a
Dean and supported by a Deputy Dean. Each
programme is based on semester system
and is managed by a Programme Director.
Meanwhile, the courses are managed by acourse leader. Admission to each programme
are done through online and verified throughsubmission of copies of documents (on entry
qualification(s) and identity) at any learning
centres. Once registered, learners are asked
to carry out first time login by creating theirunique username and password. They areencouraged to use OUM email address for
all form of online communication with OUM(academic and support services).

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

The faculties are supported by four centres.
At OUM, admission to programmes is also
possible through accreditation of priorexperiential learning (APEL). The APEL Centre
is headed by a Director manages the entry
to the programmes through APEL A, credit
transfers through APEL C, and the confermentof a qualification through APEL Q. The heartof the centre is in the recognition, assessmentand evaluation of Prior Experiential Learningand the promotion of the Experiential
Learning Pedagogical Approach.
Research, Publication and Innovation
activities of the faculty members are governed
through the Centre for Research andInnovation (CRI). CRI is headed by a Director,
has eight key functions: managing the rating
and raking exercises, research funding,institutional research projects, publications(and supporting events and media), capacity
building initiatives, innovations, services,and research collaborations. The year 2022
marks a big change in research, publication,and innovation focus. The centre throughthe support of the new management is able
to raise greater awareness, activities andincentives to create research culture. Eightfocus groups have been formed to target
the achievement of greater growth, visibility,
sustainability, and harmony (2022 Strategic
Objectives at OUM) through research, andinnovation.

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Open University Malaysia (OUM)

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Figure 2
OUM’s Organisational Structure

The Centre for Learning Technology (CLT)
is responsible for creating an engaging
learning environment (myINSPIRE) that
promotes self-directed learning by hosting
self-instructional learning materials named
as learning modules (developed by CIDT),
assessment processes, online forum, ande-tutorials. Learner satisfaction over theOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

learning environment is a key concern
at the university (Noor et al., 2016). The
programme delivery is designed to enable
learners learn anytime from anywhere. CLT
managed by a Head of Centre also hosts: (i)open educational resources, and (ii) massive
open online course (MOOCs).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

In addition to the faculty members, theteaching and learning process at OUM
is also supported by part-time e-tutors
and e-graders. The tutors/facilitators aremanaged and trained by the Centre for
Teaching and Learning Management (CTLM).
The centre managed by a Head of Centre
works primarily at designing how learning canbe supported through effective facilitation
using the modules. The centre organises
annual colloquium to ensure that OUM parttime tutors are also well-informed with thebest practices and recent development inteaching and learning. Learner Experience
over all teaching and learning efforts is also
another key concern at the university (Md
Yusof et al., 2022).

Largely courses at OUM are assessedusing three forms of assessment. Firstly,
Assessment as Learning. This refers to builtin self-assessments with feedback that ishosted under each course in myINSPIRE.
This assessment format, mostly in MCQ
format helps learners to perform a quick
test to determine their basic knowledge.
During mid-semesters, learners are given
assignments, which are a form of formative
assessment in most courses. This is known as
Assessment for Learning. The feedback fora given assignment can also be elaboratedusing both online forum and e-tutorials. At
the end of each semester, most learners
also sit for the final examination, which
are a form of summative assessment
known as Assessment of Learning. Qualityof the assessment it up most important
regardless of the type of assessment toensure its effectiveness in learning andvalidity and reliability in measuring thetargeted outcomes under every course. The
university continues to enhance the quality
and the methods of the assessments, thearchitecture of the question bank, usage oflatest technology, and proctoring to improve
its assessment system. OUM is also exploring
distributed assignment in order to achieve aholistic measure (Fadzil, 2019).
The nature of practical session varies fromone course to another. Examples include
laboratory session, clinical session, field workand more. These are designed particularly todevelop industry relevant psychomotor skills.
Most sessions are carried on by renting theright facility (often using facilities at other
HEIs across Malaysia) and their teaching
resources(demonstration,
monitoring

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and assessment). The difficulty due tothe prolonged movement control due to
Covid-19 pandemic, forced the university to
opt for modified assessment, and explore
use of technology and media to enrich thedevelopment of the psychomotor skills.
The above academic processes are fully
supported by three specialised service: (i)development of self-instruction learningmaterials or modules at CIDT, (ii) libraryservice, and (iii) digital services. These aregoverned under the purview of a generalmanager.
Modules featuring content and use of
instructional design are the primary delivery
mode. Using carefully designed activities, amodule writer can prompt learners to explore
beyond the module pages. OUM produces
modules only in e-format (using pdf format).
Module development at OUM is undergoinga transformation process in order to enrich
the modules using audio, video, animationand interactivities. This enable creation of an
integrated resource material. Cyclic revisionof modules ensure that the content stays
current and relevant.
OUM Digital Library has up to 95% digital
resources with 30 well known databases
including Springer Link. All new purchases
made only for digital resources such as
e-books, and e-journals unless the options
are limited to print materials. The Head of
Library also ensures additional services suchas workshops in information literacy.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Digital services provide various supports fromtechnical support to system development
to ensure efficient and effective use oftechnology in all operations at OUM.

Administrative Affairs

All administrative affairs supporting services
are governed by the Office of Registrar.
Operations are divided into Programme
Accreditation Unit (PAU), Assessment
and Examination Division (AED), LearnerManagement Division (LMD), International
Operation Unit (IOU), Centre for Learner
Affairs (CLA), and Health, Safety andEnvironment (HSE) Unit.
Once a learner enters the system, thestudent data, course management and final
year project are managed by the units under
LMD. Assessment, Examination, and Learner
Profile including their Graduation Landscapeare managed by AED. All international
learners that are registered with partners aremanaged by IOU. At all premises, all mattersrelated to HSE are managed by the HSE Unit
including student identity cards. Learners
often seek the needed support from learning
centres within their locality. Nevertheless,any learner seeking additional support arereferred to CLA. Learners may come directly
to the centre at the main campus (HQ), or
contact through an online system known
as eCRM (refer Figure 3). All entry (fromcomplains, enquiries, to feedback are givena ticket and the matter will be managed
within a time frame. In addition, CLA works
closely with all learning centres to conduct
orientation programs for all new learners.

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Figure 3
The View of the eCRM Ticketing System

At present, CLA in collaboration with CRI has
developed a new orientation program as partof the digital transformation. The programme
known as the OUM Virtual Orientation
programme will serve all new learners andcan be also referred to by all senior learners
takes learners through the first stage of theirlearning journey. Upon completing, learners
will receive a certificate of completion. It
is believed that such programme can help
retain learners in the system. In addition,
CLA, learning centres and faculties separately
or jointly organises various workshops to
support learners through their journey.
A popular workshop is on how to write
an assignment paper (an essay). The
workshops are part of the university’s social
responsibilities.

CLA also offers the e-counselling services
and may also opt to make a face-to-faceappointment with a counsellor. At OUM, good
health and wellbeing is a priority. In order toensure effective support are available, OUM
promotes good mental health and wellbeing
among its staff and learners. This area hasgained more attention during the pandemic.
Researchers in the field of psychology andcounselling at FSSH are working together
with CLA to develop psychometric tools to
study the needs of both staff and learners,
and provide workable solutions.

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Our Focus

Since the first inception of OUM 22 years ago,
the university has continuously providing
quality online education to its students.
OUM’s visibility as an ODL provider of choiceknown for sustainable business model indelivering world class quality digital education
solutions and social innovations. This is anaspiration drives on what we would focus onin the coming years.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT OPEN
UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

Digital transformation at OUM supporting
the Strategic Roadmap that is developed tobring the university to greater heights andrecognition within the next 5 years (refer
Figure 4). The open education philosophy
embodied at the university is built on
the hope to capture the open education

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

concept of opening educational access to all.
Education and knowledge are public goods
and that everyone has the right to accessquality education (Belawati, 2014). OUM’s
open education philosophy also embodies
Malaysia’s National Education Philosophy
that focuses on on-going efforts towards thedevelopment of an individual in a holisticway (MOE, 2013). In addition, OUM is also
drafting a new open education philosophy byencapsulating its vision to offer flexibility for
its learners who are by large working adults; its
mission to widen access to quality education
by creating a conducive and engaging learning
environment through digital transformation;
as well as key global concepts that it believesin, namely sustainability, and inclusivity. As
part of its new focus, OUM is developing a
research programme to raise the level of key
literacies among the public.

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Figure 4
Phases of OUM Strategic Roadmap (2022-2026)

As a private open university, OUM develops
market driven educational programmes.
OUM is re-evaluating its programmes andcrafting its niche areas under each faculty.
Research and innovations are also expanded
based on the identified niche areas. In 2023,
OUM hopes to venture into niche areas andmarkets and strengthen its presence within
the identified areas and maximize value
creation in the subsequent years. Figure 4
shows the se progression towards securing
recognition as a leading open education that
continues to evolve through research andinnovation cultures.
The efforts to create digital education
environment during and post Covid-19 phases
occurred at fast-rate under the necessity tocope. Such situations can also bring about
new opportunities. Table 1 provides a list of
initiatives in the last two years that either
have been completed or undergoing furthertransformation towards the realisation ofsustainable quality digital education thatplace learners before technology.

One of the most treasured products at
OUM is the module. Major processes inmodule development are writing, content
moderation, instructional design (ID),editorial, graphic design, and desktop
publishing. Originally OUM modules wereprinted by its sister company, METEOR Doc.
Later modules were published in pdf formats
and uploaded on learner management
system. At present, the team at CIDT are
testing the development of interactive
module. In addition, OUM produces various
support materials using various resources.
Examples include H5P, Flipbook, Canva andothers.
The module is hosted by myINSPIRE, which isa moodle-based learning environment. This
environment is customised and enhancedby CLT. Within this environment, e-lesson,
additional learning materials, online forum,link to e-tutorial schedules, assessment
are also hosted. The integration of various
learning activities on a single platform will beenhanced through design and architecture.

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CLT is proposing a research to explore theuse of analytics, user-interface analysis,
machine learning and artificial intelligencesin creating an intelligent and effective online
learning environment in order to facilitate
the achievement of learning outcomes incourses. Meanwhile, the platform is hosted
under myOUM system embedded within the
OUM website. Website design and network
management is provided by digital services.
Mobile version of the website enables
learners to access all systems.
E-Lessons are introduced for all courses
during the pandemic to ensure that thelearners are motivated and feel supported
by providing additional material and self-testaligned to the targeted learning outcome
under every topic for 10 weeks.
Assessment format was also revised during
the pandemic. Assignment was broken into
several task with Task 1 requiring learners
to engage in collaborative learning via theonline forum. The university is evaluating theeffectiveness of this format before further
improvement to the assessment can be
carried out.
Another change caused by the pandemic isthe cancellation of the 6 hours Face-to-facetutorial/seminar sessions. The university
offered 8 e-tutorial sessions by the e-tutor
who also manage the online forum. Eachsession is one hour long. Ten sessions areoffered for selected courses and postgraduate courses. These sessions are
conducted via Google Meet.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

In addition to the aforementioned
consequences, the transition to Online Final
Examination Mode requiring proctoringis another effort in improving OUM’s
assessment system. The university is looking
forward to enhance the format of the online
final examination as well as the proctoringmechanism.
The digital library at OUM was named as
Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Sanusi Digital Library(TSDAS Digital Library) in 2004 in memoryof OUM’s first president/vice-chancellor.
The library is focused towards building
its digital resources: e-books, e-journals,
e-theses and more. Currently, it subscribes
to 30 online databases. At present, only 5%of its resources are available in print format.
Printed materials are only purchased when
digital resources are not available.
An area of concern is the offer of the practicalsessions. CRI is proposing a research project
to create virtual spaces using few models
suited for all areas of study with the supportof the creative team in CIDT. A present
literature review is being carried out to study
augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed
reality and extended reality. This scope is
now widened to explore the developmentof metaverse to support the digital learning
environment at OUM.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICESOUM offers various OERs that are available
to the public. MOOCs at OUM are developed
based on the XMOOCs format. Learners havefree access to 30% of a MOOC. Remaining
70% are available at an affordable price.
Anyone can access OUM OER materials byvisiting the site at https://myoer.oum.edu.
my/. OUM through its digital transformation
plan has given a new facelift to its OER and
MOOCs. In promoting lifelong learning(LLL), the digital education system is being
expanded to offer learning opportunities byoffering OERs, MOOCs, Micro Credentials.
OER are learning resources that do not
involve a course structure. MOOCs are noncredit based courses, while Micro Credentials
are smaller units that would eventually makeup a single credit-based course. In terms of
their development, OERs are more mature,
while MOOCs are on pilot stage, and Micro
Credentials are still under conceptualisation
stage. All three formats are offered to OUM
community and the public.

Table 1
Initiatives Under Digital Transformation Phase at Open University Malaysia
Components

Developer

Interactive e-Module

Faculties and
CIDT
CLT

Intelligent Online Learning
Environment
e-Lessons (embedded with Faculties
Self-Test)
Assessment: Promotion of Faculties
collaborative learning by
introducing Task 1 that uses
the online forum
E-Tutorials
Faculties
Online Final Examination
Digital Library

OER
MOOCs
Micro Credentials

Host

RemarkCIDTA new model is being tested

CLT

On-going efforts using analytics

CLT

New in-house materials are being
created to support the e-Lesson
AED, CLT OUM continue to explore its
assessment

Faculties e-Tutorials replaced the Face-toface Tutorial Sessions
Faculties
AED, CLT Collaborative research is inprogress to improve quality andformat of assessment under FOE
Digital Library Digital
Research is being initiated to
Library
promote the information literacy
among OUM community and the
publicFaculty
CLTContinuous effort
Faculty
CLT
New Pilot - continuous effort
FacultyAPEL
New - Continuous effort
CentreOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

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RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AT OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

OUM is funding most research projects at the university. The university allocates RM 600,000
research fund every year, and hope to raise it up to double it to RM 1.2 million in 2026.
At present two of the research projects are funded through the Erasmus+ programme. The
identification of niche areas in Table 2 will help the university to achieve its targeted researchlandscape (shown in Table 3) and support the growth of PhD candidature. OUM has a clear
expectation of the funding given to its researchers in terms of the outputs and outcomes.
At present, most projects produce at least two indexed-journals and two other form of
publications. OUM expects greater outputs with the new initiatives that it is strategizing at
the present.
CRI targets for each niche areas (targeted 25) grow into research clusters with at least threeresearch projects that are headed by three different PIs to support the landscape in Table 3.
The identification of niche areas is crucial to the realisation of such aspirations.
Table 2Strategic Niche Areas at OUM
FIELDEDUCATIONTECHNOLOGYNICHE AREAS
PEDAGOGY

Proposed

ADULT EDUCATION AND ODLProposed

21st CENTURY LITERACIES(+CURRICULUM)

Proposed

MEANINGFUL LEARNER EXPERIENCE IN
SMART LEARNING ENVIRONMENTNewSMART LEARNING ENVIRONMENT- CREATING MEANINGFUL LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR ALL

NewUSER EXPERIENCENew

CREATIVE CONTENT AND INCLUSIVITY

Proposed

SMART SOLUTIONS

Research in progress

NICHE AREAS UNDER THE FACULTIESFOE

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Proposed

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Proposed

DIGITAL EDUCATIONNewDISTRIBUTED ASSESSMENT FOR ODL

Research has been initiatedOpen University Malaysia (OUM)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

FIELD
FSSH

FTAS

FBM

NICHE AREAS
PYSCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING

Research has been initiated

ISLAMIC STUDIES – SYARIAH
COMPLIANCE

Research has been initiated

COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL SPACENewWORLD LANGUAGESNewSUSTAINABLE AND GREEN SOLUTIONS

Research has been initiated

OPEN EDUCATION FOR STEM/STEAM

2nd Proposal

DATA SCIENCE

NewGOOD HEALTH AND WELLBEINGNewFINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

Research projects have been initiated

FUTURE SKILLS (+EMPLOYABILITY)NewDIGITAL MARKETINGNewENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL AND
GOVERNANCE

Proposed

The first two fields, Education and Technology
were strategized based on the importance atuniversity level. Four niche areas have been
identified under each field. An example isthe niche area under Creative Content andInclusivity under the Technology field. CRI
is working on these through two different
projects with two partners: research teams
and the Creative Team from CIDT. The firstproject that was initiated under this themeis the Virtual Orientation, while the second ison Basic Competency Model that developed
the OER on 4C (Ismail et al., 2022). A pagefrom the OER is depicted in Figure 5. The
niche areas under the faculties (FOE, FSSH,FTAS, and FBM) were drafted based on thestrength of the programmes offered.

The first phase in establishing a niche area
is identification of a team under a leader.
The eight niche areas under the university
focus will be under the purview of CRI
through a selected researcher. The rest will
be under the purview of an identified expert
researcher. There can be more than one
research project under each niche areas.
The expert researchers may or may not be
the principle investigator (PI) of the projects
under the niche area he is attached to. Eachniche area is at a different phase.
CRI is responsible to manage all grants(internal and external) at the university. Initial
grants are provided by the university. CRI
supports the growth of all PIs to be become
successful PI with meaningful researchoutcomes.

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Figure 5
OER on 4Cs: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Collaborative Skills, and Communication Skill– Page on Creative Thinking

Table 3Strategic Plan - Research Landscape

Grant Type
University Grant(Internal)
National Grants
International Grants
Industrial Grants

2022
N (PI)
Value of Grant
15_20.008.2022 RM 459,220.00
Expected: 20
Expected: RM 600K0RM 0.00
2
RM 905,740.04
0
RM 0.00

2026
N (PI) Value of Grant
55
RM 1,200,000.00
12
4
4

RM 1,000,000.00
RM 2,000,000.00
RM 400,000.00

In the past, OUM has focused its research on learner-centred research titles focusing onlearner retention, learner’s perception on quality of services, at-risk learners (learners who
are at-risk not meeting the CGPA criteria for graduation. The research landscape has beenchanging over the recent years to focus more on ODL, technology-enhanced education, andin various academic areas. The following are the highlight under each of the identified nicheareas.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Pedagogy and Adult Education

While funded research projects were nota priority, there were some institutional
projects, and large number of trainings by
well-known ODL experts in OUM. E-learning
readiness was explored as early as 2004
(Karam Singh and Abas, 2004). Successful
delivery of e-learning in the university was
depicted by 2010 (Abas, 2009). One areathat flourished then is pedagogy. OUM hada centre known as the ODL Pedagogy Centre(ODLPC). An example of work carried out atthe centre include learning objects (Darshan
Singh and Ho, 2006). Experts has been
identified and research has been proposed
under this theme. A research proposal
under the OU5 collaboration is expected
to be submitted at the end of year. Future
projects are expected under two themes: (i)Pedagogies, namely experiential, authentic,
transformation and innovative pedagogies;(ii) Andragogy and Open and Flexible Distance
Education.

21st Century Learning Skills: Literacies
and Curriculum Design

Under the new leadership, OUM is creating a
focus in social innovations in education andis committed towards the promotions of 21stCentury Literacies. The work on 21st Century
Learning Skills was been initiated in 2018with the introduction of OUMH1602 Learning
Skills for 21st Century. A research project that
focused on 4C Skills is near completion. A new
project has been proposed under the theme
21st Century Learning Skills under two subthemes: (i) Basic Literacies – English Language
Literacy, Numeracy, Information, Digital
Literacy and Media Literacy, and (ii) Applied
Literacies – Environmental Literacy, Health
Literacy, Financial Literacy, Civic Literacy, andGlobalisation. In addition, a project on 21stCentury Learning is expected from the team.
Recognising that curriculum has to be in-linewith the educational landscape that changes
with socio-economic changes, this theme,
much like the theme on Pedagogy will remainin the interest of the university.

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Learner Experience and Learning
Environment

While there has been extensive workin these areas, there no documented
research. At present, CRI is in discussion
with CLA to propose the identified researchareas: Meaning Learner Experience, Smart
Learning Environment, and Study on User
Experience. Current research project on
the development of a predictive model on
learner retention, academic progress andmarket analysis on learner’s preferences
can prove to have significant contributions
to these new niche areas (T Subramaniam
et al., 2022). Research under this theme canfurther expand into many other projects (orlinked to other research projects). This will
help to enhance the project outcome andbuild a better understanding of the interrelation between learner’s experience andthe learning environment.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Creative Content and Inclusivity

Since the beginning OUM has invested
heavily in Instructional Design. It even offers
a post-graduate programme in the area,
Master of Instruction Design and Technology.
At present, themes under Learning Design
are also being explored under along with
Universal Design (UD) Principles. Inclusivity is
the key theme in UD. Content creation has
always been seen as a mergence of education
framework and technology enhancement. CRI
work closely with the Creative Team from CIDTin order add another dimension to the mix:
Art. Hence the theme Creative Content. The
team explores the use of mixed-media, art,
learning designs and technology to ‘create’
the creative content that helps the learners
to achieve the targeted learning outcomes ofa specific course effectively. The team hopeto study the mix in order to develop a guidefor educators. The team hopes to collaborate
with an industrial partner for better accessto latest technologies. By ensuring UD incontent design, the teams hope to promote
inclusivity.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Smart Solutions

Content alone will not bring OUM to thefrontiers of open education. Systems
particularly, smart and integrated solutions
are needed. OUM is inspired to ensure
effective use of analytics, machine learning,
and artificial intelligences. One such
solution that is being worked under auniversity’s internal fund is the developmentof predictive models to that can identify
learners who has potential to drop-out, tonot meet the CGPA criteria to graduate andthereby introduce interventions, as well as
detect the impact of the interventions thathas been introduced. The model is basedon existing data that will be built to evolve
using time-series data capture. The existing
and real-time data that are used to build
the model will support many different typesof solutions at OUM. This emphasizes theneed for CRI to ensure academic freedom,
sharing of research findings, foster openness
while ensuring that the fund invested by theuniversity results in tangible outputs that also

be given consideration for decision making.
The second project is the system that would
support the literacy project.
Similarly, each of niches areas underrespective faculty has its own history, present
scenarios and aspired future. One nichearea that has been identified, Sustainable
and Green Solutions is the general theme
that is used to manage PhD students
under STEM that engaged and connected
through the common theme on Sustainable
Development, which marks the creation of
window for inter-disciplinary studies. That
one direction under an expert researcher.
The university hopes each academic can craft
their own area of expertise and be engaged
in consultancies.
As a mean to share and connect the expertiseof OUM academic with the public, knowledge
sharing webinars are organised by CRI
every year. Knowledge Dissemination Noteaccompanying the webinar is also published
for the public consumption.

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CONCLUSIONOUM as the pioneer ODL institutions aims toprovide sustainable quality digital educationthat meets the national and global market
needs. Under the new strategic roadmap,
OUM has created plan under four pillars:
growth, sustainability, visibility, andharmony. In order to remain in the frontierof global open education, the university
must collaborate and engage in collaborative
research with other ODL players. Emphasis
in research is also motivated by the needchange and to exist in the frontier of open
education and in the selected niche areas
amidst global challenges. Reputation as an
HEI through identified ranking and rating
systems is a necessity in today education
environment. OUM needs to create areputation for the identified niche areas
under the education and technology
research portfolio. A smart and integrated
digital education environment supported byresearch must be realised. Another strategy
is to cooperate with agencies providing
professional qualifications. In drafting suchprogrammes, the need to progress fromone level to the next level of education,
particularly in research based post-graduate
system require strong research backgroundin the field of studies. In addition, OUM has
plans to actively engage in social innovations
and contribute in efforts for creating equal
opportunities through education andparticularly equity in education.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)

REFERENCES

Abas, Z. W. (2009). E-Learning in Malaysia:
Moving Forward in Open Distance
Learning. International Journal on
ELearning, 8 (4). p. 527.
Belawati, T. (2014). Open education, open
educational resources, and massive open
online courses. International Journalof Continuing Education and Lifelong
Learning, 7(1), pp. 1-15.
Cheng, S., and Heng, S. L. (2018). Accreditationof Prior Experiential Learning (APEL):
An Alternative Entry Route to Higher
Education in Malaysia. International
Conference on Open and Innovative
Education. 4-6 July 2018, Hong Kong,
China.
Darshan Singh, A. K., and Ho, K. (2006). Design
and Development of Learning Objects
for E-Learning. 4th Pan-CommonwealthForum on Open Learning (PCF4), Ocho
Rios, Jamaica.
Fadzil, M., T Subramaniam, T., Othman, W.,
and Suhaimi, N. A. D. (2019). Assessment
Practices for Open and Distance
Learning: Format and Challenges. 33rd
Annual Conference of the Associationof Asian Open Universities Conference
Proceeding. 14-16 October 2019, Lahore,
Pakistan.
Ismail, M. R., T Subramaniam, T., Yussoff,
F., Zainuddin, E. F., and Kamarulzaman,
W. (2022). Building Competency-based
Learning Framework with Distance
Education in the Post COVID-19 Era:
A Case Study of Open University
Malaysia (OUM). Presented at the 2022
International Conference on Open andInnovative Education (ICOIE 2022). 13–
15 July 2022, Hong Kong, China.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Latif, L. A., Sungsri, S., and Bahroom, R. (2009).
Managing Retention in ODL Institutions:
A Case Study on Open University
Malaysia and Sukhothai ThammathiratOpen University. ASEAN Journal of Openand Distance Learning, 1 (1). pp. 1-10.
Karam Singh, K. K., and Abas, Z. W. (2004).
An assessment of e-learning readiness at
Open University Malaysia. International
Conference on Computers in Education(ICCE) 2004 Proceedings, 30 November –3 December, Melbourne, Australia.
Malaysian Qualification Agency. (2019). Codeof Practice for Programme Accreditation:
Open and Distance Learning. 2nd Ed.
Putrajaya, Federal Territory of Malaysia:
Malaysian Qualification Agency.
Md Ninggal, M. T., Omar, N. E., Omar, R.,
and Ismail, A. (2020). Relationshipbetween Emotional Stability, Motivation,
and Online Learning Skill of First-Year
Undergraduates Learning Online During
COVID-19 Pandemic. ASEAN Journal ofOpen and Distance Learning. Special
Issue, pp. 60-73.
Md Yusof, S., Awang, A.I, Mohd Alwi, I. S., andZainal, N. A. (2022). Improving E-learning
Experience in an ODL Environment: TheOUM Experience. Presented at the 5thInternational Conference on Future of
Education. 16-17 June 2022, Virtual
Platform.
Ministry of Education (MOE). (2003).
Education Development Plan 20012010: Generating Educational Excellence
Through Collaborative Planning. MOE,
Putrajaya.

Ministry of Education (MOE). (2013).
Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025(Preschool to Post-Secondary Education).
MOE, Putrajaya.
Noor, K. M., Khalil, M. A. K. M., and Latif,
L. A. (2016). Harnessing the Power ofService Quality to Attract and Retain
Students: An OUM Experience. 8th PanCommonwealth Forum on Open Learning(PCF8). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sungsri, S., T Subramaniam, T., Rokhiyah,I, and Hoang, T. M. (2017). Employers’
Perception on The Importance and The
Satisfaction Level of Identified Set of Skills
Among Open University Undergraduates.
31st Annual Conference of the Associationof Asian Open Universities Conference
Proceeding. 27-19 September 2017,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
T Subramaniam, T., Suhaimi, N. A. D., andOmar, R. (2022). A Study on Learner
Retention and Academic Performanceusing Learner Data and Technologies
Towards Building a Resilient Open
Education System and Innovative
Solutions. Presented at the 10th PanCommonwealth Forum on Open Learning(PCF10).

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SukhothaiThammathiratOpen University(STOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

0347

03 Open andDistance
Educationin Thailand:
SukhothaiThammathirat
Open
University
W. Taweewat, S. Sumalee,
J. Darunee, C. Thanathnuth,
M. Kemmanat, B. Patthanan,
A. Phantipa, T. Piyapot, and
N. Sungworn
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open
University

Presently, Thailand has three types of
education systems: formal education, nonformal education, and informal education
systems. The conventional education system
is an educational system that determines
the objectives, method of study, curriculum,
duration of study, assessment system, andgraduation requirements for Primary andSecondary (Grade 1 to Grade 12) Schools aswell as for Higher Education level. In addition,in the year 1995, the Foundation for Distance
Education via Satellite under royal patronage
was established with the grace of His Majesty
King Bhumibol Adulyadej Maha Bhumibol
Adulyadej (King Rama IX). His Majesty theKing’s determined to reduce disparities
in basic education, solve the problem ofteacher shortage, as well as to increaseteacher’s quality, relevance, and qualificationby providing education to the people in athorough, equal and quality manner using
the latest satellite technology, which was
the most advanced technology at that time.
(Watthanakuljaroen, 2022).

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

STOU is committed to providing equity and quality
lifelong learning for all to respond to the digital age.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University(STOU), the first open university in Thailand,
has provided lifelong learning under the
distance education system to respond toindividual and societal needs. STOU aims to
produce qualified graduates, to contributeto human development and to promotelearning opportunities for all Thai people.
Over 42 years, more than three million
graduates have reflected the attempt of theuniversity to employ a distance education
system to provide lifelong learning for all.

ESTABLISHMENT

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University(STOU) was officially established by the Royal
Charter on September 5, 1978, as Thailand’s
eleventh state university. His Majesty
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (King Rama IX)
graciously bestowed the university its namein honor of King Prajadhipok (King Rama VII),
who once held the title “Prince Sukhothai
Thammaracha” prior to his accession to thethrone.

STOU has followed lifelong education
philosophy by employing the distancelearning system to expand higher education
opportunity to all Thai people regardlessof gender, age, social status, and residence
location. Since its establishment, STOU has
enabled the development of individuals
and communities throughout Thailand andbeyond.
On October 24, 1978, His Majesty issued
royal mandates appointing the first University
Council and appointing Professor Dr. Wichit
Srisa-an as the first president, effectivefrom January 1978. After approximately
two years of preparation, STOU offered its
first academic class on December 1, 1980,
with three schools of study: Educational
Studies, Liberal Arts, and Management
Science. Studies at STOU are not confinedto traditional classrooms. STOU distancelearning system is a multimedia system which
consists of main media and supplementary
media. At the beginning, the main media
were printed materials supplemented by

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

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radio program, television program and face
to face tutoring. The distance learning system
has been developed continuously. In 2000,
STOU has introduced the new model by
employing computer-based media in parallelwith printed-based media.
At the beginning stage, STOU offeredbachelor degree and certificate programsin three schools. Since then, various fieldsof study were introduced which become
twelve schools. Later on, the master degreeand doctoral degree programs were offeredrespectively. Moreover, each subject in thebachelor degree programs was organized
to be offered as an achievement certificate
program to the general public, enabling toobtain knowledge from the university byaccessing through various media.
In 2017, the University Council initiated toreform STOU to fit with the changes of social
environment and technology in the following
aspects: (1) applying the research findings
and needs of stakeholders to develop
mission of the university; (2) introducing
blended learning and mid-term examination;(3) employing more channels of distancelearning through various forms of ICT, social
media, social network, and applications;(4) developing personnel in accordancewith the Professional Standard Framework(PSF) of Advance HE of UK.; (5) developingandRajamangalaphisek Education Park
constructing the statue of King Rama 9; and(6) adjusting university regulations to be
more flexible, efficient and transparent.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University,a state university, is administered with thebudgets from two sources: the government
and the university incomes. Therefore,
the planning of the university is focusedon responding to the development of
the country in various aspects including
the provision of instruction at the higher
education level, the conduct of research, theprovision of academic service to community,
and the preservation and maintenance ofart and culture. STOU has formulated theuniversity development plan in three phases
as the following.

The 20-Year University Development
Plan (2018–2037)

Since the contexts of Thai society and worldsociety are changing all the time, the Thaigovernment has formulated the Thailand’s
20-Year National Strategy (2018–2037) andthe Twelfth National Economic and Social
Development Plan (2017–2021) to set thedirection for mobilizing Thailand toward
the “Security, Prosperity, Sustainability”
goal. Meanwhile, STOU has the 20-Year
University Development Plan (2018–2037).
This development plan focuses on adjusting
the university to cope with more challenging
external contexts. The aims of this plan are
to create the new and stronger identity of
the university, to focus on provision of upto-date lifelong education including formal
education, non-formal education, andinformal education, and to respond to theneeds for learning and skills of the futureworld. Moreover, the plan focuses on bothresearch for creation of innovations that
support the university’s instruction andsocial innovations affecting the national
development; and on the integration ofwork performance from all sectors including
the state, private, and community sectors
in order to collaborate for mobilizing thedevelopment of areas under the expertiseand main functions of the university. Detailsof the 20-Year University Development Planare shown in Table 1.
Based on the Table, it specifies therelationship among the vision of STOU for the
next twenty years’ framework, mission, STOU
identity (2021-2037), and learner identity.
The operation under the plan is divided into
four phases with five-year period of eachphase. Its goal is to strive toward being “aleading organization that provide lifelong
self-learning opportunity for all people”.
Since early 2020, Thailand and othercountries around the world have strived todeal with negative impacts caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic not only on economic,
but also on educational systems worldwide.
As a consequence, the university operation
based on STOU Development Plan has to be
adjusted in order to cope with the situation.
On the other hand, this outbreak becomes anopportunity for the university to rely on the
online system for not only instruction (in its
operation more rigorously), but also for final
examination with over 18,000 students allover Thailand and abroad.

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The 5-Year Development Plan (2018-2022)

STOU has the five-year development plan which is the determination of the operation plan ofvarious work units of the university during the next five years on a continuous basis (RollingPlan). Every work unit must determine its routine operation plan and the operation plan for
the works designated specifically for each fiscal year for the duration of five years that covers
instructional media production and improvement plan, curriculum improvement for every five
years, and investment plan, etc.
Table 1The 20-Year University Development Plan (2018-2037) and the Transmission into Activities/
Projects to Be Undertaken in the First 5-Year Development Plan (2018-2022)
20-Year Vision
for STOU“Being a leading open university of the world that uses distance education
system technology and innovations to create lifelong self-learning opportunity
for everybody”

Reinventing
University

Area-Based and Community Strategic intent University (Adjusted inaccordance to the verdict of the University Council, February 27, 2020)“Goals of STOU
Development
Plan (20182037)”

Phase 1 (61-65)

Phase 2 (66-70)

Phase 3(71-75)Phase 4 (7680)

Reform for Strengtheningof Infrastructure

Developmentof Contents
Quality Suited
for Technological
Advancement

Universal
Platform& Openuniversity

Striving
toward“Being aleading
organizationthat provide
lifelong
self-learning
opportunity
for all
people”

1. Development of theorganization toward
the provision of quality
educational services
with innovations andcreative thinking
2. Development andimprovement of
the programs to be
relevant to the needsof people, communityand society
3. Development of digital
education
4. Creation of Educational
equality and reductionof educational disparity
in terms of bothquantity and quality

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

1. STOU Platform
2. Collaboration
with thestate sector,
private sector,
community,and people insociety
3. Big data
4. Shared Platform& Shared
EconomyAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Mission

1. Provision of lifelong education on a continuous basis
2. Conducting research to develop the body of knowledge and innovations tobe utilized for development of the people, community, society and country
3. Provision of academic services for integration of knowledge to be utilized forthe benefits of the community, society, and country to achieve prosperity
and sustainability
4. Learning on the conservation, restoration, transmission and disseminationof art and culture
5. Development of the organization to achieve security, prosperity, andsustainability under good governance principle

STOU Identity(2021-2037)

1. The distance education system and being an open university
2. The system that facilitates self-education
3. The variety of educational media in terms of contents and lifelong learningmodel

Learner Identity

Having discipline and enthusiasm for learning

The Official Annual Operation Plan

The annual planning, or the so-called “Official
Operation Plan of Sukhothai ThammathiratOpen University” is the determination of
the goals and indicators of the operation ofwork units within the university in each fiscal
year of Thailand (October – September ofthe next calendar year). The work units thathave to prepare the annual official operation
plan are 12 schools and 11 supporting work
units, as shown in Fig. 2STOU Administrative
Structure.
The annual official operation plan of various
work units in STOU is the taking of theuniversity development plan, policies, andmission of the university to interpret into thevision, mission, indicators and performanceappraisal for the specific work units of theuniversity. The indicators based on the main
mission of the work unit and the indicators
additionally specified by the university are
identified in order to mobilize the operation inaccordance with the policies of the university,
such as the indicator on publication of work

outcomes at the international level. Once
university policies have been decided upon,
many different operations could be used to
implement it. The following is a sample ofpolicy implementations at STOU.
(1) Development of teaching models thatfacilitate learning and adopt technology
in learning environment. For example,
blended learning activities at bachelor’s
degree level, Microsoft Teams for online
teaching and learning environment at
graduate level, online midterm and final
examinations at bachelor’s degree leveland online comprehensive examinations
at the graduate level.
(2) University reform enables university
administrators to effectively andefficiently work with more flexibility inresponding to the vision and mission of
STOU.

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MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Administrative Structure

As STOU prioritizes the effectiveness andefficiency of distance education system toachieve the university goals. Therefore, it
is important to set up a well-functioning
university administrative structure shown in
Figure 1.
The University Council is the highest
administrative body in STOU and is
responsible for the governance, policy
making, educational character and missionof the university, the appointment of the
President, overseeing all functions of theuniversity and ensuring regulation of theuniversity’s finances and resources. The
Council also has a crucial academic role as all
STOU degree and non-degree programs areawarded under the authority of the Council.
The Academic Senate is under the University
Council and responsible for issuing, guiding
and making decision on academic policy
and planning, educational quality andachievement monitoring, teaching andlearning, research ethical regulation, theapproval of certificates, degrees, including
the curriculum development and abolition.
The University President is the Chairman of
the Academic Senate.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Figure 1
STOU Organizational Structure(As of March 2021)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Under the administration structure, STOU has 12 schools
and another 11 supported offices as shown in Figure 1. In
addition to the main campus which located in Nonthaburi
Province, there are another ten Regional Distance Education
Centers located in every region throughout the country as
indicated in Figure 2. The centers are supposed to be an
administrative and learning support to engage all learners
in local areas.

Distance Learning System

Teaching and Learning System. STOU employs multi-media
distance learning system which is composed of main andsupplementary media. From the beginning, STOU focuseson printed-based. The main media are text-books, workbooks and study guide while supplementary media are radio
programs, television programs, tape records, and tutoring
programs. At present with the progress of media andtechnology, STOU has introduced computer-based distancelearning parallel with the printed-based, including E-learning,
M-learning, Video on Demand, Video Conferencing,Computer Conferencing, Computer-Based Instructions,
Web-Based Instruction, and Face-to-Face Interaction.
Figure 2
Ten Regional Distance Education Centers

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In Academic Year 2020, STOU has adjusted
the instructional system at the bachelor’s
degree level to be more relevant to needs ofthe learners. They cover three selective study
plans as follows:
Plan 1 (A1): The learners study bythemselves from the mainand supplementary media
provided by the university
and then take the final
examination at the end of thesemester.
Plan 2 (A2): The learners study bythemselves from the mainand supplementary media
provided by the university.
They have to take both midterm and final examination.
Plan 3 (A3): The learners study bythemselves from the mainand supplementary media
provided by the university.
Then they have to participate
in blended learning activities
and take both mid-term andfinal examination.
Study programs. The university offers threelevel of study programs: undergraduate
program, graduate program, and non-degree
program. For undergraduate program,each of the twelve schools offer various
major subjects. For example, Bachelor’s
Degree in Thai Studies, Information Science,
English, Law, Public Health, Thai Traditional
Medicine,
Business
Administration,
PublicAdministration,
International
Relations, Industrial Technology etc.
For graduate program, several fields ofstudies are made available for Master’s

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Degree programs and Doctoral Degree
programs such as Curriculum and Instruction,
Educational Administration, Information
Science, and Business Administration etc.
At the non-degree program, the university let
the general public enroll each subject in any
Bachelor’s Degree programs. The period ofstudying each subject is one semester. Oncethey finish, they will receive a certificateof achievement or they are able to deposit
credits of that subject through the credit banksystem and transfer their credits earned into
Bachelor’s Degree program. The university
also extends the educational opportunity to
the disable people and the inmates. For theinmates, they can enroll in some Bachelor’s
Degree and Master’s Degree programs. These
inmates are able to study through media thatthe university send to them in the prisons.

Examinations

In an effort to maintain its standard ofacademic excellence and reduce costfor travelling of the learners, STOU has
coordinated with main secondary school ofevery province to be the examination siteof the university. Thus, the learners haveexamination held for two days on weekends
at their own provinces. STOU learners
residing abroad are able to take examinations
at the local Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate.
However, due to the current situation of
Covid-19 pandemic, the university has
initiated online examinations for learners
over Thailand and abroad.

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Educational Services System

The university provides several educational
service activities in order to help learners
learn successfully and prevent them droppingout. The following are the examples of theuniversity’s activities.
● STOU provides both prospective andcurrent learners with an opportunity
to receive academic and professional
guidance and counseling services throughvarious channels. Also, orientations areprovided for newly enrolled learners
to receive important information andbe well-prepared for studying in the
distance education system.
● A wide range of student clubs’
activities are provided for learners tomeet one another, share views andstudy experiences, and participate
in collaborative academic and social
activities.
● One-Stop Service Center (OSS) has
been designed to provide assistance tolearners and the general public easily
access for all services and advice throughface-to-face interaction and electronic
communication.
● Special services for disabled learners.
The university provides counseling andguidance, orientation and fund as wellas learning materials such as audio
textbooks, computers with disabilityspecific software and hardware, voicerecognition and synthesizers, print
magnifiers and scanners, text files andother media.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Educational Services for the General
PublicSTOU has made great progress in bringing
lifelong education to Thai people through its
educational radio and television programs.
Twenty-minute radio programs covering
topics in a wide variety of courses arebroadcast throughout the country. Many
course blocks also have supplementary
television programs which last a half hour
each and regularly broadcast on public
television. Since2012, STOU open of STOU
Channel, the university’s own C-band
television station broadcasting 24 hours aday. Moreover, STOU has offered website as
Media on Demand. All of these options arefree and available to everyone.
Additionally, a wide range of intensive
training programs are organized by the Officeof Continuing Education. Public training andin-house training, have been offered to thegeneral public at the STOU headquarter andten Regional Distance Education Centers so
as to develop human resources in different
occupations, increase work efficiency,
enhance quality of life and implement what
they have learned practically.
As the university has improved its support
to the learners, libraries at the university
headquarter and at 10 Regional Distance
Education Centers are the learning resourceof the community to provide services forboth the learners and the general public.
Moreover, STOU Corners have also been
established as resource centers in allprovincial libraries, offering educational
media lending and reference services tolearners and the local communities.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND
TECHNOLOGY USEWith the development of the internet andtechnologies, the changing demands ofknowledge and skills continue to challenge
formal education systems. Distance learning
is becoming a well-accepted and essential
part of educational systems. STOU has
created various innovations and technologies
related to distance learning to ensure
equitable access to quality education andlifelong learning opportunities for all.
Online teaching both in the form of
e-Learning and m-Learning has continually
been developed to conform to learners’
behavior in the digital age and realize theimportance of using the technology inteaching and learning. The responsive web
design approach has been deployed to offer
access to learning content easily with theleast restriction of the display on the learning
devices including laptops, tablets and smart
phones as well as to respond to the learners’
preferences.
In addition, STOU has faced challenges in thecontinuously decreasing number of students
and the increasing learning opportunities
for elderly and working-age population to
conform to Thailand’s population structure.
The notion of the university is to develop an
effective and modern teaching and learning
management system that has the quality
and standards to provide the learners a
fun and convenient way of learning. The
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
Reform Committee (2019) has maderecommendations for university reform infive aspects as follows:

Teaching and Learning Management

The teaching and learning management
are divided into three levels, namely,
the undergraduate degree level, the graduate
degree level and the non-degree level withdetails as follows:
Undergraduate Degree Level. The context
and learning environment refer to learnerenvironment, physical environment, diverseof culture and learning style, such as selflearning in distance learning, learning
characteristics. They could also include theinteraction between learners and learning
media and also with the instructors andlearning management in various ways tofacilitate learning. The types of learning
environments in distance education system
could be classified into the following.
(1) Traditional Self-Learning Environment
STOU has developed a self-learning
package based on the open and distanceenvironment. Determining academic
content through the main teaching media
has enabled to complete the content
in the form of publications including
teaching materials, learning exercises
and supplementary materials. Video
programs, radio programs, distancelearning supplementary programs,
electronic media and some othermethods have been adopted in order tofacilitate learners’ self-learning without
going to class.
(2) Virtual Learning Environment
The university has developed selflearning packages based on a virtual
learning environment. The informationand communication technology tool in
education has been implemented on

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the learning management platform,
which includes the delivery of academic
content to the learners in the various
types of digital media such as e-Book,
e-paper, interaction between learners
and teachers, assessment and evaluation
through devices. These activities havebeen used to manage and organize
online teaching and learning activities aswell as facilitate learners’ learning.
(3) Blended Learning Environment
Blended learning is an approach toeducation that combines self-learningmaterial with virtual learning. Specifying
academic content through various
teaching media has been determined tosupport education of the fourth era andorganize the learning activities between
instructors and learners at the particularplaces that fulfill knowledge, skills andgood attitudes from self-learning andcreate a community of learners.
Graduate Degree Level. The learning
environment for educational management at
graduate level is distance education. Together
with the development in technology, effective
self-learning materials and blended learning
environment enhance learners’ self-learningand promote their achievement level. The
learning environments are divided into two
types as follows.
(1) Specifying the main content in the form of
main media along with learning activities
in the form of supplementary seminars,
intensive seminars, as specified in eachcourse set has been adopted to develop
self-learning materials and collaborative
learning activities.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)(2) Using information and communication
technology tools on virtual environments
has been used to develop self-learningmaterials. STOU has managed andorganized online teaching and learning
activities on the learning management
platform for the delivery of academic
content and interaction between
learners and instructors, evaluation as
well as providing services that facilitate
the learning.
Non-Degree Level. The non-degree programs
are designed to closely match with learningand career-goals of the learners in theform of a module for distance learning toenhance their skills and knowledge according
to their learning goals. STOU has offered
non-degree courses to the general publicregardless of age or educational background.
The credits could also be transferred to theprogram of study at undergraduate degree

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

level to motivate the learners to achieve theirlearning and earn degrees.
Teaching and learning management of
non-degree teaching and learning programis similar to undergraduate degree level.
STOU has developed a self-learning material
based on an open environment, a virtual
learning environment and a blended learning
environment. Determining academic content
through the main teaching media hasenabled to complete the content in the formof publications including teaching materials,
learning exercises and supplementarymaterials. In order to facilitate learners’ selflearning, video programs, radio programs,
distance learning supplementary programsand digital media are provided. STOU has
adhered to the principles of learning media
that learners are able to learn by themselves
through the university’s distance education
system. Consequently, the concepts of main

media and supplementary materials areadjusted to move along the new fast growing
educational technology and communication.
Referring to the concept of learning resources,
designing of educational technology usedas new media still focuses on instructional
systems design for learners to study in
an informal education via e-learning,emphasizing on interactive learning design,permitting learners to access learning
resources in real time, anytime, anywhere
through all learning devices in appearance
as Ubiquitous Learning. The evolution oflearning media platforms into an online based
programs can be more easily accessed due tothe changing behaviors of today’s learners
and the internet network, for example,
using mobile devices to share and accessinformation and learning contents as well as
developing educational radio programs to theformat of Podcast programs or online radio
programs via streaming which are recorded
and distributed on the internet.

Teaching and Learning Activities

STOU offers a large selection of offline
teaching and learning activities throughprint-based approach without using
technology in the interaction, as traditional
approach designed to support learners.
For example, textbooks, workbooks, othercourse documents and F2F learning activity
such as seminars, intensive seminars,
practice sessions, skills enhancement andcollaborative learning activities.
Due to the constantly evolving technologicalworld and increasing importance ofInformation and Communications Technology

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seeking more innovative teaching models aswell as implementing new media not only tosupplement, but to transform and improve
the learning process. Online teaching andlearning activities using ICT are offered toa variety group of learners for degree andnon-degree programs. SPOC (Small Private
Online Course) is a teaching and learningmodel for a small group learners based on
Moodle whereas MOOCs (Massive open
online course) are online courses with video
content for a large number of learners basedon edX platform.

Media/Learning Support Resource

STOU utilizes learning support resourcesdelivered to learners to engage in theirlearning activities according to main andsupplementary media such as textbooks,
workbooks, study guides in print-based andcomputer-based (e-book and e-paper), video
clips and audio clips. Moreover, there arevarious external media resources in different
learning support sources, such as libraries,
databases, websites, social media and open
educational resources published on theinternet.

Communication
ChannelsandDistribution

Since the communication and distribution
channels of the university have been
continuously modified to cope with theneeds of learners, STOU Channel, theuniversity’s own C-band television station
broadcasting 24 hours a day, has enabledlearners to have equitable access to various
programs through DLTV14 (Klai Kangwon)such as YouTube, Facebook and social

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

media, and using e-Leaning to access more
supplementary media.

Teaching and Learning Support

The university is committed to supporting
both lecturers and learners in creating media
in a variety of forms. Continuous improvementof the digital studio production enables theuniversity to produce supplementary media
and to create comprehensive University’s TV
and radio programs with digital media cloudarchives services. Moreover, in response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, STOU uses Microsoft
Teams for education alongside Learning
Management System (LMS) integration
into Moodle to facilitate distance learning.
This integration helps lecturers collaborate
around Moodle courses within Teams,
compensates for face-to-face learning andincreases interaction between learners andlecturers through online platform. In addition,
Microsoft Teams are used for course-team
meeting in university in order to avoid onsite teaching and learning as well as to havemeasures to maintain social distancing.
Besides, using artificial intelligence technology
leads to the opportunity to improve thelearning processes. Guidelines on the useof AI in education issued by STOU School of
Science and Technology, provide information
services about distance education systems
by classified groups of people such as public,
current learners, and alumni as well as
information and communication services
such as application, programs, registrations,learning activities, and examinations by using
learner web portal (Samark Chaisanguan andWalisa Romsaiyud, 2017).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICES

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) areonline courses that provide an affordable
and flexible way to learn new skills, enhanceyour career and offer quality educational
experiences. STOU-MOOC is the cooperation
between the Thai Cyber ​​University (TCU), theOffice of the Higher Education Commission(OHEC) and STOU to expand learning
opportunities to learners. Therefore,
MOOCs are more proper to the needsof learners in a digital age.
So as to avail the learners of adequate andeffective learning resources, STOU has been
involved in the development of thirty-six
courses which include twenty courses related
to subjects taught by STOU Schools throughthe Open edX platform in Stages 1 and 2,
which is a free and open source learning
platform to host MOOCs, smaller classes andtraining modules, and sixteen courses related
to community promotion and development
under the operation of the Center for
Knowledge Management, Communication
and Development (CCDKM).
In addition to STOU-MOOC, open learning
resources of the university are accessed
through media.stou.ac.th, which presented
portal of STOU media offered through 12
Schools of study. STOU learners are able toaccess media through every platform, including
FM Sukhothai, E-Tutorials through STOU
Channel and the teaching video clips inmoodle.stou.ac.th. However, general public
could watch and listen to educational media
through STOU Channel, university television
channel, and FM Sukhothai, university

radio station, so as to give the opportunity
for anyone to access the reliable learning
resources and references.

RESEARCH FINDINGS IN 2015-2019

Similar to traditional universities, STOU has
determined that research is one of the four
key functions of the university. The Instituteof Research and Development (IRD) has been
established since 1992 with the mission
to conduct research focusing on distanceeducation which reflects the identity of STOU
and creates quality education in distanceeducation context of STOU at national andinternational levels. Later, other researchareas beyond distance education have also
been supported and recognized.
STOU has allocated about 20 million Thai
Baht annually to offer research opportunity
for STOU faculty and staff. From 2009 to
2019, that the largest numbers of research
projects (1,522 projects) received funding
from external agents and produced thelargest amount of funding (1,722.44 million
Baht). The second highest number of
research projects are from the Rattanakosin
Bicentennial Fund for academic researchwhich was established as part of the
Rattanakosin Bicentennial celebration (217projects with 26.7 million Baht granted).
In terms of research productivities in thelast five years, there is a large number ofcompleted research projects from 2015 to2019. These numbers show a tremendous
number of research in education invarious aspects that reflect the identityof STOU research. It is not surprised thatthe largest number of research projects

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granted by STOU funding is the researchin the development of distance education
instruction, followed by distance training,educational media & technology, curriculum
evaluation, educational assessment, researchsupport and evaluation, student service,human resource, student dropout, and thedevelopment of registration.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

The following section provides the succinct
review of the aforementioned ten researchareas carried out by STOU researchers in thelast five years in order to provide readersinsight regarding specific research that havebeen conducted.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Instructions

Instructional design is a key componentof teaching and learning in the context of
distance education of STOU. Designing asound teaching approach will have positive
consequences on student learning. STOU has
invested on the development of instruction
strategies through research. The major

findings of such research are new knowledge
and understanding about course contents
and materials, processes, delivery methods,
as well as teaching strategies for STOU.
For example, there are research on thedevelopment of intelligent online distancelearning model, a collaborative researchamong OU5 universities on online instruction

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development, an advanced programing
instructional model, the development of
information, media and digital literacy
in distance higher education, and abenchmarking research project exploring
comparative higher education policy.

Distance Training

Research and development in distancetraining at STOU were funded with regard to
responding to one of STOU research missions
which is the provision of STOU services tocommunities. Nearly all services producedby this type of research were related to theprovision of learning and training provided
to Thai people throughout the country
through various distance education formats.
Examples of research and development inthis category include a web-based instruction
for strengthening leadership of school
administrators, the distance training on
assessing preschool students’ development
and learning, a virtual library, and intelligent
books for hearing impaired students.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Educational Media and Technology

Educational media and technology play
important roles in creating viable learningand instruction in distance educationthat support student learning throughpersonalized learning approaches achievedby the advancement of educational
technology. Therefore, STOU has allocatedsignificant funding to conduct researchand development in this area. Also the
distance media fund produces educational
media and technological tools created by
STOU researchers to support teaching andlearning at STOU. Examples of research anddevelopment in this area include the blended
educational media, designing sound media
production, e-book teaching development,
and virtual classroom model.

Curriculum Evaluation

Curriculum implementation is the processof transferring contents in terms ofknowledge and skills to students. Evaluating
effectiveness and limitations of curriculum

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

implementation of higher education
institutes has been required by the Ministryof Higher Education. . Given the significanceof curriculum evaluation, STOU has provided
research funding to faculty members toassess the effectiveness of curriculum.
There is numerous research conducted
at different educational levels to assess
quality of teaching and curriculum. There
are survey research exploring satisfaction ofdifferent stakeholders such as graduate users
concerning quality of students graduatingfrom STOU. Also, there is a number of
research conducted to assess the feasibilityof new curriculum.

Educational Assessment

Educational assessment is a part of instruction
and is used to collect data regarding student
learning which is important to provide
evidence of instructional success. The usesof appropriate educational assessment will
not only help student learns but also support
STOU missions regarding the provision ofquality distance education. Because of theimportance of educational assessment,
some research projects were granted todevelop educational assessment methods
for distance education that could provide
valid and reliable assessment results.
Examples of this research in this area
include the cooperative research among
OU5 universities in models and challenging
in educational measurement and evaluationin open education, a comparative study on
educational measurement and evaluationin AAOU, student grading guidelines, thedevelopment of STOU quality assurance
indicators, the digital literacy assessmentof STOU students and faculty members,

and the development of English proficiency
assessment administration (STOU-EPT).

Research Support and Evaluation

There are a number of research in researchsupport and evaluation that was conductedby IRD researchers. Some research in thisresearch category is survey research carriedout to explore STOU researchers’ needs so as
to provide supports that meet their needs.
Moreover, there are some research projects
that evaluate the effectiveness of STOU
research activities such as granting process,guidelines on the promotion of distanceeducation research, and the development ofresearch funding.

Student Service

Students entering STOU’s educational
programs are diverse in demographic
background and qualification and hence
they have different preferences and needs.
Therefore, student services are importantand should be designed such that their needs
and preferences are fulfilled. There are someresearch projects conducted to develop
effective student services to STOU students.
Examples of research in this area include thedevelopment of electronic student support
system, the development of successful
student service model in distance education,
the guidelines on quality of graduate
development,
student
communication
model, and the cooperative research among
OU5 universities in educational services
that support successful learning in distanceeducation.

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Human Resources

There is research on development of
manpower at STOU. For example, there areresearch on planning STOU human resources
and the STOU staff psychological training
aimed at enhancing their organizational
values.

Student Dropout

Due to a large number of students who
could not complete their study in distancelearning of STOU, there are some research
projects funded by IRD to find answers to
the questions such as why students could notfinish their study and what are solutions tostudent dropout. Examples of research in thiscategory include the investigation of factors
influencing STOU student retention, andfactors affecting student dropout.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)

Registration

With regard to the development ofappropriate registration system, there is a
research project that was funded to examineand develop the STOU registration system.
In addition to encouraging and supporting
the lecturers to conduct research, STOU
supports its instructors to cooperate withresearchers of other institutions bothwithin the country and abroad. Cooperative
research projects have enabled researchers
to learn and gain experiences in doing
research, sharing research results andapplying the best practice from each
institution to benefit their own institution.
Carrying out research can be of great
benefits not only for researchers, but also for
universities in creating a good cooperationand the spirit of helping each other among
these universities. Moreover, research topics
on new pedagogical knowledge, advanced
educational technology, and models to create
or deliver effective education to learners arehighlighted for future research and expected
research outcomes in responding to thecountry strategy.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)SUMMARY

The provision of distance education system
by STOU throughout the previous forty-two
years puts emphasis on development of the
distance education system management thatfacilitates and enables the learners to learn bythemselves anytime and anywhere according
to their needs, with the use of information andcommunication technology and educational
management procedure emphasizing thedevelopment of learner’s quality based on
the national and international standards.
The most important thing that STOU has
always adhered and will continue to adherein the future is the being a higher education
institution in the open system that adheres tothe principle of lifelong education, producing
quality graduates to serve the society, andbeing a part of the development of people tobe good citizens of Thailand at present and in
the future.

REFERENCES

Samark Chaisanguan and WalisaRomsaiyud.
(2017). Development of a Real-time
Sentiment Analysis System of Students
on Facebook Using Naive Bayes Classifierin Thai Language. The 8th STOU National
Research Conference, pp.521-535.
The
SukhothaiThammathirat
Open
University Reform Committee. (2019).
The STOU Distance Learning System(STOU Plan 2018). Nonthaburi: Officeof the University council, Sukhothai
Thammathirat Open University.
Watthanakuljaroen, T. (2022). Chapter
3 History of Educational Technology
and Communications for Human
Resource Development. In Study
guides of Educational Technology andCommunications for Human Resource
Development Chapter 1-8. (page 3-1 –3-78). Nonthaburi: School of Educational
Studies, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open
University.

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The Open
University of
China (OUC)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

0471

04 Towards

Lifelong
Learning
for All:
Developmentof Open andDistance
Education in
China
Institute of Lifelong Education
and International Department
The Open University of China

ESTABLISHMENT

Open and distance education (ODE) has
become the foundation on which theinternational community can realize lifelong
education, lifelong learning, and a learning
society. A review and summary of its history
and status in China, a major country in
ODE, is conducive to enhancing the world’s
understanding about China’s ODE and willcontribute for inspirations to other countries.
Open and distance education in China goesback to ancient times. As early as 2,500 years
ago, the great Chinese thinker Confucius
put forward the concept of “education for
all without discrimination,” advocating that
all members of society who are ready tolearn should have access to educational
opportunities. This concept has had aprofound influence on the developmentof education in China for more than 2,000
years. As a result, educational target groups
expanded and became larger in number,making mass education one of the main
distinctions of Chinese education in ancienthistory (Zhang, 2021).

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

In 2017, the OUC was honored with the InstitutionalPrize of Excellence by the International Council forOpen and Distance Education (ICDE). As of the end of2021, all the 44 provincial RTVUs changed their names
to open universities.

In the 20th century, correspondence-based
distance education began to be morewidespread.
In March 1915, Shanghai
Commercial Press officially founded the first
Chinese-run correspondence school, which
was the prelude to distance education incontemporary China. By 1917, there wereover 50 correspondence schools foundedby publishing houses in China. According
to statistics from 1915 to1946, students
admitted by three major correspondence
schools owned by China Commercial Press,
Zhonghua Book Company, and Kaiming Book
Company, came from 22 provinces and fivemunicipalities. As many as 60,000 foreign
language professionals (Ding, 2015) were
cultivated for industrial, business, academic,
and political circles in the Republic of China. A
new off-campus way of learning was opened
up for people from lower level of society toreceive systematic education and to get new
skills, which fostered a host of talents for
China’s economic and social development
during this period. Generally speaking, thedevelopment of open and distance educationin China was still in its infancy and preparation
stage in the first half of the 20th century (Ding
Xingfu, 2001).

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN
CHINA
Development History of ODE in China

Since the founding the People’s Republic ofChina (PRC) in 1949, ODE in China has taken
on a new look and embarked on a road todevelopment. For more than 70 years, it
has been in step with and interacted withthe development of the PRC, with a numberof clearly delineated stages. The 70-year
development history of open and distanceeducation in China can be divided into fourstages.
•

Initial stage of ODE in China (1949-1977).
In face of a situation of extreme shortageof talented professionals just after thefounding of the PRC, in 1951, the Ministryof Education (MoE) issued a regulation
which stated that “correspondence

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education is an important part of regularhigher education” (Lin, 2018). By 1965,
there were 123 universities offeringcorrespondence education, offering
as many as 138 majors that attracted
1.89 million registered students. By
1965, regular institutions of higher
learning throughout China cultivated80,000 graduates of correspondence
education, accounting for 28% of thetotal enrollment in higher education(Ding, 2001).
After 1960, some big cities started to
run city TV universities with the help of
TV networks. Beijing TV University was

The Open University of China (OUC)

established first, after which Shanghai,
Guangzhou, and Shenyang quickly
followed suit. These universities werededicated to serving on-the-job parttime learning for adults. They also
extended education services to urban
labors and made great contributions tolocal economic construction.
After 1966, the development of bothcorrespondence education and TV
universities were plunged into 10 yearsof stagnation.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)•

The Reconstruction of ODE Afterthe Reform and Opening-up (19781998). After the reform and opening
up, economic development became
the central task. In order to realize
the leapfrog development of higher
education under the conditions ofChina’s limited financial capacity, theChinese government decided on thehigher education development policyof “walking on two legs” to vigorously
develop adult education while steppingup efforts to develop regular higher
education.

Firstly, the development of radio andTV universities (RTVUs) were advocatedvigorously. Under Mr. Deng Xiaoping’s
advocacy, and with the powerful supportof top-down design, top-down promotion,and the whole state system, 28 RTVUs
were launched on 6 February 1979,
with the first opening ceremony held in
Beijing. Radio and TV satellite education
became a major part of the development
of distance education in China. By 1985,
RTVUs in China had developed into anational distance education system
consisting of one central RTVU and 35
provincial RTVUs, with grassroots classes
covering both urban and rural China. A

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total of 22 majors were offered in thefields of science and technology, arts,
economics, politics, and law. A total of
1.65 million students had been enrolled
and 810,000 of them graduated. Annual
degree education graduates accounted
for an average of 17 percent of thenational total.
Secondly, correspondence education
was reconstructed. In September
1980, the State Council endorsed theopinions submitted by the MoE with
instructions supporting the restoration
and reconstruction of correspondence
education, i.e., Opinions on Vigorously
Developing Correspondence Educationin Universities and Evening Universities.
In February 1987, the National
Education Commission issued thefirst regulatory document for China’s
highercorrespondence
education,
Interim Regulations on Correspondence
Education in Regular Institutions ofHigher Learning, laying a foundation
for systematic, standardized, andinstitutional
operation
andthedevelopment of higher correspondence
education. By 1998, there were 635
regular institutions of higher learningand four independent correspondencecolleges offering higher correspondence
education to around 896,000 registeredstudents (Ding, 2000).
After 20 years of development, Radioand TV education and correspondence
education became important partsof China’s higher education cause. By
1998, 2.4 million junior college and

The Open University of China (OUC)

undergraduate students were cultivated
via correspondence education offered
by regular institutions of higher learningand four independent correspondencecolleges, with almost 2.5 million
graduates from RTVUs across China.
Graduates of both of these typesof education accounted for 64% ofgraduates from regular institutions ofhigher learning, and 74.4% of graduatesin adult education in China.1•

Strategic Innovation Oriented to The
Information Era (1999-2009). At the
beginning of the 21st century, to building
a lifelong education system and driving
the construction of a learning society,
the Chinese government decided
to implement a modern distanceeducation program to boost the reform
and innovation of RTVUs and regularinstitutions of higher learning, and todevelop open online education supported
by two-way interactive satellite TV
and computer network technology. In
January 1999, the State Council endorsed
the Ministry of Education’s Action Planfor Education Rejuvenation for the 21stCentury (hereinafter referred to as“action plan”) formulated in December
1998, which clearly stated the need to“implement a modern distance education
project, to form an open education
network, and to build a lifelong learning
system.”A practical pilot scheme was adopted
to implement the modern distanceeducation project. From 1999 to 2003,
the Ministry of Education had given

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

its approval for 68 regular institutionsof higher learning and CCRTVU (nowrenamed the Open University) toparticipate in the modern distanceeducation pilot project. As a result, twoparallel pilot development systems were
established in China’s ODE. One was forregular institutions of higher learning,
and the other was for the RTVU system.
With the implementation of the modern
distance education project, a new ODE
system made up of the RTVU system,
the online education system of regularinstitutions of higher learning, and thecorrespondence
educationsystemtook shape. By 2009, a total of 5.0813
million students graduated from juniorcollege and undergraduate programs
via the open education pilot project
advanced in the RTVU system, 4.896
million graduates had been trained
via online education implemented byregular institutions of higher learning,and 6.4871 million graduates had been
trained via correspondence education.
•

Reform and Innovation in the New Era(Since 2010). In the new era, the Chinese
government has accurately grasped theglobal trends in science, technology, andeducation, and prioritized the advantagesof information technology to promote
the construction of open universities
as one of the major projects of national
education reform and development.
In October 2010, the General Office of
the State Council issued the Circular on
the Pilot Implementation of National
Education System Reform and made clear

the need to explore the construction
model of open universities. It also
stated that the former China Central
Radio and TV University and the local
open universities of Beijing, Shanghai,
Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Yunnan would
be pilot units for reform.The main value
orientation of the pilot project is topromote the transformation of RTVUs
into a new institution of higher learningthat mainly provides open education for
adults, to accelerate the developmentof a more open and flexible education
system oriented towards and suitable foreveryone, and to build a learning society
where “anyone can learn at anytime,and anywhere.” In order to implement
this national strategic arrangement, theOpen University of China (OUC) was
officially established on the basis of
the former CCRTVU, and the RTVUs of
Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong,
and Yunnan were renamed as open
universities in 2012.
Over the past 10 years, the OUC and thefive local open universities have worked
hard to explore the construction of a
new type of university and have madeinitial achievements in keeping up withthe rapid development of “Internet+.” Take the OUC as an example. The
OUC has made major progress inshaping the “internet + University”
model, establishing the “simultaneousdevelopment of degree and non-degree
education” service model, innovating
a talent formation model based onmodern information technology, building
a credit bank system, and exploring an

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international development model (Yang,2019). In 2017, the OUC was honoredwith the Institutional Prize of Excellenceby the International Council for Openand Distance Education (ICDE). As ofthe end of 2021, all the 44 provincial
RTVUs changed their names to open
universities.
During this period, online educationin China’s regular institutions ofhigher learning also experienced fastdevelopment. Regular institutions ofhigher learning have played a leading
and demonstrative role in exploring
the construction and development of
massive open online courses (MOOC),
promoting the establishment of regional
MOOC alliances, and participating in theconstruction of “outstanding national
online open courses.”

The Open University of China (OUC)

Development Plan for ODE in China

In the new era, China is accelerating education
modernisation. In 2019, the CPC Central
Committee and the State Council issued China
Education Modernisation 2035, outlining a
grand blueprint for educational development
in China, “to realise overall education
modernization and to strive to become an
education power.” “Accelerating educationalchange in the information era, promoting
the change and innovation of education
organization forms and management
modes, and using informatisation to advanceeducation modernization” is one of the 10
major strategic tasks. In recent years, efforts
have been stepped up to strengthen strategicplanning and resource coordination and strive
to develop ODE with Chinese characteristics.
The overall national policies and the strategic
adjustment of the OUC can thus be taken as
examples to introduce the development planfor ODE in China.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)•

Promote the Transformation andUpgrading of Education Informatisation.
In order to meet the needs of education
reform and development in theinformation era, relevant departmentsof the Chinese government formulated
documentation such as Education
Informatisation during the Period of “theThirteenth Five-Year” Plan (2016) and the
Education Informatisation 2.0 Action Plan
(2018). Key tasks have been strategically
deployed and the future development
trends of education informatisation havebeen outlined. These documents focusedon exploring new teaching models basedon information technology, developing
new internet-based education service
models, and exploring new models of
education governance in the information
era with the goal of realising a threefold transformation. The first is to movefrom the development, application, andservice of education-specific resources
to the development, application, andservice of general resources. The second
is to move from improving the application
capacity of information technology to
improving the information literacy ofteachers and students. The third is to
move from integrated development to
the innovative development of education
informatisation (Lei, 2018).
In order to further implement Education
Informatisation during the Period of“the Thirteenth Five-Year” Plan and the
Education Informatisation 2.0 Action
Plan, the Ministry of Education issued
Key Points of Education Informatisation
and Network Security in 2019, mappingout the major tasks in the future workfrom 10 different perspectives. These
documents
offeredfundamental
guidance to promote the transformation
andupgradingof
education
informatisation in China, and also
provided a guide for the related practiceand theoretical study of distance higher
education in China. In March 2021, theMinistry of Education issued The Circular
on Strengthening the Informatisation of
Educational Management in the New
Era. It is proposed to “use the newgeneration of information technology
to improve the level of digitalization,
networking
andintelligenceofeducational management, and to support
the modernization of educational
governance system and governanceability with informationisation”. In
July 2021, the Ministry of Education,
together with other six governmental
departments, issued The Guidance on
Promoting the Construction of New
Educational Infrastructure to Building a
High-quality Education Support System,
requiring to speed up the constructionof new educational infrastructure withnew development concepts and withinformationisation as the core. By 2025,
a new educational infrastructure systemwith optimized structure, intensive
efficiency, safety and reliability will bebasically formed, providing a digital basefor the development of high-quality
education. This series of programmatic
documents provide theoretical andpractical guidance for the transformationand development of open and distanceeducation in China, and also provide thefocus for the work ahead.

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Promote the Healthy Development of
Online Education. The development of
online education is conducive to building
a networked, digital, personalised
lifelong education system. In January
2014, the State Council revoked theright of education administrative
authorities to examine and approve
online education, allowing institutionsof higher learning with adequate
conditions and qualifications to offer
degree continuing education over theinternet. In September 2019, withthe approval of the State Council, 11
departments including the Ministry of
Education jointly issued Guiding Opinions
on Promoting the Healthy Developmentof Online Education, which proposed thepromotion of the healthy developmentof online education by adhering to thebasic principles of “people-centred
cultivation,” “reform and innovation,”“fusion and integration,” and “multientity governance.” By 2022, modern
information technology will have beenfurther integrated into education,
the quality of online education will
have been enhanced, a resource andservice standard system will havebeen established, the development
environment will have been improved,
and the governance system will
have been completed. As a result, a
networked, digital, personalised lifelong
education system will have taken shapeand major progress will have been madein the construction of a learning society.

The Open University of China (OUC)•

PromotetheTransformational
Development of Open Universities.
Upon entering the new era, the Chinese
government paid great attention to
improving open universities and boosting
the construction of a learning society. In
January 2016, the Ministry of Education
issued Opinions on Successfully RunningOpen Universities. In August 2020, theMinistry of Education reviewed andpassed the OUC Comprehensive Reform
Plan to strengthen the OUC educational
system. China will take effective
measures to provide the OUC withmore educational support by enhancing
organizational leadership, improving
policy systems, improving fund input
mechanisms,
andstrengthening
communication and guidance. Efforts
will be made to promote the OUC torealise its predetermined development
goal in 2025 by reforming and optimising
the systems and mechanisms of open
education. The OUC will become a major
platform for lifelong education in China,
a major platform for online education,a platform for flexible education andforeign cooperation, a prominent force
serving lifelong education for all, anda powerful bolster to a highly-skilledsociety.

•Standardize the Establishment ofMajors for Higher Degree Continuing
Education. During the long-term
development process of open anddistance education in China, a diversified
pattern of higher degree continuing
education jointly run by multiple entities
has emerged. These entities include

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

regular institutions of higher learning,open universities, higher vocational
schools, and independent colleges anduniversities for adults. This means that
there are different specifications for
majors, which has a negative impact on
the quality of talent cultivation and theeducational reputation of institutions ofhigher learning. In 2016, the Ministry of
Education formulated and promulgated
Administrative Measures for the Specialty
Setup of Higher Degree Continuing
Education. The purpose of this document
is to streamline administration anddelegate power to the lower levels, tostandardise the management of andadministrative policies for establishingmajors in higher degree continuing
education, to define the responsibilities
and procedures, and to strengthen
process supervision and information
service. In line with these administrative
measures, starting from 2018, regularinstitutions of higher learning no longer
offer degree continuing education
beyond their full-time education
specialties, and regular undergraduate
institutions of higher learning who do notoffer junior college education no longer
offer junior college degree continuing
education.
•

Promote High Quality Development of
Online Education in Modern Distance
Education of Pilot Institutions of Higher
Learning. Since the Chinese government
started the modern distance education
pilot project in 1999, online higher
degree education in regular institutionsof higher learning has experienced rapid

development. However, there are stillsome problems affecting the talentcultivation quality of online education.
In December 2019, the General Officeof the Ministry of Education issued
the Circular on Relevant Tasks to Serve
Lifelong Learning for All and Promote
the Quality Development of Online
Education in Modern Distance Educationof Pilot Institutions of Higher Education.
It aims to enhance the supervision of
educational institutions to urge them toimprove quality and reduce quantity, tostandardise operation, and to improve
the quality of talent cultivation by
establishing administrative rules forthe entire process from enrolment tocultivation to completion.
•

Promote the Penetration and Integrationof “Internet +” Into Education at All
Levels and of All Types. In order toimplement“building an education
system that serves lifelong learning for
all people”, relevant state departments
have issued a series of programmatic
documents on the development ofeducation and training at all levels and ofvarious types through precise planningand careful deliberation, such as “On the
Implementation of IT Capacity Building
Project (Phase 2.0) for Teachers from
China Primary and Secondary Schools “[2019], “On Promoting the Developmentof the Service for the Elderly”, “Opinions
on the Targeted Poverty Alleviation
Work in the New Era for Universities
Directly Affiliated to MoE “, “theReform Plan for China’s Vocational
Education(2019-2021)”, “ On Improving

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Vocational Education for Retired
Soldiers in an All-round Way”,“ Noticeon Further Improving Recruitment,
Training and Management of Retired
Military Soldiers in Higher Vocational
Colleges ”(2020), Notice on Printing andDistributing Action Plan to Improve theQuality of Vocational Education (20202023) (2020), etc. The above policies
aim at relying on modern information
technology to speed up the integration
with various forms of education, so as
to expand the scope that education
can cover, create a ubiquitous learning
environment, and innovate the educationand teaching model. The formulation ofthese policies has expanded the spaceof development for distance education
institutions, and will force distanceeducation institutions to speed up thepace of innovation and development toadapt to the diversified development
trend of “Internet + education”.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN CHINA ODE

At present, there are two main kinds ofinstitutions of higher learning engaged inopen and distance education. One is theopen university system dedicated to open
and distance education, whose predecessor
was the national radio and TV university
system that came into being after 1978.
The other is regular institutions of higher
learning that offer open and distanceeducation. This section of the paper focuseson the introduction of an organization

The Open University of China (OUC)

and management system and operation
mechanism for the open university system
and regular institutions of higher learning
engaged in open and distance education.

The Open University System

Prior to 2010, the main educational
institutions engaged in open and distanceeducation in China were from the national
RTVU system developed after 1978. In orderto put into effect the guiding principles
of relevant documents, the Ministry of
Education gave approval for the CCRTVU
and five local RTVUs to rename themselves“open universities” in 2012, forming a system
which consists of the OUC and the five
local open universities in Beijing, Shanghai,
Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Yunnan. Until theend of 2021, all the 44 provincial RTVUs in
the Open University System changed theirnames to open universities. The following
section introduces the organization andmanagement of the OUC.

OUC Organizational Structure

The OUC is a new style of university
established on the basis of China Central Radioand TV University (CCRTVU) and some local
RTVUs with an educational network covering
all urban and rural areas across China. It is
directly led and managed by the Ministry of
Education. The OUC’s organizational system
is made up of the headquarters, regional
branches, local schools, and study centreson the basis of voluntary, equal, win-win
cooperation (see Figure 1).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 1
The OUC Educational Organization System•

Management System and Operation
Mechanism. The OUC’s management
follows the same system of “overallplanning, classified operation, andmanagement” that was put forward
during the period of radio and television
universities. The OUC headquarters
are led and managed by the Ministry of
Education. The branches are subordinate
to the leadership of responsible
education authorities at the same levels,
mainly relying on local RTVUs (schools
and study centres) for administrative
support (e.g. human resources, financial
support, and infrastructure projects).
They accept the guidance of higher-level
open universities in terms of teaching
and teaching management.

•

Regular institutions of higher learning.
After the founding of the PRC, regularinstitutions of higher learning became thefirst distance education entities engaged
in the business of correspondence
education. After 1999, there were 68
regular institutions of higher learning
involved in independent online degree
education thanks to the implementationof “Modern Distance Education Project”.
This section focuses on the introductionof an organization and management
system and operation mechanism forcorrespondence education and online
education run by regular institutions ofhigher learning.

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Organization
andManagement
System for Correspondence Education.
In China, there are two main types
ofcorrespondence
education.
One is independent institutions ofcorrespondence education approvedby the educational administrative
authorities. Such institutions are small in
number and have little influence. In 1986,
there were seven such institutions, but
this number dropped to two in 2002. The
other type is correspondence collegesor departments set up by institutionsof higher learning, which are a major
provider of correspondence education in
China. The following section introduces
the organizational management andoperation mechanism of correspondence
education in regular institutions of higher
learning.

The Open University of China (OUC)•

Organizational Structure. In the past,a large number of regular institutionsof higher learning in China were
engaged in correspondence education,
reaching a height of 635 in 1998. Twoorganizational forms of correspondence
education gradually came into being
based on the existing educational
resources of regular institutions ofhigher learning. One is correspondencecolleges and departments (divisions)
set up by institutions of higher learningthat are responsible for the organizationand management of correspondence
education (see Figure 2). The other iscorrespondence departments set up one
level below under the administration ofacademic affairs office that is responsible
for the organization and managementof correspondence teaching and accept
the unified management of the academic
affairs office. (see Figure 2).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 2
The Organizational Structure of Correspondence Education in Regular Institutionsof Higher Learning•

Management System and Operation
Mechanism. In terms of management
system, correspondence education run
by institutions of higher education isled and inspected by the Ministry of
Education with regards to guidelines,
policies, and planning. It is planned andmanaged by ministries and commissions,as well as local education authorities,
in line with the Provisional Regulations
on Correspondence Education Stationsof Regular Institutions of Higher
Education (Jiao Cheng [1993] No.12)
issued by Ministry of Education in 1993.
Correspondence education stations

are under the leadership of hosting
schools and under the leadership of
those instituitions that have them set
up. The local education authorities
where they are located should instruct
and supervise their work, including
those of the provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities under the
direct administration of the central
government, and cities specificallydesignated in the state plan.

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Organization and Management System
of Online Education

The Chinese government decided on andimplemented the cross-century “Modern
Distance Education Project” in the second
half of the 1990s. By 2003, 68 institutions ofhigher learning had received approval from
the Ministry of Education to pilot and explore
a modern distance education model based on
two-way interactive satellite TV and computer
networks. They gradually formulated theirown distinctive organization, management,
and operation model during the course ofoffering online education.
•

Organization Structure. In order toadvance the implementation of online
education, pilot institutions of higher
learning established online educationcolleges, which then set up study
centres (tutorial centres) for teaching
and management all over the country.
Furthermore, to advance the opening andsharing of educational resources, from2005 to 2007, the Ministry of Education
gave approval to Open Edutainment,
China Cyber Learning Co., Ltd., andHongcheng Technology Development
Co., Ltd. to establish a distance education
public service system offering teaching
management and learning support
for online education in institutionsof higher learning. The institutions ofhigher learning established their own
public service systems and enhanced thestrength of their online education. Dueto the different methods of cooperation
with public services systems, there aresome differences in the organizational
management models of online education

The Open University of China (OUC)

in institutions of higher learning. There
are three basic models.
The first is off-campus study centres set
up by institutions of higher education on
the basis of local RTVUs, adult educationcolleges, and vocational schools without
the cooperation with the publication
service system. For example, Central
South University established off-campus
study centres based on provincial and city
RTVUs. Now, its learning support network
covers 25 provinces (municipalities andautonomous regions) nationwide.
The second is to build off-campus study
centres in cooperation with the distanceeducation public service system. For
example, Northeast Normal University
has entered into cooperation with Open
Edutainment, a public service system
institution, to jointly build authorised
off-campus study centres in 29 provinces(autonomous regions and municipalities)
The third is a blended model combining
the first two categories, including both
independent off-campus study centres
and those built-in cooperation with the
public service system. An example isChongqing University Distance Education
College, which has built more than 160
off-campus study centres in 27 provinces(autonomous regions and municipalities)
nationwide using the blended model.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)•Management System and Operation
Mechanism.The management of online
education colleges in regular institutionsof higher learning is divided into two
categories, i.e., independently organized
and non-independently organized online
educationcolleges.
Independently
organized colleges are set up separatelyby pilot institutions of higher learning,
and are independently responsible
for the management of their humanresources, money, and property. The
non-independently organized ones arecomponent parts of continuing educationcolleges and distance and continuing
education colleges. The second typeof online education colleges, alongwith their off-campus study centersand correspondence stations, either
maintain independent management andoperation or accept unified management
under secondary colleges in terms ofhuman resources, finance, and property,
in the latter of which the teaching reformis gradually implemented and improved
under
the
unifiedmanagement
system, training schemes, and platform
management with correspondence
education as well as evening universities.

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND
TECHNOLOGY USE

The development of an open and distanceeducation teaching system needs the
support of information and communication
technology. The innovative application of
information and communication technology
will drive the future development of the open
and distance education teaching system.
This section will review the three stages ofthe development of the open and distanceeducation teaching system in China, exploring
the role of the innovative application of
information technology as a precursor to thecurrent experiences of the development of
the open and distance education teachingsystem in China.

1. Stage One: Radio and TV Education

In the 1970s, China started to build a topdown RTVU system from the central to
the local. The extensive application ofradio and TV technology promoted thedevelopment and popularization of open
and distance education (Yang & Zhang,2019). At that time, the RTVU systemcreated a series of audio and video
courses which were sent to learners via
TV stations, satellite education TVs, andradio stations.
With the increasing maturity of theapplication of radio and TV technologies,
open and distance education graduallydeveloped two methods of teachingdelivery. The first was programs broadcast
by teaching institutions with the helpof radio or radio and TV technologies
and received or watched by learners
with radio or TV terminals. Although the

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programs couldn’t be played back andit was necessary for learners to arrange
their time in line with the programs lists,
the advantages of this method lay in its
rapid spread and wide coverage.
The second was audio and video
recordings sent to learners. These
were usually TV programs made by
local teaching centers through satellite
reception teaching institutions. Learners
listened to or watched the programswith the help of broadcasting devices.
The advantages of this method lay inthe repeated use of teaching resources,
and so that learners could study more
flexibly.

2. Stage Two: Multimedia and Digital
Learning

At the end of the 1990s, the growing useof computers and network technology inthe field of education promoted the digitaltransformation of open and distanceeducation in China. The teaching systemdeveloped in new directions in terms ofthe design, development, and storage oflearning resources and the organizationand management of learning activities.
Firstly, in terms of the design anddevelopment of learning resources.
learning resources integrated a wider
range of media and became moreinteractive. For example, the digitalteaching materials launched by the OUC
integrate multimedia resources andinclude multiple functions such as content
searching, learning process records, andtests and exercises, encouraging learners

The Open University of China (OUC)

to approach the content of the teachingmaterials from several perspectives(Zhang et al., 2017).
Secondly, regarding the storage andtransmission of learning resources,
computer storage gradually took theplace of audio and video tapes, making
it more convenient to store and deliver
information and teaching resources. The
online delivery of teaching resources
gradually became the mainstream
thanks to the development of online
technology and the improvement ofrelated infrastructure.
Lastly, the emergence of learning
management
systems
thoroughlychanged the distance education learning
environment from the perspective of
the organization and management oflearning activities. With the supportof learning management systems, alllearning activities can be completed
virtually.
The
teacher-student
relationship has been reconstructed, andthe autonomy and flexibility of learning
has been enhanced. Teaching institutions
have made corresponding changes in thedesign of course resources and learning
activities in line with the properties of
online learning.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

3. Stage Three: Individualized andSmart Learning

Due to technological development
bottlenecks, early learning management
systems were dominated by one-way
information output. The interaction
between learners and teachers, as wellas the interaction between learners
were largely ignored. Learners also had
little access to individualized support.
With the arrival of Web 3.0, learning
management is also becoming more
intelligent. Supported by big data andlearning analysis technology, now,learning management systems canevaluate learners’ learning status bycollecting and analyzing their features andbehavioral data, and make corresponding
proposals or pushing out relevant
resources. Teachers, the other subjectof the learning management system, canalso identify students’ existing problems
and adjust their teaching strategies inline with the learning dashboard data
provided by the system (Yuan et al.,2014).
Take the OUC’s learning management
system as an example (as shown in
Figure 4-1). This learning management
system was established on the basis ofexisting open-source platform Moodle.
It supports course development under
the guidance of the theory of social
constructivism. Teachers can arrange
teaching contents and develop learning
activities according to the characteristicsof the courses and the need for learning.
In addition to studying course contents
and completing assignments, learners

can also join in activities such as forum
interaction, wiki creation, questionnaires
and surveys, ballots, and peer evaluation.
With the support of various typesof activities, interaction between
teachers and students and between
students themselves have both beenstrengthened.
Figure 3
Learning Web Page of the OUC Learning
Network

A review of the development of the open
and distance education and teachingsystem in China from the perspective oftechnology shows that the innovative
application of technology has played anessential role in updating the teachingsystem. At the same time, more andmore attention has been paid to alearner-centered philosophy, which ismanifested in multiple practical ways
during the course of the development of
the teaching system.

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MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICES

Thanks to the joint efforts of the institutionsof higher learning, governments, and otherinstitutions in recent years, the constructionof MOOCs in China has been successful.
This section reviews the status of MOOC
development in China, revealing the existing
problems facing MOOC construction in
China in order to give a direction for future
improvement.

MOOC Platform Construction

The development of MOOCs in China falls
into the two categories of international
cooperation and localized construction. In
the early stages, the development of MOOCs
was dominated by cooperation of top China
universities with renowned international
platforms. For example, Tsinghua University,
the University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology signed
a cooperation agreement with edX; Fudan
University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,and the Chinese University of Hong Kong
joined Coursera; and Peking University
and Hong Kong University of Science andTechnology established cooperation with edX
and Coursera (Yuan & Liu, 2014). However,
due to language and culture limitations, open
courses from international platforms wereunable to adequately serve Chinese learners.
Against this background, the developmentof MOOCs in China entered a stageof localization. For instance, Tsinghua
University launched the Classroom Online(www.xuetangx.com) platform. This wasfollowed by CNMOOC by Shanghai Jiao Tong
University. In addition to institutions of higher

The Open University of China (OUC)

learning, other educational institutions
also joined the construction of Chineselanguage platforms. For example, the Higher
Education Press joined hands with NetEase
and launched MOOC of Chinese Universities(www.icourse163.org), and Peking University
developed the Chinese Language MOOC
(www.chinesemooc.org)
platformincooperation with Alibaba. Furthermore, theinvolvement of technology enterprises has
strengthened the technical functionalitiesof these platforms, ensuring that MOOC
platforms can better serve learners.

MOOC Resource Construction

The construction of localized platforms
has made it possible for a number ofChinese universities to take part in MOOC
construction. MOOCs are no longer a selectproject of some top universities; they havedeveloped into an education movementwith a common commitment from various
types of institutions of higher learning. This
has also provided favorable conditions for
MOOCs to grow in number and diversify
in terms of content. According to statistics
from the Ministry of Education, by the end of
2017, domestic institutions of higher learningand related institutions had established morethan 10 MOOC platforms. 3,200 courses fromaround 460 institutions of higher learning
had been pushed online, and 55 million
university students and learners from acrosssociety had chosen to study the courses (Chai& Jiao, 2018). As of October 2021, there
were as many as 47,500 online courses with
364 million registered users, the numberof people who chose to learn the courses
had surpassed 755 million, and 290 million
students had obtained MOOC credits (Wu,2021).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

The Rise of Regional Alliances

As more and more universities and institutions
became involved in the constructionof MOOCs, regional alliances began toemerge, to promote the development andmanagement of quality MOOC resources.
Among these alliances, some are national
ones, such as MOOC China Alliance, others are
regional, like Open Online Courses Allianceof Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater
Bay Area, still others are cross-regional,
such as WEMOOC Alliance, and some evenfocus on education of a specific discipline,
for example, MOOC Alliance on Computer
Education for Chinese Universities. Those
alliances attracted more 100 universities
from China, promoted the developmentof MOOC for the participating university
and provided organizational support forthe social service function of MOOC. At thesame time, the emergence of these alliances
laid an organizational foundation for the
sharing of inter-university course resources
and advanced credit transfer. Besides, theinter-university sharing of course resources
has mitigated the unbalanced distributionof higher education resources, benefittingsome relatively under-developed Western
universities. However, there are still
problems. When organizational structures
become complicated, management andoperation will be a challenge.

RESEARCH FINDINGS IN THE PAST FIVEYEARSOver the past five years, good progress has
been made in open and distance educationin China in the fields of both research andpractice. This section briefly introduces sometypical research projects and action plans.

Construction of National Quality Open
Online Courses

The positive involvement of the governmentis a key feature of the development of
MOOCs in China. The Program of “National
Quality Open Online Courses” are an
important measure for the government
to boost MOOC construction. In 2015, theMinistry of Education issued a document
to encourage and guide universities todevelop open online courses (Ministry of
Education, 2015). The document proposed aplan to build national exquisite online open
courses. In 2017, the Ministry of Education
started the national recognition of quality
courses. Each year, a batch of excellent open
online courses are recognized. In 2019, therecognition of national quality online courses
was inscribed in the new action plan, i.e., the“double 10,000 plan” for the construction of
first-class undergraduate courses (Ministryof Education, 2019). The plan sets out thegoal of offering more than 10,000 first-classundergraduate courses over three years,
including the construction of about 4,000
first-class online courses. The first-class online
courses mentioned here refer to national
quality open online courses. In November
2020, the first batch of 1,875 national quality
undergraduate courses were recognized(Ministry of Education, 2020). At present, thesecond batch of course accreditation work isalso under way.

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Exploration of A Credit Bank andQualification Framework

The credit bank and qualification framework
play a vital role in achieving a connection
between formal education and informal
education by recognizing various kinds ofeducation and evaluating all kinds of results,
which will create a path to continuing
education and lifelong learning for all.
In 2012, the Ministry of Education entrusted
the OUC to carry out the Research andPractice of the Accreditation, Accumulation
and Transfer System of Learning Resultsfor National Continuing Education project,and formally launched the exploration(Yang, 2017) of China’s credit bank system.
Subsequently, many other areas also started
the construction of the credit bank, and the
OUC system credit bank and the local credit
banks developed in parallel. In November
2017, the OUC learning platform Credit Bank
Online was officially launched (Huang, 2017).
During the same period, 70 sub-centers forlearning achievement accreditation were
established in 31 provinces and 20 industries
across the country and credit bank accounts
were opened for nearly 4.8 million learners(Huang, 2017).
Research on credit bank construction haslaid a foundation for the exploration of aqualification framework system. In 2018, theMinistry of Education once again entrusted
the OUC to complete a project with thetheme “Research on the Construction of
a National Credit Bank and Qualification
Framework.” This project is dedicated to thedesign of a Chinese qualification framework
based on international comparisons that canachieve the coordination and management of

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qualifications by building a unified frameworkand formulating capacity standards.

Distance Education Poverty Alleviation
Projects

Distance education, as a form of highly
costed-effective cross-regional teaching,plays a significant role in poverty alleviation
through education. The OUC has carriedout a series of poverty alleviation projects
through distance education. These projects
have helped to compensate for the shortageof educational resources in the lessdeveloped areas and offered support for local
economic and social development. The OUC
launched the Long March Belt Educational
Project Targeted at Alleviating Poverty in
April 2017. With RMB 120 million of funding
raised, the OUC planned to spend four
years implementing degree education andnon-degree education projects, as well as
projects funding infrastructure construction,in 25 national poverty-stricken counties
in 12 provinces, autonomous regions, andmunicipalities under the direct jurisdictionof the central government along the route of
the Long March. (Wang, 2018). By December
2018, the OUC had invested RMB 24 million
with 25,031 direct beneficiaries (Li & Shao,2019).
The OUC has also given long-term labor andskills trainings to primary and middle school
teachers in poverty-stricken areas, funded
the construction of “cloud classrooms” inlocal study centers through the “One College
Student per Village” program, and offeredassistance to the “Three Regions and Three
Prefectures.”Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Action Declaration of China MOOCs

In April 2019, China’s Ministry of Education
issued the Action Declaration of China
MOOCs at the China MOOC Conference,
demonstrating that the Chinese governmentis determined to advance the development of
MOOCs in China together with all institutionsof higher learning to ensure equal access to
education and to improve quality education(Department of Higher Education of the
Ministry of Education, 2019). The declaration
reviews the six years of development of
MOOCs in China and also put forward thefive major visions for MOOC development in
China. The first is to gain access to equality
through MOOC development, promoting
educational equality between regions anduniversities. The second is to gain accessto education resources sharing by solving
the restrictions, promoting the sustainable
development of MOOCs. The third is toprovide all-round learning support for the
deep learning of learners, improving thecompetitiveness of MOOCs. The fourth isto build a road to innovation by practicing
new educational philosophy and integrating
the latest technologies. The fifth is to build aroad to cooperation by strengthening multiparty cooperation, promoting international
exchanges on MOOC construction, andoffering a Chinese approach to global
MOOC development. The above five major
visions embody a consensus on the future
development of MOOCs, offering guidance forthe sustainable and systematic developmentof MOOCs in China.

The above section introduced a number of
research projects and action plans in the fieldof open and distance education in China overthe past five years. These projects and plansreflect the development trends of China’s
open and distance education. On the one
hand, the construction of relevant systems
and mechanisms of open and distanceeducation has continued to improve,laying a foundation for the innovationand development of open and distanceeducation. On the other hand, open anddistance education has gradually broadened
its influence, demonstrating a remarkableincrease in social benefits.

CONCLUSION

After nearly a century of ups and downs, inparticular, the 40 years of rapid development
since the reform and opening up, China has
made great progress in open and distanceeducation. The structure and system ofopen and distance education in China hascontinued to improve, playing an importantrole on the world stage. Looking to the future,
it is necessary to learn from the experienceof the problems encountered during thedevelopment of open and distance educationin China to create mainstream platforms oflifelong education and online education. At
the same time, it is also necessary to pay
attention to assimilating outstanding aspectsof foreign open and distance education
theories and practice to help China realize aleapfrog development from a big open anddistance education country to a powerful
open and distance education country.

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Chai, W. & Jiao, Y. (2018, January 16). China
Leads the World in MOOC Construction.
China Education Newspaper. http://www.
moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s5147/201801/
t20180116_324673.html,2018-01-16.
Ding, X. (2001). Sprouting, Founding andStart of Distance Education in China—
The Historical Development and Stagesof Distance Education in China. Modern
Distance Education, (1), 6-10.
Ding,W.(2015).English
Correspondence
Education in Modern Private Institutions[D]. Zhejiang University, 2015: page 3.
Ding, X. (2000). The Practice Development
and Theory Maturity of Distance
Education . Modern Distance Education,(1),7-15.
Huang, P. (2017, November 11). The OUC
Launches the Open Learning Platform“Credit Bank Online”. China Education
Newspaper.
http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A16/
s5886/xtp_left/s5889/201801/
t20180108_323987.html
General Office of the State Council (2019).
Opinions on Promoting the Developmentof Elderly Care Services ( No. 5) [EB/OL].
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/
content/2019-04/16/content_5383270.
htm.
General Office of the State Council. Circularof The General Office of the StateCouncil on Printing and Distributing the
Action Plan for Upgrading Vocational
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Administration [2019] No. 24) [EB/OL].
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/
content/2019-05/24/content_5394415.
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Ministry of Education. (2016, January 16).
[MOE’s Opinions on Successfully RunningOpen Universities]. http://www.moe.
gov.cn/srcsite/A07/moe_726/201602/
t20160202_229322.html
Ministry of Education. (2016, December 2).
Circular of the Ministry of Education
on Issuing Administrative Measures for
the Programme Setup of Higher Degree
Continuing Education. http://www.moe.
gov.cn/srcsite/A07/moe_743/201612/
t20161202_290707.html
Ministry of Education. (2020, September2). Circular of the Ministry of Education
on Issuing the OUC Comprehensive
Reform Plan. http://www.moe.gov.
cn/srcsite/A07/zcs_zhgg/202009/
t20200907_486014.html
Ministry of Education. (2015, April 13).
Opinions of the Ministry of Education
on Strengthening the Application andManagement of Online Open Courses
in Institutions of Higher Learning.
http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A07/
moe_726/201602/t20160202_229322.
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Ministry of Education. (2018, April 25).
Circular of the Ministry of Education on
Issuing the Education Informatisation
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moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A16/s3342/201804/t20180425_334188.html
Ministry of Education. (2016, June 22).
Circular of the Ministry of Education on
Issuing Education Informatisation During
the Period of “the Thirteenth Five-Year”
Plan. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/
A16/s3342/201606/t20160622_269367.
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Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Ministry of Education. (2019, September 30).
Guiding Opinions of 11 Departments(including the Ministry of Education) on
Promoting the Healthy Developmentof Online Education. http://www.
moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A03/moe_1892/
moe_630/201909/t20190930_401825.
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Department of Higher Education of Ministryof Education. (2019, April 17). Action
Declaration of China MOOCs. http://
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ztzl_zxkf/201904/t20190418_378663.
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Ministry of Education. (2019, December
16). Circular of the General Office of the
Ministry of Education on Relevant Works
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Promote Quality Development of Online
Education in Modern Distance Educationof Pilot Institutions of Higher Education.
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Ministry of Education. (2019, April 4). Circularof the General Office of the Ministry of
Education on Implementing the “Double
Ten-Thousand Plan” for the Constructionof First-Class Undergraduate Majors.
http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/
s7056/201904/t20190409_377216.html
Ministry of Education. Notice of the
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the Action Plan for Improving Quality
and Fostering Excellence in Vocational
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Ministry of Education. The Ministry of
Education’s Verification on the First Batchof State-level First-class Undergraduate
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gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/202011/
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Ministry of Education. Circular of Ministry of
Education on Strengthening Education
Management Informatisation in the New
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s3342/202103/t20210322_521669.html
Ministry of Education. The Ministry of
Education’s Guidance (together withother six departments ) on Promoting
the Building of New Infrastructurein Education to Construct a Quality
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s3342/202107/t20210720_545783.
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Li, X. & Shao, D. (2019, April 28) The OUC
Advances Poverty Alleviation through
Education, Leveraging the Strength of
the Open University System.
http://edu.china.com.cn/2019-04/28/
content_74730730.htm.
Lei, C. (2018). Education Informatisation:
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Wang, J. (2018). Cultivating Local Talentswith Technology and Management
Capacity: the Open University of China’sLong March Belt Educational Project
Targeted at Alleviating Poverty Benefits
Sichuan’s Old Revolutionary Areas. China
Education Newspaper.
http://m.jyb.cn/rmtzgjyb/201811/
t20181129_121854_wap.html.
Wu, Yan(2021). Building New Infrastructure
Towards High Quality -- Vigorously
Promoting Innovation and Development
af Moocs and Online Education [R]. 2021
World Conference on MOOCs and Online
Education.
Yang, X. & Zhang, M. (2019). Forty Years ofDistance Higher Education in China.
Beijing: The Open University of China
Press.
Yang, Z. (2018). Research Reports on theDevelopment of Chinese Distance Higher
Education 2017. Beijing: The Open
University of China Press.
Yang, Z. (2019). The Road of China Open
Universities [J]. Distance Education in
China, 2019 (6) : 1-7.
Yuan, S. & Liu, X. (2014). Status and Common
Problems of MOOC Practice in China’s
Universities— The Reports of the MOOC
Practice From China’s Universities.
Modern Distance Education Research, 4,
3-12.
Zhang, T& Yang, X et al (2017). Development
And Innovation of All Media Digital
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Education [J]. China Electronic Education,(3):138-142

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Zhang, W& Chen, L(2001). The Origin,
Development and Realistic Significanceof Distance and Open Education in China.
Open Education Research, (4) : 22-25.
Ministry of Education. (2019, February 23).
The CPC Central Committee and theState Council Issue “China Education
Modernisation 2035”.
http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_
xwfb/s6052/moe_838/201902/
t20190223_370857.html

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The Open
University ofJapan (OUJ)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

0599

05 Distance

Educationfor Higher
Educationand Lifelong
Learning inJapan
Masaya Iwanaga andTsuneo Yamada
The Open University of JapanESTABLISHMENT
Correspondence
University
andDistance Higher Education in Japanese
Educational System

Until now, lifelong learning has been
considered to be the farthest from higher
education within Japan’s education system.
One reason for this could be that lifelong
learning has traditionally been viewed asa continuation of social schooling, andas “leisure learning” or “time killing” forpersons with too much free time. But thegreater reason lies with the higher education
institutions’ systems that were not structured
to sufficiently meet the needs of lifelong
learners. Rather, they were well known to be
extremely closed systems for adult learners.
Early universities were open to anybody
who needed or wanted to learn for as long
and as much as they required, and they
were not restricted to a specific age range.
As modernization progressed, this form
was gradually replaced by standardized

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

As a lifelong learning institution, OUJ aims to provide awide range of people with opportunities for obtaining
higher education.

education system. Nonetheless, as seenby the high percentage of adult students
enrolled, universities in Europe and theUnited States continue to open theirsystems to adult students. According to theOECD (2010), Sweden had 28 percent ofstudents aged 25 and up in higher education
institutions (bachelor’s programs), Finland
had 26 percent, and the United States had 24
percent.1
When comparing Japan’s university education
to that of Europe and the United States,
however, it is argued that the country’s
closed tendency toward adult learners is
1. OECD, Stat Extracts (2010). See Chapter 2, Section 2for details including other countries.

strong. With the exception of secondary
school, the percentage of adult students
enrolled in higher education is exceptionallylow. The percentage of students in Japan’shigher education institutions, including
graduate schools, who are 25 years orolder is estimated to be around 5%, whichis exceedingly low when compared to thefigures in Europe and the United States.2
2. This is an estimate from the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology “School Basic
Survey Report”. Accurate figures for students enrolled
in higher education institutions by age have not been
calculated in Japan’s school statistics. As a reference,
the number of “working students” is published by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology, but each year the number is only about
2%.

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The background to this is, first and foremost,the issue of school education’s framework.
The Japanese university and junior college
system is meant for full-time students who
attend right after high school graduationand is not suitable for employed or adultlearners. The most significant barrier toadult learners’ admission is the entrance
examination system, which is tough to passeven for individuals with work experience.
Then there’s the socio-economic issue. The
principles of lifetime employment, seniority,and new graduate recruitment, which arewidely recognized as features of Japan’s
employment structure, greatly reduce theneed for workers to return to a learning
lifestyle in the middle of their professional
lives (i.e., recurrent learning), and it has
become extremely difficult to do even when
it is necessary. Those beliefs are not as
powerful as they once were, but they are
undoubtedly still important in the workplace.
Third, cultural aspects must be considered.
People in Japan have a strong sense of
belonging to the organization to which they
belong, and they often feel terrible about
resigning from work to pursue their own
education or using new qualifications earned
as a result of education to shift occupations.
This “collectivist” trait of the Japanese people
could be a major obstacle to adult education.

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These elements are said to have conspired ina convoluted fashion to keep adult learners
out of Japan’s higher education institutions.
In more recent years however, higher
education in Japan has become increasingly
open. Japan’s modern education system
begins with the “school system” of 1872
following Western Europe’s modern public
education concept and following the majorchanges to the system’s trajectory that weremade under the Education Ordinance of
1879 and the revised Education Ordinanceof 1880 to match the actual situation of thecountry’s stage of development. It can be said
that Japan’s higher education institutions
have developed by repeating the process ofcreating numerous educational possibilities
to fulfill the educational demands of theprivate sector, government standardization,and system integration. The bottom-up
vector of diversification and dissimilationand the top-down vector of standardization
and assimilation have been in conflict andstruggle throughout the history of Japan’s
modern education system.
Higher education is no exception to this. Since
the Meiji government defined the standardof Imperial Universities, higher education
has taken the form of new educational

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

institutions being created in response to the
public educational demands, and once they
have grown and become socially established,
they are publicly recognized by their position
when viewed from the Imperial Universities.
Educational institutions have been given
official names (vocational schools, highschools, specialized training colleges, etc.)
and officially recognized each time theirplace in society has become settled, as if they
are individual ores that crystallize from thechaos of magma in descending order of their
melting points.
Of course, not all higher education
institutions were linearly integrated into thehierarchy with the Imperial Universities at
the top. For example, higher teaching schools
and specialist business schools formeda “collateral system” that was separate
from the Imperial Universities, and in thatsense, it can be said that Japan’s higher
education prior to the World War II had amultidimensional structure that was “diverseand specialized, and each had its own systemof advancement.”3
The General Headquarters of the Supreme
Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ) led
postwar education reform that drastically
3. Ikuo Amano, “Higher Education System Theory –Search for a Japanese Model” in Shigeo Kono and Ikuo
Arai eds., “Structure and Challenges of Contemporary
Education” Gyosei (1978), p. 180.

altered the structure of higher education.
Higher education was united in 1949
under the single designation “university”
in terms of curriculum, length, admission
procedures, instructor standards, graduation
requirements, educational circumstances,
etc. Schools that did not meet certain
standards, which were mainly girls’
educational institutions, were regarded as
junior colleges, but since they were regarded
as tentative forms that would be converted
into four-year universities, fundamentallythe simple scheme of “higher education =university education” was established.4
However, soon after this system of “higher
education Equals university education” wasformed, numerous forces were exerted
toward diversification. For example, in 1951,
the Ordinance Revision Advisory Committee
proposed dividing universities into academic“ordinary universities” and “specialized
universities” focused on the transfer of
specialized skills, and in 1962, technicalcolleges were established, leading in a new
non-university system (mostly industrial).
Nevertheless, they were never able to breakthe scheme’s framework, either in termsof influence or absolute quantity. Rather,
4. Kazuyuki Kitamura, “Institutional Structure of ‘PostSecondary Education’ in Japan” Hiroshima University,
University Education and Research Center, “University
Theory,” Vol. 7 (1979), p. 25.

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junior colleges, which had been formed asa transitional measure, had grown sociallyestablished and expanded during the decades
after the war, posing a threat to the unitaryconcept. While the university was officiallydesignated as the only conventional typeof higher education, a different path wasformed in society. However, because morethan 90% of those who used that method
were women, it could be stated that it did
not become a societal force.
On the other hand, during the period ofhigh economic growth in the 1960s and1970s, there was another set of educational
institutions that had achieved great growthboth quantitatively and qualitatively. They
were miscellaneous schools. Miscellaneous
schools are a general term for “other typesof schools” that are outside the provisionsof the School Education Act and wereeducational institutions that had no standards
thus had not been subject to review underpublic standards. However, at that time,some miscellaneous schools systematicallyprovided advanced, specialized education
over the same period as junior colleges,in response to the growing demand for
education in the private sector. As theirpower gradually increased, there wereincreasing calls from miscellaneous schoolsfor preferential legal treatment equivalent to
Article 1 schools under the School Education
Act. Then, after a decade-long movementby the National Federation of Miscellaneous
Schools as a pressure group, a specialized
training college system was established in
1975.

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

The subsequent quantitative expansion of
specialized training colleges was remarkable,
and the number of students had surpassed
that of junior colleges about ten years later.
The driving force behind this quantitative
expansion was the increase in the number of
specialized course students, especially malestudents, who qualified for admission as highschool graduates. Also, in July 1975, the “Acton Subsidies for Private Schools” (together
with an amendment to the “Private SchoolsAct”), which was enacted at the same timeas the law related to specialized training
colleges, functioned strongly as a measure
to curb the quantitative expansion of private
higher education institutions unlike anythingelse that had been seen in the post-war
era, and the fact that it applied the brakes
to overall admissions to universities also
promoted the quantitative expansion of
specialized training colleges as an alternative
course.
This movement towards diversification ofhigher education institutions is not limited
to Japan. Similar movements also occurred
around the same time as Japan’s in OECD
countries such as the United States, Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and then-West
Germany. From that time on, the OECDbegan to replace “higher education” with themore universal concept of “post-secondary
education.” However, it is difficult to saythat the term post-secondary education has
gained widespread adoption in Japan. Thisis because the idea of “university” being
the original form of higher education anddistinguishing it from other educational
institutions is still deep-rooted. However,no matter what term is used, it is certain

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

that the government must admit that insubstance a wide variety of higher education
opportunities already exists.5
The fact that the concept of higher education
has been extended to post-secondary
education means that the opportunities
for adult learners to use higher education
for lifelong learning are increasing anddiversifying. Currently, there are more thanten types of post-secondary educational
institutions that can be used as lifelong
learning opportunities in Japan. The
important ones are as follows.
1. University extension: approximately
27,000 courses per year, approximately
1,200,000 attendees per year.
2. Correspondence education at universities
and junior colleges (including OUJ): 53
schools, about 200,000 students (ofwhich about 90,000 are OUJ students).
3. Specialized training colleges andmiscellaneous schools: Approximately
3,200 specialized training colleges
and approximately 660,000 students;
approximately 1,300 miscellaneous
schools and approximately 120,000
students.
4. Private education and cultural businesses:
A total of about 6,400,000 students per
year nationwide.
5. Social correspondence education: 110
courses per year, about 53,000 students
per year.

The diversification of options describedabove has led to a wider range of choicesfrom the learner’s point of view. However,from the converse perspective of education
providers, it means that competition forcustomers will intensify under a certain scaleof demand for education. Since the peak of
the population of 18-year-olds in 1992, themarket situation has been deteriorating, andthe situation continues to exist where othermarkets must be developed separately fromthe existing customer market in order tosurvive the intensifying competition.
In that sense, adult learners are an attractive
market with large development potential.
The potential demand for education (i.e.,
willingness to learn) for adults is not low, andthe size of the market that has already been
formed is not small.

5. At the same time as the establishment of thespecialized training college system, the Higher Education Council, which is a private advisory body to the
Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture said
that “... higher education is not limited to ordinary
universities, but has a wide scope that includes theOpen University of Japan, university correspondence
education, and vocational schools.” (University Bureau,
Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture,“Planned Development of Higher Education” (1976))

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The Open University Of Japan As The
National Center Of Lifelong Learning

The Open University of Japan (OUJ) wasestablished under the auspices of the Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT), and the Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communications (MIC). It
is an accredited “correspondence university”
with the approval of MEXT. Table 1 presents
the history of OUJ since its inception as the
University of the Air.
Table 1
Brief History of the Open University of Japan(Formerly, the University of the Air)
Apr. 1983
Apr. 1985
Jan. 1998

Oct. 1998

Apr. 2001
Dec. 2006

Oct. 2007

The University of the Air(U-Air) was established
Undergraduate students
were accepted and Broadcast
Lecture Courses were started
Nationwide digital
broadcasting via CS(Communications Satellite)
was launched
Students enrolled inundergraduate degree
programs were accepted at
Study Centers throughout
Japan
The School of Graduate
Studies was established for
the Master’s Program
A terrestrial digital
broadcasting service waslaunched (for the Kanto
region only)
The University of the Air was
renamed with “The Open
University of Japan (OUJ)”The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

Oct. 2011

Oct. 2014
Apr. 2015
Apr. 2017
Apr. 2018

Oct. 2018

Nationwide digital
broadcasting via BS(Broadcast Satellite) was
launched
The Doctoral Program waslaunched at the School ofGraduate Studies
Online Courses were launched
The Center for Online
Education (COE) wasestablished
The Research Institute forLearning and Education
Strategies (RILES) wasestablished
Additional BS channel (BS232ch) were made available
to offer a variety of programs(shift from terrestrial digital
broadcasting)

MISSIONS AND PROGRAMSThe Open University of Japan is legallyclassified as “Private University” that isfunded by the Government’s “Management
Expenses Grant”.
The missions of the OUJ are as the following.
1. As a lifelong learning institution, OUJ
aims to provide a wide range of people
with opportunities for obtaining higher
education.
2. With a new framework of higher
education, OUJ aims to provide highschool graduates with flexible and mobile
opportunities to continue their learningin post-secondary education.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

3. As a higher education institution
taking advantage of the benefits of
the academic network, OUJ aims toenhance coordination and cooperation
with existing universities aspiring toconduct higher education in the new era,utilizing the latest research outcomes
and teaching methods. At the same time,with the mission of improving the qualityof higher education in our country, OUJ
aims to cooperate closely with otheruniversities by promoting credit transfer,
exchanging faculty staff, and distributing
e-learning materials.
The OUJ students consist of regular students,
non-degree students, and credit transfer
students. Regular Students enroll to graduate
with an academic degree. Non-Degree
Students enroll just subjects of interest fora semester or for an academic year. Their
purposes of the enrollment are careeradvancement, social contribution, lifelong
learning, or academic research. Credit
Transfer Students enroll to acquire credits
at OUJ and transfer to affiliated universities,
colleges, or schools. In addition, OUJ has
Graduate School consisting of Master Courseand Doctoral Courses.
The OUJ has Faculty of Liberal Arts forundergraduate education and the Graduate
School for Master and doctoral education.
Faculty of Liberal Arts offers six areas of study(Table 2) and the enrolled students mustselect one area of study and earn more than
124 credits in order to acquire a bachelor’s
degree.

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Table 2Six Areas of Study at The Faculty of Liberal
Arts
Areas of Study

Objectives

Living and Welfare

Create sustainable,high quality of life
by cultivating a deep
understanding of food,clothing, and shelter;family; health; andwelfare.

Psychology and
Education

Understand various
issues related to human
psychology and its
development throughtheir relationship withmodern society. Learn
key knowledge andapproaches necessary
to support psychologicaldevelopment andeducation, with theaim of actualizing asustainable society.

Society andIndustry

Acquire the knowledge
and skills to live ina sustainable andprosperous society byunderstanding the basic
mechanisms governing asociety and industry.

Humanities andCultureDeepen understandingof thought, literature,and the arts, andexplore the history of
the characteristics anddevelopment of modern
civilization, as well as local
cultures and societies.

Informatics

Master concepts andknowledge relating
to information and IT,
which are essential for
people living in highly
information-oriented
societies

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

Nature andEnvironment

Cultivate the capacity
to take action anddecisions contributing
to a sustainable futureby scientifically learning
about aspects of nature
and acquiring deeper
understanding of theirintrinsic qualities, aswell as recognizing therelationship between
human activities andnature.

As mentioned, in the School of Graduate
Studies, Division of Arts and Sciences, there
are Master and Doctoral Programs.
The Master Program provides opportunities
for students from various backgrounds tostudy at their own pace without leaving theiroffices or homes and aims to be a place wherestudents can obtain a degree for general
education or advanced professional studies.
The school develops human resources who
have decision-making skills based on a deep
and broad educational background and who
can commit to society with their knowledge
and vision.
The School of Graduate Studies Doctoral
Program aims to nurture high-quality
professional researchers who can overcome
challenges in local communities orworkplaces by deepening their expertise, andhave the insight to integrate those challenges
by focusing on their social and academic
meaning and to cultivate highly educatedintellectuals who can support a knowledgebased society in diverse ways by maximizing
their educational level through independentand creative research.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND TECHNOLOGY USE: BROADCASTING AND INTERNET
Credit-granting Regular Courses

Depending on the educational media, credit-granting regular courses are classified into three
categories, which are: Broadcast Lecture Courses, Online Courses and Face-to-Face Courses(Schooling).
Table 3
The Course Numbers of Broadcasting Subject, Online Subjects and Face-To-Face (F2F)
Subjects (FY2019)
1st Semester

FY2019BroadcastingTV
Under
Graduate

155

Graduate

5

Total

160

Radio

1st Semester

F2F

Online

Σ

F2F
TV

Radio

Σl

Online121 276

-

- 155

121

276

-

-

53

58

-

-

5

53

58

-

-

174 334

1.549

48 160

174

334

1.483

50

Broadcast Lecture Courses (two credits). The
materials of broadcast lecture courses consistof broadcast lecture and printed textbook.
1. Broadcast Lectures (TV, Radio, andVideo-on-Demand, VOD). OUJ offers
broadcast lectures as a series of 15
sessions per courses (45 minutes persession) through television, radio,
and VOD. More than 280 courses areavailable in undergraduate programsand 60 courses in graduate programs,
totaling approximately 340 courses (asof April 2019). About a fourth of thebroadcast lecture courses are renewed
each year, as the lifecycle is four years inprinciple.

2. Printed Textbooks. The OUJ courses aredesigned to be studied through both
broadcast lectures and textbooks, which
are specially written for each of thecourses by the OUJ academic staff and/or other experts in the given field. Someof the textbooks are highly valued by thegeneral public, even after terminationof the courses; some are revised witha fresh look and sold as the “OUJ Book
Series.”Online Courses (one or two credits). OUJ
started offering full online courses in 2016
and, comparing to other open universities,
the history is short. These courses are
created by course teams that include
the instructor(s), instructional designers,
production staff members, and a program
manager. OUJ is planning to expand the lineup of online courses in coming years.

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Table 4
Transition of Online Subjects

Year Semester
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

1st
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
1st
2nd
1st

Subjects
Newly
Developed
11
13
12
2
10
14
12

Subjects
Operated
2
2
10
13
20
26
38
48
50
61

The Online Education programs at OUJ
is delivered in both Synchronous andAsynchronous Modes. For the “Online
Subject” in Credit-granting regular courses,
they can be categorized as follows.
1. Moodle courses in asynchronous modes
These online courses utilize the learning
management system (LMS) “Moodle” todeliver video lectures as well as readingmaterials online, so that students canstudy anytime and anywhere. Online
quizzes given at the end of eachsession are given to assess students’
understanding of the materials andstudents receive immediate feedback
after taking these quizzes. In order toimprove interactivity and to assure thequality of learning, students can ask
questions directly to the instructors andparticipate in online forums to discussmaterials with peers.

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

PICT
LANDS

Student learning activities and assessment
methods are designed according to theobjectives of each course. Simulation
tools and online group learning methods
are adopted depending upon the subject.
2. Online Classroom courses in synchronous
modesThis mode was developed in the midst of
the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 in order tocope with the closure of classrooms at the
Study Centers. By using a teleconference
system (“Zoom”) and/or “Google
Classroom”, lectures and practicums
were held in synchronous modes. Whilemost participants in traditional face-toface classes are confined to those whohave enrolled at a local Study Center,
students from all across the country wereable to participate in Online Classroom
courses, demonstrating the value of ICT.
In the year 2020, 80 Online Classroom
courses were offered.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

TURE
SCAPE

Face-to-Face Courses (Schooling, one
credit). Classroom sessions, known as“schooling,” along with broadcast lectures,are pivotal in teaching and learning at OUJ.
These sessions cover a wide-ranging of
subject characteristics under the Faculty of
Liberal Arts. In addition to the usual lecturesand hands-on experiments, the face-toface sessions sometimes include a variety
of formats such as fieldwork and on-site
observation visits. Classroom sessions areusually designed, planned, and held at the
Study Centers throughout the country. The
Study Centers in each location offer not only
general courses, but also courses in distinctive
subjects unique to the given region, such as
local history and culture, industry, nature,and so on. Furthermore, several Study
Centers collaborate with nearby universities
and research facilities to offer such courses.

OUJ has 50 Study Centers (4 in Tokyo), 7
Satellite Spaces, and 64 Audio-visual Rooms
throughout Japan. The Study Centers are used
for conducting face-to-face class sessions andcredit accreditation examinations. Tutorials
and academic counseling are also offered atthese centers. In addition, the Study Centersis also equipped with facilities for students
to view or listen to broadcast lectures, andlibrary services. Study Centers also function
as venues for students to hold extracurricularand social activities.
The Study Centers are located on thecampuses of public or private universities,
or in municipal facilities. The Satellite Spaces
and Audio-visual Rooms provide easieraccess to the abovementioned facilities tothose students who live far away from the
Study Centers in their prefectures.

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Non-credit Courses

Lifelong Learning Channel. OUJ broadcasts
are designed to satisfy people’s different
requirements for lifetime learning bypresenting lectures on TV as extension
programs, building on the academic experienceof OUJ faculty while simultaneously breaking
away from beyond the traditional frameworkof higher education. In FY2019, there were
218 TV programs produced for the Lifelong
Learning Channel, with 190 in FY2020.
Non-credit Extension Courses. Working in
partnership with relevant organizations,OUJ provides open access courses designed
to develop professional skills that will help
accelerate career development. Upon
successful completion of these courses, OUJ
issues both a certificate of completion anda digital badge. These courses are intended
to bring flexibility to learning pathways andto meet the needs of diverse members of alifelong learning society. Anyone can enroll inthese courses, whether they are OUJ students
or non-students. In 2020, eight new courses
are planned to be provided with digital badge
issuing services (two for school programming
education, five for mathematical/data
sciences and AI, etc.).
Table 5
The List of OUJ Extension Courses
Academic
Year (April
to March)

Numberof Badges
IssuedElementary School
Programming
Education: An
Introduction

2020

366

Teaching Method of
Scratch Programming

2020

206

Course Title

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICES
MOOCs

Before OUJ launched official online courses
in April 2015, OUJ participated in Japan’s
MOOC consortium JMOOC in October 2013as a founding member, released one of the
JMOOC platform services, and publishedsome MOOCs.
In April 2014, OUJ offered two MOOCs as thefirst release from JMOOC. One of the courses
was “NIHONGO STARTER (Japanese primer)”,which was based on the Japan Foundation’s
standards for Japanese language learningand the Common European Framework ofReference for Languages (CEFR). The other
MOOC was “Computer System”, which was
remixed from an OUJ regular TV course (thePrincipal Lecturer was Yoichi Okabe, former
president of OUJ). The OUJ-MOOC platform
was based on the CHiLO Book system, which
was developed by CCC-TIES, a JapaneseNPO. Considering the diversity of users’ ICT
environments, they adopted a combinationof eBook (specifically, e-pub 3.0 and iBook),
traditional LMS (Moodle) and several
social media services such as Facebook(for registration and learner community),
YouTube (for video delivery) and Mozilla
Open Badge (for certification, Open Badge
version 1).
In 2017, OUJ retreated from the MOOC
platform service and the courses weremoved to the Asia Learning Portal managed
by Asian Association of Open Universities(AAOU0 and the University of the Philippine
Open University (UPOU).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

The Open Educational Resources (OERs)
movement was initiated under the leadershipof the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) and UNESCO. OER as a term wasintroduced at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on
Open Courseware and defined as “teaching,learning and research materials in any
medium – digital or otherwise – that residein the public domain or have been released
under an open license that permits no-costaccess, use, adaptation and redistribution
by others with no or limited restrictions”(UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia,
2017, p. 1). Open licensing is built within theexisting framework of intellectual property
rights as defined by relevant international
conventions and respects the authorship of
the work.
At the second World OER Congress in
Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2017, sustainable
development and management, quality
assurance, copyright and open license, as
well as technical support using advanced
search systems were identified as the main
issues for OER. As for the contribution fromtechnologies, while the storage and discovery
of OERs was the priority issue, new uses of
OERs were put in the spotlight in the context
of digital transformation. At the 40th sessionof the General Conference of UNESCO (12-27
November 2019), a new recommendation on
OERs for member countries was approved.

The Japanese government voted for the
new recommendation and the results werereported to and approved by the National
Diet in November 2020. Pursuant to a requestfrom Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT), an OUJ
member joined the UNESCO OER Dynamic
Coalition as an expert.
OUJ has participated in some OER
movements as an institution that promotes
open education. Since its establishment,
OUJ’s broadcast materials have been
available free of charge to people who
are within the coverage of a broadcastingstation and have a TV and/or radio receiver.
With the popularization of the Internet andmobile devices, OUJ launched a VOD service
for accessing broadcast materials and mostcurrent students utilize it as the main content
delivery medium. Some of the VOD materials
are openly available as OERs and anyone
can access them from the OUJ webpage(https://v.ouj.ac.jp/view/ouj/#/navi/home,
only in Japanese). OUJ has continued to use
the traditional name “OpenCourseware” andas of March 2021 the number of available
subjects is 41 courses (consisting of 15 unitseach) and 145 units from different courses
and programs. In addition, OUJ is a memberof Open Education Japan (Formerly, Japan
OpenCourseware Consortium) and Japan
Massive Open Online Education Promotion
Council (JMOOC).

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RESEARCH FINDINGS IN THE LAST FIVEYEARS AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY
PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVESOpen universities throughout the world havesought to implement available technologies
which are sustainable in given contexts inorder to fulfill the missions given to them bysociety and government and to realize theirobjectives. When the OUJ was established in
1983, the innovative media were televisionand broadcasting. The National Institute ofMultimedia Education (NIME) was organized
to launch OUJ and to support the researchand development of broadcasting education.
“Multimedia” in the name of NIME
referred to broadcasting (TV and radio) andprinted materials (textbooks) at that time.
Unfortunately, NIME was abolished in 2009
in the midst of the administrative reform
but its functions were partially succeededby research groups and institutes affiliatedwith OUJ (currently, the Center for Online
Education, COE, established in April 2017).

This program was launched in April 2019 andthe digital badges began to be issued in 2020.
The first series of open online certification
courses were developed for “Programming
Education Program,” intended primarily forelementary school teachers.
The digital badges are technically based on
IMS Open Badge Version 2 (OBv2) and an
OUJ Validator site is planned to be launchedin 2021 for the secondary consumers of thebadges. Every badge has its own metadata
and recipients can confirm the information
using the AOBA Student Portal. OUJ digitalbadges are based on Open Badge version 2(OBv2, IMS Global Learning Consortium) andthe information contained in OBv2 badges
issued by other institutions can also be
displayed. An example of the digital badge
and its metadata are shown in Figure 1 and 2.
Figure 1
An Image of A Digital Badge*

Digital Badges and Micro Credentials

While the “Lifelong Learning” program
courses do not earn credit that is transferable
to any formal courses at OUJ, “certificates”
are issued after the student fulfills thecompletion requirements. The program is
micro-credential-oriented and the course
size is smaller. While the course materials aredelivered through BS-TV or the Internet (i.e.
video streaming), the evaluation is held only
through the online e-learning system, which
is outsourced to a cloud service provider.
Each online learner fulfills the course
assessment criteria and the learning platform
automatically issues both printed andelectronic certificates, that is, digital badges.

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)*Issued to certify the completion of“elementary school programming education
program” for teachers. Various metadata
information is embedded in the image file(png format)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 2
An Example of the Metadata Description
Embedded in an OUJ-AOBA Digital Badge

Prospects

The state of Japanese university education
has also been greatly influenced by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Remote learning similar
to OUJ is being conducted on a daily basis
even at general universities. As a result, theboundary between remote higher education
institutions such as OUJ and general
universities is also becoming extremelyvague. Even general universities, which havetraditionally conducted only face-to-facelessons, have begun to incorporate online
lectures into their classes and conduct entire
courses online.

To maintain the relative advantage ofstudying at OUJ under such circumstances,
it is necessary to restructure the curriculum,
improve lessons, and reform the organization
with the aim to further improving theefficiency and quality of the education.
Reforms are also indispensable for responding
to the new normal, which is the new societal
conditions that are expected after the
COVID-19 pandemic ends. The expected andanticipated near-future image of OUJ can besummarized as follows.
1. Promotion of recurrent education
Enhancing the quality and quantity of
OUJ practical recurrent education inaccordance with the national government
and especially the MEXT’s “Adult Relearning and Career Advancement”
policy. For this, OUJ will increase thenumber of vocational qualificationrelated courses by actively utilizing
various courses such as television, radio,
and online. In particular, courses related
to data science, AI, nursing, and teaching
will be important points. This will strongly
attract students in their teens and 20s
to 40s, whose student numbers are
increasing (see Figure 3).

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Figure 3
Number of Applicants for Admission by Age Group (Undergraduate)

2. Enhancement of online courses
The current situation in which students use the Internet more than broadcasting is shownin the figure below. In response to this, OUJ will qualitatively and quantitatively enhancethe online subjects (on-demand lessons using the Internet), which are highly rated fortheir convenience by students as learners. However, at present, the OUJ curriculum iscentered around broadcasting. Therefore, after reviewing the regulations and improving
the production system to promptly eliminate the bottleneck in increasing online subjects,
the number of courses available will be increased from 61 (combined undergraduate
and graduate school total) in 2020 to about 120 in 2025 (currently, the total number ofcourses is about 370).
Figure 4
How OUJ Students View Broadcast Lessons (2020)

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

3. Conducting face-to-face lessons online
As a response to the COVID-19
pandemic, all face-to-face schoolingin the first semester of 2020 was
conducted online. As a result, theadvantages of simultaneous interactive
lessons online became clear. Since thethreat of the pandemic is expected tocontinue for some time, the conducting
face-to-face lessons partially online andhybrid lessons (high-flex type / blendedtype) will be progressed, based on theexperience of the first semester of 2020.
Through this, it is certain that it will beeasier for students living in remote areas
and remote islands to take lessons thatare equivalent to face-to-face schooling.
4. Promotion of research and developmentof media educationAfterempiricallyexaminingtheappropriate allocation ratio between
broadcast lessons and lessons via othermedia, based on the advantages andweaknesses of various teaching forms of
e-learning, OUJ will establish a “Media
Education Research and Development
Center” (tentative name) as the mainorganization in charge of the systematic
research, development, planning, andproduction of media lessons. This can bethought of as a reduced version of theformer National Institute for Multimedia
Education. The target of research anddevelopment is not limited to online
subjects. Media education has always
been the most important theme fordemonstrating research capabilities at
OUJ.

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5. Internet-Based Testing (IBT)In the past, the venue, date and time ofcredit exams were fixed (the exam could
only be taken at a fixed study center on a
fixed date and time), which reduced thedegree of freedom in choosing subjects
and restricted the admission of overseas
residents. The promising solution is toconduct exams using IBT. The OUJ will
establish effective measures to deal withthe following three points: (1) identity
verification, (2) misconduct monitoring
during the exam, and (3) preparing
students who are unfamiliar with theInternet, with the aim of conducting
credit exams using IBT by 2022.
6. Conversion of the Study Centers’ function
The study centers’ function will alsochange due to changes in the educational
system, such as the conversion of
face-to-face lessons to online and theintroduction of IBT exams, as discussed sofar. In the past, the focus of the centers’role was the conduct of credit exams andthe provision of face-to-face lessons,but the focus will shift to functioning
as the core (hub) of lifelong learning
activities within the region. In order tosupplement the ties between students
that are becoming weaker due to theprogress of e-learning, the function as aphysical location for students to gather
will become more and more important.
We will improve this function and further
increase the importance of the learning
center as a location. At the same time,education on digital skills at the learning
centers will be enhanced. Like first-year
education at a regular university, the

The Open University of Japan (OUJ)

learning centers will be placed where
remote learning alone is insufficient.
7. Cooperation with other universities
Utilizing the merits of our remoteeducation system, we will collaborate
with regular universities. By collaboratingwith universities that do not have acorrespondence course, we will expand
the use of our classes at other universities.
We will also actively consider adopting atransfer system (a method of acquiringa regular university’s bachelor’s degree
by studying cheaply at OUJ for the firsttwo years then studying at the regular
university for the second two years,
similar to the transfer system at American
community colleges).
8. Enhancement of research functions
Until now, OUJ has not progressed
towards becoming a research university
due to insufficient development of theresearch environment. In order to solve
this, a standing council or committee
will be established to consider matters
including (1) conditions for improving
the research ability of young faculty
members, (2) measures to enhanceresearch guidance in the doctoral
programs and steadily confer degrees,and (3) the formation of an advanced
knowledge platform for doctoral
students and graduates to participate inundergraduate guidance, and detailed
studies will be conducted to pave the way
towards becoming a research university.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

9. Promotion of IR / IE systems
Institutional
Research(IR)
andInstitutional Effectiveness (IE) systems
will be established and their activities
will be promoted. All data about theFoundation and the university (including
learning analytics data) will be aggregatedby the IR office. The aim of the IR officewill be to systematize the IE cycle byaggregating and analyzing various types of
information and providing the necessary
evidence. (The orange part in the figureon the next page). In addition, we will
introduce a (paid) online monitoring
system to obtain fast evaluations andsuggestions for university policy. We will
also participate in the “National Student
Survey” led by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology,
which is scheduled to be conductedin the very near future, and promotecomparative research with otheruniversities based on the data. Regarding
public relations activities to promote
OUJ’s presence and its activities, we will
actively utilize the above IR data to moveaway from advertising based on image
strategy to evidence-based advertising.
These reforms and practices arefundamentally due to measures against
COVID-19, but even once the pandemic
ends and society becomes familiar witha new normal, the above-mentioned
trend can no longer be stopped. Sucheducation at OUJ must also become partof the “new normal.”

REFERENCES

D’Antoni, S. (2007). Sharing content: accessto knowledge. International Institutefor Educational Planning Newsletter,
XXV(2),
http://www.unesco.org/iiep/
eng/newsletter/2007/apre07.pdf.
Haghseta , F. (2004). MIT OpenCourseWare:A new model for open sharing. Paper
presented at 2004 NIME International
Symposium. National Institute ofMultimedia Education, Japan.
Iiyoshi, T., & Kumar, V. (2008). Opening up
education: The collective advancementof education through open technology,
open content, and open knowledge. MIT
Press.
Japan Massive Open Online Education
Promotion Council (JMOOC) https://www.jmooc.jp/en/
Miyagawa, S. (2003). Using technology toadvance the humanities agenda. Paper
presented at 2003 NIME Seminar (13thJune 2003, NIME). National Institute ofMultimedia Education, Japan.
Open Education Japan (OE Japan). https://oe-japan.netlify.app/
UNESCO. (2012). 2012 Paris OER declaration.
UNESCO.
http://www.unesco.org/
new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/
CI/CI/pdf/Events/Paris%20OER%20
Declaration_01.pdf.
UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia(2017). Ljubliana OER Action Plan 2017.
Second World OER Congress (Ljubljana,
18-20 September 2017).

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The Open
University of
Sri Lanka(OUSL)

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06 The Open

Universityof Sri Lanka:
High-Quality
Education for
All ThroughInclusivity andAffordability
S. A. Ariadurai
The Open University of
Sri Lanka

ESTABLISHMENT

Education in Sri Lanka has a long history whichdates to several millennia. As a country, Sri
Lanka considers education as a wealth and thestate has taken the responsibility of providing
education to its citizens from the primarylevel to the tertiary level, including vocational
education. The Constitution of Sri Lanka, in
its section on directive principles of statepolicy at 27(2)(H), includes ‘the complete
eradication of illiteracy and the assurance toall persons of the right to universal and equal
access to education at all levels’.
Even though there have been a few private
local schools teaching the Sri Lankan
curriculum and private international
schools mainly teaching the Cambridge andEdexcel curriculum of the United Kingdom,
higher education has been until recently
monopolized by several conventional
state universities; and the only distanceeducation institution, the Open University of
Sri Lanka (OUSL). However, in recent years,
the Government of Sri Lanka has allowed“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

The new mission of OUSL is to provide lifelong learning
opportunities through Open, Distance and Flexible
Education with a commitment to excellence in teaching
and research.

private sector to offer degrees from overseas
universities on a franchise arrangement and avery limited institutes their own degrees. Dueto the limited places in the higher education
sector, participation in higher education in
Sri Lanka is exceptionally low with a General
Enrolment Ratio of only about 20%, whichis among the lowest of all middle-income
countries, the group to which Sri Lanka
belongs.
Introduction of non-conventional higher
education in Sri Lanka could be traced backto 1972 when the Government of Sri Lanka
established the External Services Agency(ESA) under the purview of the University of

Sri Lanka to register candidates for external
examinations conducted by the University.
Regular distance education was introduced
to Sri Lanka through the establishment of Sri
Lanka Institute of Distance Education (SLIDE)
by the Ministry of Education in 1976. Its
objective was to provide tertiary educationin the fields of mathematics, science,
management, and technical studies for thosedenied higher education in six conventional
universities at that juncture. The teaching
methodology was printed material withperiodical face-to-face sessions to discuss thestudy material, laboratory work at selected
centres and continuous assessment throughassignments.

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The Open University of Sri Lanka as
ODE-Based Institution

The OUSL was ceremonially launched on June
19, 1980, at a function held in Bandaranaike
Memorial International Conference Hall(BMICH) in Colombo under the patronizationof the then President of Sri Lanka HE LateJ R Jayawardana. However, it was legallyinstituted as a University on July 22, 1980,
through a government gazette notificationand came into being from this day.
As the OUSL launched its operations, it took
over two existing institutes, namely the
Sri Lanka Institute of Distance Education(SLIDE) and the External Services Agency(ESA) along with some of the programs
which were already offered by these
institutes:
Postgraduate
Diplomain
Education, Postgraduate Certificate in PreSchool Education, Certificate in Professional
English, Diploma in Management, Diploma
in Science, Diploma in Mathematics, andDiploma in Technology. The challenge given
to the OUSL was to convert these programs
which were conducted as external programs
to pure distance mode and offer them.
This challenge was taken up by the staff of
the OUSL, and in the year 1981, the first
purely distance education program, thePost Graduate Diploma in Education, withan annual enrolment of 1,000 students waslaunched by the new university. In the same
year, another program, the Certificate in PreSchool Education with an annual intake of
400 students, was also launched.
Later in the year 2003, the Government of
Sri Lanka launched the Distance Education
Modernization Project (DEMP), aided by

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

the Asian Development Bank to significantly
increase the resources for modern
technology use in distance education in
Sri Lanka, with greater emphasis to online
education. Through the development of
distance education technologies, especiallyonline education, the project aimed toincrease access to post-secondary educationin Sri Lanka while improving the quality andrelevance of learning by introducing bothblended learning programmes and fully
online programmes. Though this project
immensely helped the OUSL to expand
and develop online capabilities, one of theobjectives of attracting other state and nonstate sector higher educational institutes toembark on distance learning did not have theexpected results.
Another significant development in offering
distance education programs in Sri Lanka
was the circular issued by the University
Grants Commission in 2010 requiring all theconventional universities to transform their
existing external examination units into fully
fledged Open and Distance Learning Units andrenaming their External Degree Programmes
and Extension Courses Units (EDECU)
to either Centre for Open and Distance
Learning (CODL) and Centre for Distanceand Continuing Education (CDCE). This wasfollowed up by issuing a Manual for Quality
Assurance of External Degree Programmes
and Extension Courses in 2014, to provide
guidance to conventional universities, andhigher educational institutions/institutes
offering external degree programmes
and extension courses through Open andDistance Learning (ODL).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

In 1992 the Ministry of Public Administrationof the Government of Sri Lanka issued acircular stipulating all the degrees awarded
at the same level by different Universities in
Sri Lanka coming under the purview of the
University Grants Commission, including theOpen University in Sri Lanka, shall be treatedas equivalents. Through this initiative theGovernment of Sri Lanka ensured that thedegrees awarded by the OUSL are treated as
equivalent to degrees awarded by any other
Universities that come under the purview of
the University Grants Commission. Further,
the OUSL enjoys the same academic andlegal status as any other National University
in Sri Lanka based on an act passed in the Sri
Lankan Parliament and the recognition givenby the University Grants Commission.
The OUSL, which has completed forty yearsof service to the nation in 2020, has madesignificant inroads into the higher education
sector by providing alternative pathwaysfor education to working adults and young

adults, who had chosen the opportunity wehave provided. The OUSL currently has a
student population of more than 40,000 on
roll, making it the largest higher educational
institute in the country. Further, the OUSL
is the only university in the country thatprovides learning opportunities to all its
students almost at their doorsteps, throughthe network of Regional and Study Centres
spread throughout the country.
Globally, the OUSL is one of the oldest ODL
universities, being the second oldest in South
Asia after Allama Iqbal Open University in
Pakistan. Even though now there are manyother Open Universities which are muchlarger than the OUSL, the OUSL remains to
be one of the very few ODL universities thatoffer programs in wide varieties of fields
including, engineering, sciences, healthsciences, management, humanities, andeducation. From the humble beginnings ina small area in Colombo suburb, where thecampus was identified to be established

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in early 1980s, the university has now
expanded to become the largest university
in the country in terms of student numbers
and reach, with its presence in every districtof the country.

Early Innovations as Foundations to the
Academic System

When the University commenced its
operations, many innovative approaches
which were not in practice in the Sri Lankan
education sector, were introduced into
its system which have now become thenorm in other conventional universities in
Sri Lanka. One of the earliest innovations
introduced by the new university was a typeof scaffolding system through which learners
could proceed from fundamental knowledge
to mastery at an acceptable level. Thus, aLadder of Opportunity, with a frameworkof different levels from Level 1 to Level 7
were introduced in place of the traditional
year-based progress of students. Today thesystem of levels introduced by the pioneersof the OUSL has become the norm in the
country through the establishment of the Sri
Lanka Qualification Framework (SLQF), where
12 levels of tertiary education have beenrecognized. The first two levels (Levels 1 and

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

2) are pre-university levels while Levels 3 to 6
belong to the undergraduate studies. Levels
7 to 10 correspond to postgraduate studies,with Level 7 at postgraduate certificate andLevel 8 postgraduate diploma. Levels 9 and
10, respectively, belong to the Masters’degree of one year and two years (including
a research component) duration. While Level
11 belongs to the MPhil (totally researchbased), Level 12 is the doctoral (PhD) level.
The OUSL too has now adopted this standard
SLQF.
Another unique aspect that was introduced
at the inception of the OUSL was assigningcredits to the quantum of work carried out
by the learner. Though the definition of
credit has changed from what it was at the
inception, the concept of attributing credit
ratings has now been nationally accepted.
Accordingly, in Sri Lankan higher education
system one credit is defined as 45 to 50
Notional Learning Hours (NLH). The OUSL
too has adopted this system with a slight
modification to suit the distance education
scenario. Table 1 describes the way the NLH
are calculated at the OUSL to assign credits tothe individual courses.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Table 1
Description of Notional Learning Hours (NLH) at OUSLType of Activity
Studying printed lesson material which
includes reading and understanding
the session, completing the activities
in the sessions, preparations for day
schools and all other learning activities
related to the printed session

OUSL Defined /Scheduled Unit

Numberof NLHOne session

5 hours

For practical work, including laboratory 1 hour/ field work/ clinical work / microteaching / teaching practicum

1.5 hours

Day school

1 hour

1 hourAssessment/assignment

1 hour

1 hourOn-line support

1 hour

1 hour

Literature search

1 hour

1 hourWriting dissertation

1 hour

1 hourContinuous Assessment (CA) and acquiring aminimum mark for the CA to obtain eligibility
to sit the Final Assessment is another novel
concept introduced by the young university,
which again has now become a norm in the
Sri Lankan university system.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Every five years, the university develops a
Corporate Plan and a Strategic Management
Plan (SMP) envisaging the strategies thatare planned to be adopted by the university
and the action plans to achieve them basedon national plans and other developments

Comments

For each 1 hour oflaboratory/ field/ clinicalstudies scheduled by
OUSL, half an hour of
independent studies isrecommended. Notional
learning hours include
time allocated for
conducting practical work,
preparation, writing any
reports and the time
allotted for assessmentsthat are taking place around the world. The
existing plan covers the years 2021 to 2025.
Based on the SMP, action plans are identified
for every year. The Council of the university
monitors the Action Plan of the year on aquarterly basis and ensures that the plans are
implanted accordingly.
With the introduction of the new Corporate
and Strategic Management plans in 2021,
the university revised its vision and mission
statements which were in existence for thelast ten years or so. Accordingly, the new
vision statement of the OUSL reads as to

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attain excellence in life-changing educationby providing equitable learning opportunities
and the new mission statement is to provide
lifelong learning opportunities throughOpen, Distance and Flexible Education witha commitment to excellence in teaching andresearch.
Based on these new visions and mission
statements, six goals for the university forthe next five years starting from 2021 havebeen devised. These goals are as follows.
Goal 1:
Achieve excellence in quality of teaching
and learning which support life-changing
education.
Goal 2:
Achieve excellence in research, along with
global visibility and recognition.
Goal 3:
Improve human capital and infrastructure
facilities.
Goal 4:
Widen access to education and enhance
opportunities for Life-Changing Education.
Goal 5:
Ensure high quality educational support
services.
Goal 6:
Ensuresocialresponsiveness.

andenvironmental

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

Further, for each of the goals, a number ofobjectives and corresponding strategies
to achieve these objectives have beendeveloped. Accordingly, a total of twentyeight (28) objectives and seventy-six (76)strategies are in place. Further, for each of thestrategies, action plans have been developed
to achieve the planned strategies and theseactions plans are monitored on a quarterly
basis, by the Centre for Quality Assuranceof the university and a quarterly report is
submitted to the Council of the University.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMThe Organizational Structure

Even though the OUSL when established
had a different management system tothat of the conventional universities, in theyear 1987 the university’s management
structure was converted to one that is similar
to the conventional universities, with theintroduction of the first OUSL ordinance by
the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Accordingly,
the Governing Authority of the University
is a Council which is chaired by the ViceChancellor who is the Chief Executive
Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of
the University. The Council of the University
comprises of all the Deans of the Faculties,
two Representatives of the Senate and the
Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University. In
addition, the University Grants Commission
appoints a specified number of external
Council Members, one more than the internal
members, as in the case of the conventional
universities in Sri Lanka. However, for the
OUSL there are three additional appointed
members, one from the Ministry of Higher
Education, one from the Ministry of Mass

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Communication and one representing the Committee of the Vice-Chancellors of Sri Lanka.
The Registrar of the University, who is the chief custodian of the university properties and isin-charge of the non-academic affairs of the University acts as the secretary of the Council.
Figure 1 illustrates the organizational structure of the OUSL.
The highest academic body of the University is the Senate which is chaired by the Vice
Chancellor and comprises all the Deans of the Faculties, Heads of the Academic Departments,
Directors of the various entities of the university, Librarian, and representatives from Faculties.
Each Faculty of the University will have its own Faculty Board chaired by the relevant Dean torecommend proposals to the Senate.
Figure 1
Organizational Structure

The university has a Chancellor who is the ceremonial head of the institute who presides over
the annual convocation of the University. The first ordinance (legal governance document
passed by the parliament of Sri Lanka which stipulates the legal conduct of the university) of
the OUSL based on which the university was established was later replaced by a new ordinance

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in 1991, which is still in place albeit necessary
amendments being introduced over the years
to cater the new developments that took
place over time. As the existing ordinanceneeds revisions to reflect the changes thathave taken place in the university and in
the higher education sector in the country
and the overseas, the university has now
recommended to the UGC that the existing
ordinance be replaced by a new one to cater
the new and future development of theuniversity.
The Regional Educational Services (RES) whichis the backbone of the University too wasestablished at the inception of the university,with about thirteen (13) centres island-widesituated mostly in the Government TechnicalColleges. From these modest beginnings,
by 1994 the university had expanded tohave four Regional Centres and a few Study
Centres in some of the provincial towns,
mostly in its own buildings. Major expansionof the Regional Educational Services took
place with the dawn of the new century
when permanent buildings were built inmany of the Regional and Study Centres. In
the last decade, the university has further
expanded its reach to the entire country
with nine (09) Regional Centres, one each inevery province of Sri Lanka and nineteen (19)Study Centres covering every district of thecountry. Currently the university has its own
permanent buildings in twenty-three (23)of the centres. Five of the centres currently
operate in rented buildings, though thegovernment authorities in those areas haveallocated lands for establishing permanentcentres in the future. Figure 2 illustrates thelocations of the Regional and Study centres.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

Figure 2
Location of Regional and Study Centres of the
OUSL

Organizationally, the OUSL is fully owned by
the state and comes under the purview of
the University Grants Commission (UGC) of
Sri Lanka. Apart from the OUSL, there are
sixteen (16) other conventional universities
governed by the UGC. Even though all sixteen
conventional universities are fully funded by
the Government of Sri Lanka, in the case of
the OUSL, the Government partially funds
the university in the form of wages of all
the permeant staff and required Capital
Grants for approved developments. The
rest of the expenditure of the university is
met through generated funds, of which themain contribution comes from the tuition fee
charged from the students. Therefore, the
OUSL is the only fee-levying state university in
Sri Lanka. However, as the substantial portionof the fund comes from the state (nearly 65%

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

to develop and offer study programs. In
the period between 1982 and 1984, theUniversity launched its first-degree programin the form of the Bachelor of Laws – LLB.
Later, a degree program in Natural Sciences
commenced in 1983. These programs arestill in existence, of course with necessary
revisions made along the way.
of the expenditure), the fee levied by theuniversity is substantially low, thus making it
an affordable higher educational institute forthe entire population of Sri Lanka. Further,to cater the financial needs of the students
who are from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds, the university offers manyneed-based scholarships and bursaries. Thesebursaries are in addition to number of merit
scholarships offered without considering the
economic background of the students.

The Academic Programs

When the University commenced its
operations, two Boards of Studies, one
in Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)
and the other in Management, Scienceand Technology (MST) were established

The Certificate in Technology programs,
which were inherited from the earlier
institutes, were upgraded to Diploma inTechnology in 1985 and later to Bachelor ofTechnology (Engineering) in new disciplines
such as Energy Engineering, Transport
Engineering, Water Resources Engineeringand Computer Engineering. These were
the first professional degree programs in
Engineering offered by an Open and Distance
Learning institute anywhere in the world.
Later in 1989, on the insistence of the UGC,
the University was forced to change thespecializations in the engineering to themore conventional fields as offered by otherconventional universities. The University
currently has six fully fledged faculties and
30 academic departments. These six faculties

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through their academic departments offer
educational programs in study areas of Social
Sciences, English Language, Law, Library
Sciences, Management, Education, Natural
Sciences, Industrial Studies in Agriculture,
Textiles, Apparel and Fashion, Engineering,Nursing, Medical Laboratory Sciences,
Psychology and Pharmacy leading to Degrees,
Diplomas and Certificates. Table 2 lists these
Faculties and Departments.

Table 2
Faculties and Academic Departments of the
OUSL
Faculties
Education

Engineering
Technology

Department
Early Childhood andPrimary Education
Secondary and Tertiary
Education
Special Needs Education
Educational Leadership andManagement
Agricultural and Plantation
Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Mathematics andPhilosophy of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Textile and ApparelTechnology

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

HealthSciences

Basic Sciences
Health Education andResearch
Medical Laboratory
Sciences
NursingPharmacy
Psychology and Counselling
Humanities
English Language Teaching
and Social
Language Studies
Sciences
Legal Studies
Social Sciences
Management Accounting and FinanceStudies
Human Resources
Management
Marketing Management
Organizational Studies
NaturalBotanySciences
ChemistryComputer Science
Mathematics
Physics
Zoology
Being an institution that promotes lifelong
learning, there is no strict admission criteriaother than being over 18 years of age, and theentry point to the university will be decided by
the qualifications of the applicant. Currently
the university offers 75 academic programs
at Certificate, Advanced Certificate, Diploma,
Higher Diploma, Bachelors and Masters’level and several short courses. Foundation
courses in Science and Social Science arealso offered to provide an avenue for those
who do not have the requisite school level
entry qualifications to degree programs.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Furthermore, there are opportunities toregister for programs leading to research
degrees such as MPhil and PhD. All academic
programs of the university are carefully
designed so that they are nationally relevant
and conform to the guidelines laid down in
Sri Lanka Qualification Framework (SLQF) andhave received the approval of the Quality
Assurance and Accreditation Council (QAAC)
of the UGC.

Noteworthy Programs and Initiatives

One of the uniqueness of the OUSL incomparison to other open universities
around the world is its offering of sciencebased degree programs, including an
accredited degree in engineering, which ison par with the engineering degrees offeredby the conventional universities in Sri Lanka.
Therefore, in this section it is proposed todescribe this initiative of the OUSL for the
benefit of other open universities around theglobe.
The OUSL embarked on offering sciencebased programs from the very beginning
itself. A dedicated Board of Study named
Management, Science and Technology
was established to offer these programs.
Currently of the six faculties of the university,
threefaculties
namelyEngineering
Technology, Health Sciences and Natural
Sciences are science-based faculties. They
currently offer programs in the areas ofAgricultural and Plantation Engineering,
Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering,Electrical Engineering, Electronics andCommunication Engineering, MechanicalEngineering, Mechatronics Engineering,and Textiles and Clothing Engineering.

Further, degrees are available in the areasof Nursing, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory
Technology, Psychology, and all the fields ofnatural sciences including Botany, Chemistry,
Pure and Applied Mathematics, Physics andZoology. Programs are also offered in theareas of Software Engineering and Computer
Science.
One of the main components of any sciencebased program is the laboratory work. All thescience-based programs of the OUSL thus
have compulsory laboratory components
and students are required to attend thesepractical sessions as part of their studies.
However, the university offers these sessions
at most of its Regional Centres where scienceand engineering laboratories have been
established, thus enabling the students
to attend them without much difficulty.
Moreover, many departments conduct theselaboratory classes over several different
sessions, including sessions during theweekends, thus providing the students anopportunity to choose a session convenientto them. Only certain laboratory classesof higher level in the engineering program
requires the students to come to the Main
Campus in Colombo due to the lack of
expensive equipment in all the centres. Even
then in every possible instance the university
provides mobile laboratory service whereby
the staff travel to the centre along withthe equipment and conduct the laboratory
sessions nearer to the location of the student.
Whenever students are required to visit
the Main Campus, they are provided withaccommodation in the Temporary Residential
Facilities available in the Main Campus.

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Further, as in any conventional sciencebased programs other activities such as
projects, field work, field visits, clinicals,
industrial placements and other appropriate
academic activities are part of the programand are compulsory. However, as manyof the students are employed, they may
be able to obtain exemptions to someof these components if they have therelevant experience. The science-based
programs offered by the university havebeen accredited by the relevant professionalorganizations and are very well accepted andrecognized by the employers. In fact, overthe last few years the OUSL graduates havebagged many first prizes for projects andinternships competing with the graduates of
the conventional universities.

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND
TECHNOLOGY USE

As an institution that practices open anddistance learning methodology, the OUSL
heavily depends on printed and electronic
lesson materials, augmented using modern
technologies. The university has a dedicatedcentre for educational technology named
Centre for Educational Technology andMedia (CETMe), which through the University
Course Development Committee (UCDC) sets
the standards and monitors the developmentof the self-instructional printed learningmaterials of the university. The Centre also
takes the responsibility of training all thepermanent and contract staff in developing
self-instructional learning materials.
The University started experimenting
with the development of online learningin the year 2003 and currently has all therequired frameworks and standards todevelop online courses. In this context,
CETMe is currently playing a unique role intransforming the OUSL teaching materials

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

to online mode. The courses of the OUSL
are supported online through the Moodle
Learning Management System (LMS) with adedicated team of academics and IT support
staff monitoring and administering thecourses offered through the Moodle LMS. A
dedicated committee, known as Committee
for Assisting Online Learning (CAOL), looks
into all the pedagogical, technological, andadministrative issues that academics andstudents face while teaching and learning
through online and recommends appropriate
intervention to address those issues.
Currently, all the courses of the university
are offered online under three categories as
either Supplementary, Blended, or OnlinePlus. This classification is based on theamount of online involvement available for aparticular course and each course will belong
to one of the three categories. Accordingly,
the courses which are offered under
supplementary category do not have any
compulsory component for the students toparticipate. However, a student following the

supplementary courses will have the benefitof having added learner support throughvarious resources available online, and also
will have the opportunity to interact with thetutor and the fellow students. The blended
category of courses shall have at least 20%
compulsory components, while the onlineplus category of courses will have at least
80% compulsory components. The university
is currently in the process of revisiting thesedefinitions and analysing whether changes
need to be introduced.
The University has also included formative
assessments in the form of assignments,
quizzes, and discussion forums in the blended
online courses, depending on the disciplineof study. Limited summative assessments(final exams) have also been conducted
online, under supervised environment, in thecomputer laboratories of the Centres of the
OUSL.

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In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic,
the University embarked on conducting
supervised online entrance tests for numberof programs for which aptitude test iscompulsory for admission. Further, theuniversity has also introduced various types
of authentic remote online assessments
which are mostly unsupervised and are akin
to open book tests.
With the success of this exercise, theuniversity is currently in the process ofinstitutionalizing online examinations so thatthe academic departments can use them aspart of the Continuous Assessment as well.
A separate online examination unit has also
been established under the Examination
Division to administer the online assessments.
The university is also now studying thevarious examination proctoring systems to be
introduced for online assessments. Currently,
nearly all the 1,200 courses offered by theuniversity are available online.
The success of blended/online learning
depends on the access to learning materials by
the students using a computing device. It has
been found that many students in Sri Lanka
do not have a personal device to access thelearning resources. Further, many students
also have connectivity issues due to various
reasons, including affordability. Therefore,
to address these issues, the university has
established computer laboratories in all its
centres around the country with adequate
connectivity. Further, the university iscurrently in the process of providing wifi connection to all its Regional and Study
Centres. With these initiatives, the university
ensures no student is denied opportunity

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

of education because of lack of computing
resources. In addition, the university also has
two dedicated video channels, Open U-Tubeand OpenCast, which have a wide repositoryof video resources for augmenting student
learning.
The university does not follow a synchronized
academic year and the various faculties enrol
students to their programs at different timesof the year. In this way the university is able
to optimize it resources, both physical andhuman. A hallmark of a quality ODL programis the flexibility given in time, in location,and the choice of courses to the learner incompleting a study program with adequate
learner support. Moreover, OUSL recognizes
relevant prior qualifications of students sothat they will get exemptions from certain
courses in a program, thus allowing lateralentry to a program of study. The OUSL withflexible learning options is considered as an
ideal learning environment for students whoare employed or otherwise busy owing tofamily commitments.
The programs of the University are
advertised in the national newspapers andthe website of the university. From the year
2016, applications are entertained only via
online. The registration process is completely
decentralized and is handled by the Regional
Educational Services (RES). The university
is currently in the process of upgrading its
Management Information System (MIS)with facilities for self-registration. The
university hopes that, in the near future, allstudents of will be able to register for theirprograms online without physically visiting
the university.

Every student registering with the OUSL isallocated two centres: one named as the
Administrative Centre, which is the centre
situated in the district where student resides,
and the other the Academic Centre, whichis the centre where the particular programis offered. The reason for this is that not all
programs are offered in every centre due
to dearth of facilities and minimum student
numbers. Once the student registers for the
program, he or she would be provided withan academic schedule which also includes
sessions where the students will be provided
opportunities to interact with the academic
staff through “day schools” and other similar
activities. Most programs of the university
employ visiting academics to facilitate thisprocess.
Over the last few years, even prior to the
Covid-19 pandemic, the University has
switched the mode of delivery of the days
schools to electronic format by using the
Big-Blue-Button software, whereby students
are virtually connected to the academic
who will be conducting a physical class in
one of the centres. This video conferencing
facility which connects all the OUSL Regional
Centres and some of the Study Centres, hasenabled the OUSL to decentralize academic
program delivery effectively and efficiently.
This enabled the university to respond andadopt to the Covid-19 situation in a swift
manner. The university has now planned to
expand the virtual delivery infrastructure
further with multiple platforms and covering
the entire country.

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In addition to this type of face-to-facesessions, all the science-based programs of
the university have compulsory laboratorycomponents, and the students are required
to be present at the designated Regional
Centre to participate in these laboratory
work. Marks scored for laboratory work areincluded into the Continuous Assessment
component of the course.

PICT
LANDS

The RES division of the OUSL provides
extensive support required by the facultiesof the university to conduct their academic
programs and so as to reach the unreached.
The regional network and the facilities
provided by the OUSL has not only helped toovercome the physical distance between theteacher and the student but also has removed
language, ethnic, social, and cultural barriers
to higher education. The development of theregional network has created an ambiance toimprove social equity across the country.

MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICESThe OUSL has also been at the forefront
to embrace new technologies andmethodologies such as adopting andadapting Open Education Resource (OER)based teaching material and e-Learning.
Initially, the educational process of the OUSL
is facilitated through especially designed
self-instructional learning resources withlimited face-to-face contacts. These learning
resources are predominantly in print.
However, they have either enhanced or
supplemented with other technologies.
Over the years these technologies havealso been upgraded based on the emerging
technological advancements. From the

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

inception, the university has developed its
own self-instructional materials using the
traditional course team concept. Therefore,
all the course materials developed by theuniversity have been written from scratch
by subject specialists, both internal andexternal. The university has its own House
Style and instructional development process,with appropriate check lists to ensure thatthe lesson materials given to the students are
truly self-instructional and understandable
for an average student.
With the open knowledge movement, wheremore and more contents are released as
open content, the university took a decision
to look at the possibility of adopting available

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

TURE
SCAPE

OER into the self-instructional materials of
the university. Consequently, since 2014,
the OUSL took the initiative of promoting thedevelopment of OER and sharing them withthe global community in view of expanding
access to education, widening the distributionof high-quality educational resources, andreducing barriers to learning opportunities
and opening lifelong learning opportunities
for all. As of today, twenty-seven (27)resources in the areas of Chemistry, Botany,
Zoology, Pure Mathematics, Physics, Remote
Sensing and Medical Sciences have been
published as OER by the OUSL under the
CC BY-SA license. These resources could
be accessed at the OUSL library website.
This initiative has been taken in line withthe framework for action on Sustainable
Development Goal 4: ‘Ensure inclusive andquality education for all and promote lifelong
learning’.
Accordingly, the university adopted its first
OER policy in the year 2014, which has been
since updated in the year 2020. The purposeof this policy is to provide direction, guidance,
and advocacy in internalizing OER adoption,
adaptation, creation, and integration using
the open license in the OUSL learning
resources and provide the direction to follow
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of
the OUSL pertaining to course design anddevelopment.

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Accordance with this policy, the university
developed and launched a set of Continuous
Professional Development (CPD) massive
open online courses (MOOCs) on the adoptionof OER and Open Educational Practices (OEP).
This is an initiative of the Open Universityof Sri Lanka (OUSL), supported by the
Commonwealth Educational Media Centre
for Asia (CEMCA). The goal of this initiative
is to raise awareness on the potentials of
OER and OEP among practitioners from any
field of study. The whole initiative comprises
four CPD MOOCs to support participants
solve authentic and real-world problems andissues that they are likely to be facing in theirworkplaces in relation to adopting OER andOEP.
A defining characteristic of these MOOCs
is their unique design, which is scenariobased learning. Learning scenarios havebeen carefully crafted to reflect the kindof problems, issues, and challenges thatpractitioners are likely to be confronting
in their environments. The university has
already offered these MOOCs on two
occasions. The CPD MOOCs consisted offour independent modules and students
had the option to register for any or all
the modules of their choice. Initially, 183participants, registered in the first moduleof the CPD MOOCs. Subsequently, morenumbers registered for different modules of
the CPD MOOCs. Altogether 417 participants
representing 28 countries registered in all
four modules, and 136 participants havecompleted the modules and were awarded
digital badges.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)RESEARCH FINDINGS IN
THE LAST FIVE YEARSOUSL identifies research and innovation as apriority in the corporate plan. The university
has activities and strategies at a satisfactory
level that encourage and facilitate a research
culture. This includes research funding andannual awards for excellence in research byacademic staff. The interest in establishingpartnerships, interactions, and collaborations
through agreements and memorandum of
understanding with local and internationalorganizations/institutions and industry is apart and parcel of the university’s activities.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

For the purpose of advancing international
partnerships, the university has a dedicatedInternational Relations Unit (IRU) which
was established in 2014. The IRU within ashort time has made significant progressin establishing links with overseas partners
and have initiated many projects that would
enhance the internationalization of theuniversity.
The university has established by-laws, rules
and regulations for research and postgraduate
research degrees. It has also employed clear
and transparent policies and proceduresin advertising and recruiting postgraduate
students. Considerable number of programs
are being conducted to enhance researchskills of the staff. The university conducts
training for Post Graduate research students
on conducting research. The research is acomponent found in curricula of almost allundergraduate study programs and student
engagement in research is encouraged andsatisfactorily facilitated by the University.
Further, the university promotes research on
ODL and places an emphasis on institutional
research to learn lessons from the local
context so as to adopt them in our practices
to provide the students with the best form of
ODL supports. For this purpose, the university
has a dedicated committee chaired by theVice-Chancellor known as the Committee for
Research Assistance in Distance Education(CRADE) which is currently focussing on six
thematic areas: Access, Equity and Ethics,
Innovation and Change, Quality Assurance,
Professional Development and Faculty
Support, Learner Support Services, and
Educational Technology.

Based on the research conducted by theacademic staff several strategic decisions
have been made in the way the university
conducts its academic activities. For example,
from the inception the university allowed its
students unlimited attempts to sit for the
final examinations of a course if they havesuccessfully completed their continuous
assessments. This enabled students to carryforward their continuous assessment markfor unlimited years, until they pass the final
examination the course. As a result, many
students had number of incomplete courses
in their history and were taking long years tocomplete the programmes. In this respect
number of independent research studies
were conducted by several staff members
on different programmes and the resultof all these independent research findings
suggested that only about 4% of the students
can pass the final examination at the second
attempt and the success rate further
reduces below 1% for subsequent attempts.
Accordingly, the university took a policy
decision to limit the carry forward years
starting from 5 years and then to 3 years andcurrently 2 years. Even though there wasmuch resistance from among the students
for this, the university was able to convince
the students with statistical proof that
limiting the number of attempts only helps
the student to complete the programme
quickly. Further, based on these findings
the university also limited the total period
spent by a student to complete a programme
to three times the minimum duration. The
completion rates of students over the last
few years vindicates the strategic decisions
made by the university based on institutional
research conducted by its staff.

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Another recent research conducted by theacademic staff of the university found that
only about 40% of our students have a laptop
or desktop computers but nearly 95% of thestudents had smart phones. As the university
has increasingly conducting its administrative
and academic activities through the
University LMS, this research results enabled
the university to respond appropriately forthe needs of the students. As a result, theuniversity undertook various initiatives toprovide device and internet access support toits students in the Regional and Study Centresof the OUSL. Academics are also increasingly
developing contents that are compatible formobile phones.
The University has also established a policy
on financing research and financial support
to staff to present research findings at
international conferences as well as to
publish in indexed journals. It further
encourages researchers to obtain external
grants from local and international researchfunding agencies to conduct research with
an application and a national relevance.
The OUSL also provides research grants tofacilitate undergraduate research work.
In the year 2016 the university established a
dedicated centre for liaising with the industry,
known as the Industry Liaison Centre (ILC).
Through this centre, the university was able
to establish links with industry and undertake
industry-based projects in all areas ofexpertise in the University. This centre has
already facilitated many projects with theindustry leading to number of patents being
filed by academic staff of the university. In thenear future, some of the products developed

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)by the academic staff of the university withthe facilitation of the Industrial Liaison
Centre are planned to be commercialized
through industry partners, with the university
retaining certain amount of royalty.

REFERENCES

Ariadurai, SA., Manokanthan R. (2008).
Reasons for Student Discontinuation
in Engineering Degree Courses offered
at a Distance. Turkish Online Journalof Distance Education, 9 (3), pp. 74-86.
https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/
article-file/156284
Bandarage, G., Peiris, PKD., Rajendra, JCN.,
Siriwardena, KDVF., Tantrigoda, TU.,
Wattavidanage, J., & Weerakoon, SR.
(2012). Effectiveness of revision inan academic programme based oncourse completion rates: a case study.
Nugegoda: Open University of Sri Lanka
http://repository.ou.ac.lk/bitstream/ha ndl e/ 9 4 o us l / 7 8 3 /O U 5 1 6 8 _0 0 0 .
pdf?sequence=1,
Central Bank of Sri Lanka. (2021). Economics
and Social Statistics of Sri Lanka - 2021.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Statistics
Department. Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Coomaraswamy, U., Jayatilleke, G., &Abeygunawardena, H. (2014). Manual
for Quality Assurance of External Degree
Programmes and Extension Courses
Offered by Universities. Colombo:
University Grants Commission. https://www.eugc.ac.lk/qac/downloads/QA_
EDPs_Final.pdf

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Dundar, H., Millot, B., Riboud, M., Shojo,
M., Aturupane, H., Goyal, S., & Raju,
D. (2017). Sri Lanka Education Sector
Assessment: Achievement, Challenges,
and Policy Otions. World Bank Group.
Jayatilleke, B. G., & Kulasekera, G. U. (2020).
Forty Years of Distance Education:
Challenges and implications at theOpen University of Sri Lanka. Open
Praxis, 12(3), pp. 311–327. DOI: http://
doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.12.3.1122
Karunanayaka, S. P., Naidu, S. (2020).
Pathways to Open Educational Practices.
Nugegoda: The Open University of Sri
Lanka.
http://publicationshare.com/
pdfs/Pathways_to_OEP_eBook.pdf,
Liyanagunawardena, T. R., Adams, A. A.,
Rassool, N., & Williams, S. A. (2014).
Blended learning in distance education:
Sri Lankan perspective. International
Journal of Education and Developmentusing Information and Communication
Technology (IJEDICT), 10(1), pp. 5569.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/
EJ1071196.pdf
Ministry of Public Administration Provincial
Councils & Home Affairs. (1992).
Recognition of Degree Certificate, Public
Administration Circular No: 16/92.
https://pubad.gov.lk/web/images/
circulars/1992/E/16-1992(e).pdf
Raheem, R. and Vidanapathirana, U. (2010).
Open University of Sri Lanka 1980 –2010. Nugegoda: The Open University of
Sri Lanka
The Constitution of Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka. (2021). https://www.parliament.lk/files/pdf/
constitution.pdf.

The Open University of Sri Lanka. (2015).
Strategic Management Plan 2015-2020.
.https://www.ou.ac.lk/home/images/
OUSL/publications/SMP.pdf
The Open University of Sri Lanka. (2019).
Organizational Chart of the University.
.https://ou.ac.lk/organizational-chart/
The Open University of Sri Lanka. (2021).
Strategic Management Plan 2021-2025.
University Grants Commission. (2010).
Policy Framework and Guidelines
for offering External Degrees andExtension Programmes by Universities/
Higher
Educational
Institutions/
Institutes.
https://www.ugc.ac.lk/
attachments/777_Commission%20
Circular%20No%20932.pdf
University Grants Commission. (2015). Sri
Lanka Qualifications Framework. Higher
Education for Twenty First Century(HETC) Project of the Ministry of Higher
Education.
https://www.ugc.ac.lk/
attachments/1156_SLQF_2016_en.pdf

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University of thePhilippines Open
University(UPOU)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

07

145

07 Philippines:

Revolutionizing
Disruptions for
Sustainable
System of
Education(A Critical
Reflection of
the Events andMilestones)
Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria
University of the Philippines
Open University

ESTABLISHMENT

Distance education (DE) in the Philippines wasestablished through the initiatives of various
individuals and organizations which shaped
its development to its current status andarticulations. Much had been written about
it, mostly presenting in chronological orderthese initiatives deemed to contribute to theestablishment of this mode of instruction in
the country.
Most of the literature published about
DE in the Philippines would trace it backto radio through the following initiatives:the “farmers’ school” in 1952 by the Iloilo
City-based broadcaster, Pacifico Sudario;
teaching English to Filipinos in 1959 by
the Department of Education and thePhilippine Broadcasting Service; and theschool format radio program discussing
information on swine raising by the National
Cottage Industries Development Authority(NACIDA) in 1963 (Librero, 2015). RadyoDZLB of the University of the Philippines Los
Banos also started broadcasting customized

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

UPOU can be considered as the first open university in
the Philippines and probably among the first in Asia to
become fully online and deliver its instruction throughdistance elearning.

radio programs for farmers, rural homemakers, and the rural youth in 1964 and in1967 formalized the format through the“Paaralang Panghimpapawid sa Pagatasan(School on the Air on Dairying). The “Schoolon the Air” format was also adopted by the
Department of Agriculture in 1973 to support
the Masagana 99 rice production program of
the country.

Much earlier than the introduction of radio
to the Philippines in 1922 by the Americanbusinessman Henry Herma (ELCOMBLUS,
2020) and at the same time that thecorrespondence school system was happening
in other countries, the International
Correspondence School (ICS), was founded in1889 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and throughthe years were able to make its presence inso many countries, including the Philippines.
The indicators of the presence of ICS in the
country are as the following.
1. Up for auction at eBay was a printed
matter cover from the Commonwealthof the Philippines to Scranton PA

USA specifically addressed to theInternational Correspondence Schools.
It was postmarked December 18, 1907
(Figure 1). It should be noted thoughthat during that time, the Philippines was
still under the United States governance,
hence it cannot be conclusive whether
this mail has anything to do with studying
through the ICS. (https://www.ebay.
com/itm/133982577518?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28)
2. Two accounts of completing courses
through ICS can be found in theInternet: Antonio “Tony Velasquez”,
a Filipino illustrator and regarded as
the Father of Tagalog comics has anentry of completing a course from theInternational Correspondence School in1934 ([(https://wikimili.com/en/Tony_
Velasquez); and Tony Henson, anothercomic artist, also recorded completinga course “Commercial Arts” through ICS((https://fil.wikipilipinas.org/view/Teny_
Henson).

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3. This author also has a personal account of attempting to take a course at ICS after seeing
its advertisements in the Philippine popular reading materials. Most of the courses
advertised were short courses and more on the technical vocational category (Bandalaria,
2019).
Figure 1
Printed Matter Cover from the Commonwealth of the Philippines to ICS, Scranton PA USA
postmarked 18 December 1907

(https://www.ebay.com/itm/133982577518?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28)
Another important contribution to theestablishment of the DE in the country is the
Science Teaching Using Distance Instruction(STUDI) which was implemented in 1984 by
the University of the Philippines Los Banos.
The goal was to address the lack of trainingof science teachers, a problem identified
through a survey conducted by the thenNational Science and Technology Authority(now Department of Science and Technology);
by making available opportunities for “longerterm training for teachers without requiringthem to go on an extended leaves of absence”(Librero, 2015). This initiative eventually led
to the establishment of the University of thePhilippines Open University (UPOU) in 1995,

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

which became the major player in DE in the
country henceforth. UPOU is a Constituent
Unit of the only national university in the
country, the University of the Philippines (UP)with the mandate of democratizing accessto quality education through this mode of
instruction.
The other government-funded open
university was also established in thePhilippines during the 1990s: the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines Open University(PUP-OU), a government-funded university,
which was established in 1990 (https://web.
archive.org/web/20150418114240/http://
www.pup.edu.ph/OU/profile.aspx).
TheAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

UPOU and PUP-OU became the model inthe offering of DE programs for the otheracademic institutions in the country. Before
the COVID-19 pandemic, there were several
academic institutions also known to offer
academic programs in the DE mode of
instruction. Most were established from2010 and included among others Central
Luzon State University, Bicol University, John
B. Lacson Maritime University, Benguet State
University, New Era University, Asian Institutefor DE Foundation, and CAP College.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Planning and development of DE varies
across institutions offering programs in thismode of instruction. For UPOU, the planningand development took into account the
mandate of the University of the Philippines
as the only national university in the country
and as such dictated the kind of academic
programs that will be offered. In addition,
the specific mandate of UPOU, which is to
be at the forefront of using modern andrelevant Information and Communications
Technologies (ICTs) to democratize access toquality education also guided the planningand development processes.
During the early years of UPOU, the programs
provided by UPOU were mirror programs of
those in the university’s residential Constituent
Units (UP). This was the first articulation todemocratize access to high-quality degree
programs by making residential programs
available in the DE mode of instruction to awider variety of students, especially thosefrom locations not geographically serviced
by residential campuses. Other degree
programs that are not offered by otherhigher education institutions are now offeredby UPOU due to further identification of
the gaps in the responses being made byacademic institutions to the learning needsof the various professionals, especiallyin consideration of the rapidly changing
knowledge and skill requirements of the
major industries. Due to UPOU’s standing, themajority of the degree programs it offered in
the early years were post-baccalaureate or
graduate degree programs. Only a few years
after it was founded did it start to provide
an undergraduate program, the Associate inArts, and promote it as a “Second Chance” toearn an undergraduate degree. Most of the
program’s participants were adult learners,
many of whom were already employed.
The planning and development of UPOU
can be considered to be influenced by thedominant Information and Communication
Technologies which can be used to bridge thephysical distance between the students andtheir teachers, and the other elements thatare essential to studying and successfullycompleting courses and programs. Thesecan be seen in the ways that course packages
have changed over time, as well as in how
tutorial sessions and other learner support
services have been offered to students.
The institution and program planning of
UPOU heavily considered the integration ofradio, television, audio cassette tapes, and
CD-ROMs into the architecture of course
delivery.
Two significant events, the establishmentof two full bachelor’s programs and theincorporation of contemporary ICTs into
its ecosystem, can be seen as having had

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an impact on the planning and growth of
UPOU. Due to these, the educational system
has changed to distance elearning (DeL), or
online distance learning; the demographics
of its undergraduate students have changed
due to the enrollment of an increasing
number of younger and full-time students;
and the opportunity to codify and concretize
open education as another articulation of its
mandate to reach the underserved sectors of
the Philippine society.
The Internet has played a significant role in thedevelopment and transformation of UPOU,
especially since it enables the university toreach learners even beyond the geographicalconfines of the country. Students outside
the Philippines account for about 24% of theannual total enrollment. The Internet andits associated tools e.g. AI and Data Science
are now shaping the direction of the future
development and direction of UPOU. Thechanges on how instructional content isbeing delivered also resulted on the shift in
the focus of research initiatives as well as thestrategies or mechanisms of engaging withthe community and doing public service.
For the county, in general, the Commission
on Higher Education (CHED) provided someguidelines which shaped the planningand development of DE in the country. In
2005, this government agency issued theMemorandum Order 27 (https://ched.gov.
ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CMONo.27-s2005.pdf) which provided specificpolicies and guidelines on DE which included
the definition of DE and which institutions
are qualified to offer academic programsin this mode of instruction. To strengthen

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

the country’s policies on DE and ensure its
quality, Republic Act 10650, also known
as Open Distance Learning Act (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2014/12/09/
republic-act-no-10650/) was also passed for
implementation in December 2014. The
law recognized UPOU’s experience in doing
Open Distance Learning and mandated it toprovide technical assistance to other Higher
Education Institutions in the country who areplanning to offer programs in the distancemode of education.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The management of DE institutions in thePhilippines has some unique features asfollows.
1. Managing DE programs using thepolicies and procedures adopted fromresidential/conventional context. Most, if
not all, DE institutions in the Philippines,
particularly the open universities, arepart of conventional or residential
universities. The UPOU, for instance, isa part of the University of the Philippines
System while the PUP-OU is part of the
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
System.
Both open universities started withoffering degree programs in the DE mode
which were adopted or “translations” of
the residential programs. Because ofthis, the system and requirements foradmission were also adopted from theresidential offering and only the mode of
instructional delivery, that is DE, was thedifference. Hence, despite the “open”
nomenclature attached to the name of
the institution, such was not concretizedAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

in the most basic indicator of openness,
which is admission to the program andthe learning environment. This is the firstunique feature of DE in the Philippines:
managing it through the abduction ofpolicies, processes, and proceduresfrom the residential or conventional
instruction.
2. Remote management. As described, theimplementation of DE in the Philippines,
similar to other countries, highlighted theimportant role of the Learning Centers,
where the students go for the different
processes associated with being a
student, and Testing Centers for sit-down
and proctored examinations. Hence,
the management of a DE institution
during its early years also involved the
management of the Learning Centersstrategically located all over the country.
With the implementation of distanceeLearning as the main mode of delivering
instruction, the transformation of
Learning Centers became necessary. Withfewer students reporting physically to the
Learning Centers, the major functions will

have to evolve to align with the emerging
needs of Distance eLearning. Specificfor UPOU, the Learning Centers weretransformed into Mega Learning Hubs
which can become the Regional Centers
as mandated in Republic Act 10650 or
the Open Distance Learning Act (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2014/12/09/
republic-act-no-10650/). At the sametime, they can still perform some of thefunctions of the Learning Centers as theneed arises.
3. Integration of modern ICTs into theuniversity administrative processes
to facilitate the remote management.
Given that, the staff and offices are notcentralized in one location e.g., some of
the full time staff are holding office inthe university learning centers and there
are also part-time staff like the lecturers,
tutors, and proctors who are based not
only all over the country but outside thecountry as well, the use of modern ICTs toconnect, communicate and collaborate,and compensate the services rendered
became necessary.

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DELIVERY SYSTEM AND
TECHNOLOGY USE

the radio script writers to produce the radio
lectures.

The Pre-Internet Era

UPOU continued the use of printed course
materials that were mailed to the students aswell as the once-a-month face-to-face (F2F)
tutorial sessions in the University Learning
Centers which characterize its forerunner,
STUDI. There were no more recorded
lectures aired over radio, instead, recorded
audio lectures were stored in audio cassettetapes which became a component of thecourse packages for some of the courses.
Television was used for a limited extent only
probably because of the cost of airing thevideo-lectures, which could also be the same
reason why this communication platform did
not take prominence despite the penetrationof television across socio-economic classes
in the Philippines. A review of the available
literature about the PUP-OU also revealed theuse of printed course materials in delivering
instructional content (Contact North. Nodate).

Distance education in the Philippines has thesame historical roots as in most countries
which started the journey at almost thesame time, that is the use of radio to deliver
instruction to the learners.
Historicalaccounts, however, point to the fact thatthese initiatives were mainly for non-formal
courses as in the case of DZLB’s Paaralang
Panghimpapawid. For degree programs, theuse of printed course materials, as in the caseof the STUDI implementation, became themain technology.
In STUDI, the main course materials, preparedby the university experts on science (Biology,
Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics) wereprinted into what was then referred to as“course modules” and mailed to the students
enrolled in the program. Radio, which
figured prominently in the beginnings of DE
in the country, became supplementary with
only the selected lessons recorded as radio
lectures and broadcast over Radio DZLB.
The radio lectures, with duration of 8-20
minutes, were also “stored in magnetic audio
cassette tapes, and distributed to students
residing in the rural areas and not reachedby the signals of Radio DZLB. The STUDI isa convergence of three information andcommunication technologies: print; radio;
and the audio cassette. The way by which
the course materials were prepared can also
be considered as the beginnings of the teamapproach to course materials development
and preparations of the course pack, thatis, the subject matter experts working with

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

Both UPOU and PUP-OU implemented F2F
sessions in university-designated Learning
Centers. For UPOU, these sessions became
the venue for university-trained tutors
to clarify lessons that the students havedifficulty understanding, provide feedback
to the submissions of the students, and also
monitor the progress of the students. On
the part of the students, the F2F sessions
or visits to the Learning Centers facilitatedtheir submission of assignments/course
requirements, sit for their proctored
examinations, and attend to some otheruniversity processes like enrollment, pickup of learning materials, and submission ofAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

official documents. The F2F sessions and the
Learning Centers also became the venue forstudents to meet and socialize with theirfellow learners which somehow provided
that sense of belongingness, which is usually
missing among DE students,

The teletutorial system can probably beconsidered as the early generation oftechnology-mediated synchronous sessions
in the hybrid format where some students are
F2F with the tutor and others are connected
via the telephone line.

Specific for UPOU also, there came a point
when the number of students enrolled in acourse in a Learning Center could no longer
merit a cost-effective way of holding F2F
sessions, hence teletutorials were held
instead (Bandalaria, 2007). In this period of
DE development in the Philippines, telephone
played a major role to provide tutorial
support to the students. In this teletutorial
system, a speaker phone (Polycom, Figure2) was used. The tutor was in the university
Headquarter meeting a group of students F2F
and connected through the telephone line toother small groups of students also gathered
F2F in University Learning Centers.

Disrupting the Disruption: DE in the Eraof the Internet

Figure 2
The Speakerphone Used in iTeletutorials
During the Late 90s to 2000

DE has been considered as a disruption in
the traditional educational system which
was exclusive and very much anchoredon the students’ physical presence in thecampus and perceived to be the indicatorof quality education. This was articulated by
Tait (2008 citing de Salvo, 2002) as follows
with reference to the University of London
External Study System:
The great advantage an Oxford or
Cambridge man (sic but actually
accurate) claims over his London rival
is his social education. It is he says amoral training. His university career
is far more than the acquisition ofknowledge. He is no lowly student,
working narrowly for his own hand,but a man among men, and he points
to the union debating society, to thecollegiate and university football,cricket and boating, as influence to thisend. (de Salvo, 2002, p. 38).
Probably, this challenge of proving that
DE is at par with the conventional modeof instruction drove DE practitioners andscholars to maximize the potential of modern
ICTs, like the Internet, to further bridge thephysical (and hopefully, transactional orpedagogic distance as proposed by Moore,2018) distance that separates the teacher

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and the students and which cannot be fully
addressed by the traditional media like print,
radio, television, and even the teletutorial
system.
Internet was introduced to the Philippines
on 29 March 1994 (DICT, 2015 https://dict.gov.ph/the-history-of-internet-inthe-philippines/). There was a very slow
integration, however, into the education
ecosystem probably because it was notreadily accessible to both the teachers andthe students. Access here is multi dimension
to include access to the physical technology;
skills to use the technology; and the costassociated with the use of technology.
Probably, among the first academic
institutions to have Internet as a major
platform to deliver instruction at a distanceis the UPOU.
In 2001, UPOU started officially integrating
the online component into its instructionaldelivery system mainly to replace the F2F
and teletutorial sessions and beyond justa communication platform with students.
The years 2004-2006 can be considered as
the transition period characterized by thefollowing:
1. the combination of F2F, tele and online
tutorial sessions across courses offeredby the university;
2. intensive training of the teachers inonline teaching which included the useof the different features of a Learning
Management System and moderating
online discussions;
3. orientation and training of students on
the use of the Learning Management
System usually conducted in the
University Learning Centers;

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

4. equipping the University Learning
Centers with computers and Internet
connection to facilitate access to theonline courses by both the teachers/
tutors and the students;
5. digitization of the course packages anduploading in the online course sites;
6. digitalization of the university processes
e.g. enrollment and the different
components of the Learner Support
System like library services andcounseling. This was accompanied by
the training of the University Staff tasked
to provide support to the students;
7. review of existing policies and proceduresand putting in place relevant ones toprovide policy environment conducive toonline teaching and learning; and8. intensive operations research to monitor
and evaluate the innovations introduced
into the different processes andsubsystems of DE.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

The UPOU became fully online in 2007 withall the materials digitized and processes
and procedures especially those involving
students transformed into the digital format.
Online became the default with the analogue
or offline version the option for those who
still preferred it. Because of this, UPOU canbe considered as the first open university in
the Philippines and probably among the firstin Asia to become fully online and deliver its
instruction through distance elearning. DE
evolved into distance elearning (DeL) withthe main feature of distance or separation ofteacher and students and eLearning implying
the integration of modern ICTs into theteaching and learning process.
Specific to UPOU, Distance eLearning
not only enabled the university to accept
geographically dispersed students within the
country but also made possible the admission
to the degree programs of learners basedin foreign countries. About 24% of thestudents are based overseas in more than 60
countries/cities.
The mobile technology, specifically themobile phone, also played a major role toaddress the digital divide or exclusion at thetime that the Internet was integrated into
the DE ecosystem in the country. The mobile
phone can be considered as a facilitating
factor for the early success of online learningin the Philippines, it bridged the digital divide.
In 2007, at the time that the UPOU became
fully online, there were already 55 million
Filipinos subscribing to mobile phone services(Bandalaria, 2009). Mobile phone was used
to deliver short lessons and learner support
services. Using mobile phone, the teacher
can make announcements to the students if
there are new materials uploaded in the online
course site, reminders of submission dates
for course requirements and examinations,and connecting to students who are inactivein the online course site, among others.
As evidenced by the historical account of DE
in the country, it can be concluded that thedelivery system is very much influenced by
the advancements in the information andcommunication technologies including theshift from analogue to digital. Hence, fromprint and correspondence, television andradio to online learning with the penetrationof the Internet and mobile gadgets acrosssocio-economic classes, the delivery of
instruction also followed the same pathway.
Beyond the influence of these ICTs, thefollowing can also be highlighted for thePhilippine experience.

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1. The necessity to deliver and makeavailable learner support services to allstudents wherever they are became theinitial driving force for DE to become
online. The instructional content was
the last to be digitally transformed, as
per UPOU’s experience, which can be
attributed to the fact that there weremany learners who preferred their course
module to be in the printed format andalso the state of the internet connectivity
in many areas of the country which madeit difficult to download large files from theInternet. Learning packages were maderedundant in terms of being available inboth the digital and printed format.
2. The change in the delivery system also
has a corresponding change in the roleand functions of the teacher. The rolesof the teacher and the tutor which weredistinct during the early years of DE inthe country became blurred with theimplementation of online learning. Fromcourse materials preparation, which was
primarily printed during the early years to
the resource-based model of preparing
course packages which rely heavily on thematerials from the Internet became thenorm for UPOU. With the online delivery
system, the teacher has to assume otherroles in addition to the usual pedagogicalrole. These additional roles include
social role to foster a friendly and social
environment and help learners connect
with one another, and the technologicalrole to enable the students to use thedifferent tools and platforms to facilitate
learning. While the other teacher roles
like the pedagogical and managerial roles
are also being done in the conventional

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

instruction, their concretization is verymuch different in an online environment.
The managerial role for instance would
require knowledge and skills in an
e-classroom management and delivering
instructional content and motivatingand engaging students would also be
different in online learning.
3. The technologies associated with thedelivery system also made an impact
on the organizational structure of theacademic institution as well as in theadministrative processes and procedures.
One example that can be cited here isthe changing role of the learning centersin the overall configuration of DE inthe country. Another component also
emerged in the organizational structure,
the Testing Centers, which have tobe identified within and outside thecountry. In this instance, the embassies,
consular offices, alumni of the university
and other partner organizations became
important as they were tapped either
as Testing Centers or proctors for the
students based outside the country.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

4. The modern ICTs, specifically theInternet, also heralded the various
forms of open education practices andas such further pushed the frontier ofinclusive education. Initiatives in theform of OERs, MOOCs, open journal andopen books became major components
of delivering DE programs and courses
to all types of learners. This included
mobile learning in consideration of theproliferation of mobile gadgets in the
country. This necessitated the design of
online courses to make them accessibleusing mobile devices.
5. The mode of delivery system also
resulted in the convergence of the major
functions of the university such thatthe mode of instruction, especially theinnovations being introduced, became
the subject of research to contribute to
the continuous building of knowledge
on open and distance elearning. Public
service, like training programs, is also
being done through open online learning.

MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICES

DE is a mode of instructional delivery whichenables learners to study and completea course or an academic degree without
having to be physically present in the campus
or university. This is one barrier to access to
education removed and can be considered
as one step towards openness. Adopting thecontextualization of open education by Bates(2015), open education can take many forms
and formats which include education for all,open access to courses and programs, open
educational resources, open textbooks, open
research, and open data.
The discourse about openness and attempts
to offer open online courses started at UPOU
at about the same time as online learning in
2001. Following are the significant milestones
in UPOU’s journey towards openness which
can probably simulate the Philippine DE
journey towards openness.
• During the early 2000 (between 20012004), a non-credit online course titled
Online Teaching and Learning wasoffered by UPOU with the goal of training
faculty members on online teaching.
The course was initially offered to thefaculty members of the University of thePhilippines. It should be noted that it was
the period that UPOU initiated online
teaching and learning in its DE delivery
system and many of its faculty members
were based in the other Constituent
Units of the University of the Philippines,
hence the necessity of this training
program. The initial offering registered
more than 100 learners. Although it
was not completely open in the sense

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members•that the target learners were limited,still, this course can be considered as
the beginning of the University’s journey
towards openness. That experience also
provided an overview of the attrition
rate in a free online course which wasobserved to be significantly higher thanthe credit online courses that the UPOU
was offering at that time.
In 2007, an open online course “Computer
Ethics” was offered by the Faculty ofInformation and Communication Studies(FICS) of UPOU with the Cyber Corridor
Employees or those working in the
IT sector as the target learners. The
module was part of the “Online Bridging
Program” (OBP) that UPOU planned tooffer. There were two other modules
in the program: the “Social Impacts ofICT” and “Intellectual Property Rights”
but these modules were not offered
due to lack of funding. The openness
integrated into the initiative included
open learning schedule since it did not
follow the usual semestral schedule.
The learner can enroll anytime and may
complete the program at his/her own
pace anytime between three months to
one year on a part time basis. Sessions
were asynchronous and the student can
log into the course site anytime of the
day or any day of the week. Further, thelearner may take the assessment tests at
his/her own chosen time. In this offering,a total of 100 students registered for thecourse with support coming from theCommission on Higher Education (CHED)(Flor, 2007). A very useful insight fromthis initiative was on the open-ended
schedule of the course with just a small

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)••

number of learners who were able totake the final examination.
In 2012, a series of Round Table
Discussions focusing on UPOU’s openness(or the lack of it) was conducted (Arinto,2013). It was both a reflection of theuniversity’s initiatives and concretizationof openness as well as a search for the
direction that the university can takerelevant to its mandate. Resource
person within and outside the Universityof the Philippines System were invited toshare insights on the different aspects ofopen education.
In 2012, the uLearn project was
implemented which became the driver
for the conceptualization, development,
and offering of the open online courses
at the university adopting the frameworkof the Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs) which was popular at thattime. Through this project, the first
open online course in the configurationof MOOC was offered in July 2013 under
the partnership of UPOU and one of theleading mobile service providers of thecountry, SMART Telecommunications.
The MOOC was titled “Introduction to
Android App Development” and the LMS
used was called @ral which was poweredby moodle. This initiative became thepioneering work by UPOU on open
education as articulated by Bates (2015)
and also served as a template whichshaped the succeeding offerings of
MOOCs by the university. The template
has the following features: use of OERs,
as much as possible those developed by
the University, to provide the content of
the course; use of open platform for its

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)••

LMS; licensing the whole course under
the Creative Commons system; andpartnership with a major industry for thecourses to respond to the knowledge andskills needs of the industry. As implied,
2012 also started UPOU’s extensive
production of its own open educational
resources (OERs) as materials for thecredit courses the university offers andto provide the content for the MOOCs it
is developing.
With the initial experience of developing
and offering MOOCs, UPOU also heldin 2014 MOOCathon or the unending
conversation about the UPOU MOOCs.
The focus of the discussion was on the
LMS for UPOU MOOCs. This resulted in
the change of the MOOC LMS from @ral to model (Massive Open DistanceeLearning). The learning platform wasalso powered by Moodle and is still being
used up to the present. It can be accessedat https://model.upou.edu.ph (Figure3). The model LMS also aligns with theuniversity’s articulation of what it does:
open learning; DE; and e-learning which
implies the integration of the internet/
modern ICTs into the DE framework todifferentiate it from elearning integrated
into the conventional or residential modeof instruction.
In the same year, 2014, and using themodel platform, another set of MOOCs,
on Service Management Program, wasoffered by UPOU with funding from the
Asian Development Bank. These MOOCs,
aside from adopting the UPOU MOOC
model of 2012, also have the following
features: aligning the content of the
OERs produced with the content of credit

courses offered by the Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) of the country; anddesigning MOOCs to correspond to thecontent of the credit courses to facilitate
the crediting of MOOCs towards a degree
program which was one of the major
concerns at that time. The idea was toincrease the acceptability of MOOCs andalso to lower the cost of higher education
through the open courses and contributetowards making higher education moreaccessible and inclusive. A MOOC wasdesigned to be equivalent to one credit
unit in terms of content. Usually, credit
courses in the Philippines at tertiarylevel carry 3 credit units, hence one
course is equivalent to three MOOCs.
This initiative started the advocacy
of “MOOCs as OERs” where students
enrolled in the credit course offered by
the HEI can be enrolled in the equivalent
MOOCs and learn the content together
with the other MOOC learners. The
teacher can opt to provide the additional
assessment to validate the learningsof the students from the MOOC. In
this project, the five (5) courses under
the Service Management Program,recognized as cognate for some degree
programs became the basis for thecontent of the OERs and MOOCs. There
were15 MOOCs developed and offeredin partnership with the IT Business
Process Association of the Philippines(IT-BPAP). These MOOCs were also
designed to provide pool of manpower
for the Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) industry in the country.

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Figure 3
Screenshot of the LMS for MOOC of UPOU

•

•

•

In 2015, in partnership with UNICEFPhilippines, another set of MOOCs
was offered focusing on Child Rights
Protection and Promotion. A total ofeight (8) MOOCs were developed fromthis initiative which drew enrollees
from different professions dealing withchildren. Also, in 2015, MOOCs aimed
at providing training opportunities forteachers on teaching online were also
developed and offered to perform the
University’s mandate under RA10650
also known as Open Distance Learning
Act,
In the same year, 2015, UPOU also
started publishing its open journal,
the International Journal on Open andDistance eLearning (IJODeL) as one of
its articulations of the open education
practices.
In 2017, the UPOU started offering
the MOOC (or MODEL) Certification
programs, which are actually three or four

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

related MOOCs put together to provide
a specific set of knowledge and skills.
Among the initial certification programs
offered were on Open and Distanceelearning (ODeL) for Teachers; ODeL for
Administrators; and ODeL for Technology
Personnel (Figure 4).
The MOOC/
MODEL Certification programs have thefollowing features: a MOOC Certificate ofCompletion for each module completed,and the MOOC Certification for thegeneral skills and knowledge learned
for the set of MOOC modules under thecertification program. For instance, a
MOOC Certification on ODeL for teachers
comprised four (4) modules/MOOCs: (1)Theoretical underpinnings and models
of ODeL; (2) Designing Learning in ODeL;(3) Course Materials Development for
ODeL; and (4) Assessment in ODeL. For
each module completed, the learner gets
the Certificate of Module Completion
and after completing the four modules

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

and the capstone requirement for the
Certification program (e.g. Reentry
Action Plan), the learner will get theCertification on Open Distance eLearning
for Teachers.
Figure 4
Screenshot of the list of UPOU’s MOOC
Certification Programs (https://model.upou.
edu.ph)
MOOC categories & certification series► ODeL Teacher Accreditation► Technology for Teaching and Learning► Child Rights Protection and Promotion► Sustainable Development► OU Pahinungód Programs► UPOU Multimedia Center Online Training     Programs► UPOU-CHED Training Programs for HEI
     Teachers► Kahandaan, Kasanayan at Kaalaman: Bridge     Program► UPOU Initiatives► MOOC Offerings with UPOU Partners

Journal of Open Distance eLearning (IJODeL);
conference proceedings; papers uploaded in
the academia and google scholar pages ofthe senior academics of UPOU (Table 1).
Table 1
DE Research in the Philippines, 2002-2020

2002# Papers
Evaluated
3

2003

3

2004

2

2005

4

2006
2007

0
5

2008
2009

0
4

Year

RESEARCH IN DE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Research documents can be artifacts of theacademic institution’s activities and focus
on certain stages of its history. A totalof 87 research papers from 2002 to 2020
were evaluated to look at the trends of DE
in the Philippines based on the research
conducted. The research papers evaluatedwere those published in DE journals likethe Asian Association of Open Universities
Journal (AAOUJ), the International Review
of Research in Open and Distance Learning(IRRODL), the ASEAN Journal of Open andDistance Learning (AJODL), the International

Highlights
Focus on thetechnologies effecton providing support
services to thelearners like tutoring;
looking at how
E-learning affect thestudents
Online tutorial
support; satisfactionof learners;
Quality in E-learning;support system
E-learning fordevelopment;
E-learning in 3rdworld country; ICT in
the office processes(OUR)
Reflection on theexperience of ICT in
education; support
services; teachers
experience
Global learning
communities;
reflecting on theexperience of online
teaching; changing
profile of learners

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2010# Papers
Evaluated
1

2011

8

Year

2012

2013

7

6

2014

4

2015

11

Highlights

Year

Co-creatingknowledge
Tutors/learnersupport services;quality of education;
human capacity
development
through E-learning;marginalized
communities/
learners; virtual
learning communities
Informal learning
communities andgeospatial distributionof learners (forlearner support); useof video materials;
knowledge sharing
and collaborative
learning (in online
learning environment)
Other online
systems forstudents’ processes;
online teaching;collaboration among
learners; Massive
Open Online Courses(MOOC)
Articulation of
openness; teaching
online; MOOC
MOOCs; OERs;
social media; online
collaboration among
learners; students’behavior in the online
learning platform

2016# Papers
Evaluated
6

2017

6

2018

11

2019

2

2020

4

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

Highlights
Multimedia
courseware forauthentic learning;
OERs; Open distanceE-learning frameworkin teaching, research,and extension
OERs; Open Education
Practices (OEP); social
media; transforming
learning centers
Online collaborative
learning; OERs;
MOOCs; technology
for community
building
Peer assessment;
MOOCs
Online collaboration
among learners;
MOOCs; Universal
Design for Learning(UDL) in ODeL

Looking at the focus of research from 2002
to 2020, the following trends can be drawn.
1. Effect on students of online learning.
From 2002-2007, considered to be
the transition period to becoming fully
online, most of the research conducted
were on the online tutorial system andlooking at the effect of online learningon the students. This is also indicative of
which process at the university became
online first, the tutorial system. During
the period, quality of instruction was
already investigated in the context of
ICT integration. There were also somereflection papers on the part of theAsian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

teachers who first engaged in online
teaching.
2. From 2009-2012, learning communities
became a subject of research which
implies the proliferation of studentformed online communities. Using the
ICT-enabled platform, specifically theWeb2.0, students became connectedwith each other and socialization
among them also became possible.
The phenomenon of online learning
communities was also investigated fromthe perspective of peer support andaddressing the sense of belongingness
which is a major concern among DE
students. The integration of modern
ICTs into the DE system also prompted
an investigation of the profile of learners
enrolled in the DE programs with theconclusion that, indeed, the profile haschanged during the 10 years of DE in the
country.
3. From 2013 onwards, many research
papers that were published andpresented in the conferences tackled
the open education initiatives like Open
Educational Resources (OERs) and
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
This also implies that this was the periodof a major change in the DE frameworkin the country with its shift to openness.
4. From 2015, social media became thesubject of research probably becauseof the increasing engagement among
learners using the social media
platforms. Although Facebook launched
its Philippine office only in April 2016, atthat time, there were already 49 million
Filipinos on the social networking site, 44
million of whom were accessing it using

mobile devices (Inquirer.net, 2020).
5. Together with the research on open
education practices, universal accessto learning also became a subject of
research which resulted to a publication
on Universal Design for Learning in thecontext of online learning in 2020.

REFERENCES

Arinto, P. (2013). Teaching at a distancein a digital age: Perspectives from thePhilippines. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/
id/eprint/10020020/1/ARINTO,%20P.B..
pdf.
Bandalaria, M.P. (2019). Universal accessin online DE. A case study from thePhilippines. In S. Gronseth and E.
Dalton (eds), In Universal AccessThrough Inclusive Instructional Design.
International Perspectives on UDL(Chapter 24). Routledge.
Bandalaria, M. (2019). Facing the present
andfuturechallenges
througheLearning. In Philippine Star. 28 July
2019.
https://www.pressreader.
com/philippines/the-philippinestar/20190728/283253099510913
Bandalaria, M. (2009). e-Learning in
the Philippines: Trends, Directions,and Challenges. International Jl. on
E-Learning (2009) 8(4), 495-510. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/Mlearning+modules/FMfcgxRmdNwxwXH
MJWZQtFVDggrdXpMV?projector=1&m
essagePartId=0.1

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Bandalaria, M. Dela P. (2007). Impact of
ICTs on open and distance learning
in a developing country setting: The
Philippine experience. The International
Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.19173/
irrodl.v8i1.334
Bates, T. (2015). What do we mean by “open”
in education?. https://www.tonybates.
ca/2015/02/16/what-do-we-mean-byopen-in-education/
Contact North. (No date). https://teachonline.
ca/tools-trends/universities/
polytechnic-university-philippines-openuniversity;
https://web.archive.org/
web/20150418114240/http://www.pup.
edu.ph/OU/profile.aspx
DICT. (2015). https://dict.gov.ph/the-historyof-internet-in-the-philippines/
Educause.
https://www.educause.edu/
microcredentialing)
ELCOMBLUS. (2020), Manila broadcasting
company. A witness to history. https://manilabroadcasting.com.ph/history/.
https://www.elcomblus.com/briefhistory-of-the-philippines-broadcastmedia/
Flor, A.G., Consolacion, F.C,, Amoloza, E.M.,
Sibal, M. O., & Jarmin-Suarez, M. (2007).
Process documentation on the nontechnical dimensions (ntd) of ICT for the
cyber corridor workers. Project Terminal
Report.
Inquirer.net. (2020). In the know: Facebook
in Ph.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.
net/1341781/in-the-know-facebook-inph

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Librero, F. (2015). ODeL at UPOU: Somehistorical antecedents (How did we
get here, anyway?). IJODeL, 1(1&2,
December2015).
https://ijodel.
com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/
SpecialReport_Librero.pdf
Lumanta, M. F., Serrano, . V., Yambao, Y. M.,
Dolom, M. A. C. (2017). Reconceptualizing
the learning center system: From centers
to hubs. UPOU
Moore, M. G.. (2018), The TheoryofTransactional
Distance
from:
HandbookofDE
Routledge
https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/
doi/10.4324/9781315296135-4
Tait, A. (2008). What are open Universities
for? Open Learning:
The Journalof Open and Distance eLearning.
23(8).
Pp85-93.
https://doi.
org/10.1080/02680510802051871
The University of Melbourne. https://about.
unimelb.edu.au/teaching-and-learning/
innovation-initiatives/pedagogyand-curriculum-innovation/microcredentialing
https://wikimili.com/en/Tony_Velasquez
https://fil.wikipilipinas.org/view/Teny_
Hensonhttps://www.philippineseducation.info/
distance-education
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133982577518?
chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28(https://education-online-courses.com/icslearn-international-correspondenceschools/)

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU)

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OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
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Universitas
Terbuka(UT)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

08

167

08 Universitas

Terbuka:
MakingHigher
Education
Open to All
Rahmat Budiman, Durri Andriani,
Adhi Susilo, Lidwina Sri Ardiasih,
Made Yudhi Setiani, Mery Noviyanti,
Olivia Idrus, and Ernik Yuliana

Universitas Terbuka

ESTABLISHMENT

The earliest distance education in Indonesia
began in the 1950s and was known as
the Education Radio Program and thecorrespondence training program forteachers seeking the required teachingdegree (Belawati and Bandalaria, 2018).
Over 30 years later, Universitas Terbuka(UT) was founded in 1984 and replaced
the correspondence course type. For
over 20 years, UT was the only university
recognized by the government to provide
higher education through distance education
system. A higher Education Decree in 2001
marked the regulation change and allowed all
higher education institutions to also employ
distance learning systems. Nevertheless,
UT remained the only university operating
as a single-mode institution, taking fulladvantage of its open and distance education(ODE) system. Among the other universities
that are offering significant e-learning as
parts of their teaching methodologies are
the University of Indonesia, Gajah Mada
University, and Bina Nusantara University

“Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Universitas Terbuka was established as an open
university fully applying ODE system to increase thequalification of in-service teachers and to expand
access for higher education in Indonesia.

(Belawati and Bandalaria, 2018). The first two
are public universities while the third one is a
private university. However, as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, other institutions havenow begun offering online distance learning
courses at a considerable level.

Universitas Terbuka was established on
September 4th,1984 and launched by the
President of Indonesia as an open university
fully applying ODE system. UT was foundedwith two specific mandates, which are
to increase the qualification of in-service
teachers and to expand access for higher
education in Indonesia. By the year 2019,the university offered more than 43 study
programs attended by more than 350.000
students, which secured UT to be in the list ofMega Universities of the world (Belawati andBandalaria, 2018). UT students’ profile wasinitially dominated by practicing teachers
and working adults but has in the past several
years changed toward younger adults withvarious professions.

Increasing teachers’ qualification wasconsidered very important as theGovernment believes that the key element
to improve education quality was throughthe enhancement of teacher quality. The
fact that there were both a shortage in thenumber of teachers and uneven distributionof teachers throughout Indonesia forced theGovernment to look for an upgrading systemthat would not require them to leave theirteaching duties at schools. The option was
to establish a distance education institution
to provide mass-education for upgrading thequalification of those practicing teachers.
This is the mandate that was given by theGovernment to UT since its inception,
forming the Faculty of Education and Teacher
Training (FKIP). FKIP was and still is dedicatedonly admits practicing in-service teachers as
its students.
Expanding access to higher education isanother important and strategic issue for
the Government of Indonesia. Therefore,
to open a wider opportunity for high school

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graduates who aspire for further higher
education, UT developed three otherfaculties, namely Faculty of Economics (FE),
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science(later changed to Faculty of Science andTechnology or FST), and Faculty of Social
dan Political Sciences (later on changed toFaculty of Law, Social and Political Sciences or
FLSPS). These three Faculties are open to any
prospective students from any background aslong as they graduate from high school levels.
As an open university, UT has an open
admission policy: no selection test nor age
limitation (including the year of high school
completion time), and no time limit forcompletion. UT also adopts a ‘multi-entry& multi-exit’ policy as well as recognizes‘prior learning’, which gives high flexibility
to students to pursue their education inaccordance with their circumstances. UT’svision and mission today responds to the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
particularly SDG4, which addresses Educationand Lifelong Learning.
UT was also designed by the Government
to collaborate with other universities andeducational establishment in Indonesia. This
is to allow UT accepts and provides services
to students in all provinces throughout thecountry. At the beginning, UT operations

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

involved 27 Regional Offices (ROs) better
known as Unit Program Belajar Jarak Jauh
(UPBJJ), which were located within thecampus of state universities. The collaboration
was required to enhanced UT’s acceptancein society and especially in academic milieu.
Those state universities provided not only
buildings and human resources as the Heads
of ROs, but also allowed UT to involve theirlecturers to develop course and examinationmaterials, as well as to become tutors. In its
development, the nature of the collaboration
with universities changed dynamically in linewith the changes in various factors including
the government regulations and UT’s
increased capacity to be more independent.
Over the years, the locations of ROs moveoutside university campuses and Heads of
ROs gradually replaced with UT’s internal
human resources. UT’s collaborations forcourse and examination authors, as wellas tutors however remain continuing until
present time. Many universities believe thatby allowing their lectures to help UT, theyalso gain advantages. One of the advantages
is that as the lecturers received training from
UT on how to design instructions, to write
a course, to write good assessment items,
and to become tutors, they become better
lecturers for their own teaching in theirrespective universities.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Establishing Identity

In 1998, UT released the 1998–2008 UT
Development Plan, which formulated
a clear vision to become a center of
excellence in organizing, researching,developing, and disseminating information
on ODE in Indonesia. In 2001, UT launcheda bureaucratic reform, which included raising
the quality of academic products, providing
work facilities and infrastructure, andcontinually strengthening cooperation withdiverse parties. The mandate compelled UT
to transform into a teaching institution thatprovided academic services to all citizens of
the Republic of Indonesia, including thoseresiding in the country’s most remote,underdeveloped, and impoverished areas,
as well as those living abroad. As a teaching
institution, UT was required to increase its
quality and reputation in all areas, including
human resources, community and marketdriven educational programs, both degree andcertificate programs, the quality of teachingmaterials, learning processes, research, andassessment. As a result, UT pushed itself tobecome a distance education institution withworld-class academic services.
As a world-class distance teaching university,
UT always strives for innovation taking
advantage of the latest technologicaldevelopment. It is very important for UT toestablish a reputation as a modern university
and be recognized as a university that
opens up access to higher education andlifelong learning to all. In fact, UT’s popularslogan is “making higher education open toall”. Recently, UT’s identity has also been

associated with the recognition as a cyberuniversity. And, as the result of UT’s significant
contribution to assist the praxis of online
learning by other universities during theCovid 19 pandemic, UT has transformed itself
to become a Center of Innovation (CoI) for
distance education. As a CoI, organizational
culture was challenged to become a learningorganization that triggered the birth of new
ideas and breakthroughs in the concept
and implementation of distance education
by utilizing the latest developments in
information and communication technology.

Enhancing Quality and Positioning

UT’s planning and development policies
are aimed at enhancing quality, which areprojected into three main areas, e.g. (1)improving academic quality, (2) improving
internal management, and (3) increasing
student participation rates. The latest longterm plan is formulated at the Business
Strategic Plan 2021-2035, which is further
elaborated by the annual working plans toachieve the stated annual targets articulated
in forms of key performance indicators. The
university annual work plan contains theentire plan of UT’s programs and activities
for the year. Each Unit/Department is thenrequired to create its own annual plan inaccordance with its roles and functions. The
achievement of UT’s annual key performanceindicators is monitored and evaluated by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, andTechnology.

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Upon the achievement of opening up accessto higher education to all Indonesians, as
stated in the Business Strategic Plan 20212035, UT envisions itself to have a bigger
role in Indonesian higher education systemthrough the following steps.
1. In 2020: becoming a leading institution ininnovation of distance higher education.
2. By 2025: promoting the integration of
all educational services in the cyberuniversity networks.
3. By 2030: realizing a digital education
ecosystem for Indonesia.
4. By 2035: UT is supported by a solid digital
education ecosystem.

Future Challenges and Directions

The milestones set in the Business Strategic
Plan 2021-2035 are envisaged to elevate
UT’s contribution to the Indonesian higher
education provision.
As the proponentof ODE in Indonesia, UT is expected by theGovernment and the people to play a bigger
role in achieving higher rates of higher
education participation. Currently, the higher
education participation rate is at around 34%
and the Government wants to increase it to
50% by 2045. Therefore, a new challenge has
been put forward by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Research, and Technology, whichis assist other universities applying online
learning by providing essential guidance ande-learning facilities to support the teaching
and learning process. The digital education
ecosystem would allow UT to respond to thechallenge.

Universitas Terbuka (UT)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Meanwhile, UT’s strategic environmentis also facing dynamic development. The
implementation of the ASEAN Economic
Community agreement, the developmentof advanced information technology,
globalization, and changes in government
policies, forces UT to have a high level ofanticipation, adaptability, and flexibility. UT
must be able to respond to the changing
demands of society and dynamics ofenvironment by continuously enhancing
the relevance of its educational programs
and services using the state-of-the-art
technology. However, UT also must provide
quality higher education at an affordable
level to all society. In a situation like this, UT
is required to have an ability to find various
sources of income and utilize them efficiently
for optimal education services.
Organizationally, UT had a significant change
in 2011. Through a Decree of the Minister ofFinance No. 268/ KMK.05 /2011, UT’s statuschanged from a ‘regular’ state university
to become a state university with a ‘public
service agency’ (Badan Layanan Umum – BLU)
status known as PTN-BLU. This change is very
essential to UT. As a public service agency, UT
can directly use its revenue without having
to deposit it in the state treasury first, eventhough it is still categorized as state revenue.
Thus, UT can be more flexible in managing theuse of funds in accordance with operational
needs to support quality learning. UT is
currently preparing the transformation again
from the status of PTN-BLU to State University
with Legal Entities (known as PTNBH). As a
PTNBH, UT would have a full autonomy inboth academic and non-academic affairs.
One of the most significant differences isthat as PTNBH, UT’s revenue will no longer
be categorized as the state revenue, andthus UT will have complete autonomy inmanaging the financial affairs as is any nongovernmental institutions. This change will
dramatically allow UT to develop its existing
potentials and to provide better services.
Financial autonomy would also allow UT
to explore and capitalize on the latest
technology for its system and operations.
As well all understand, technology is the key
element to the current and future educational
provision. With technology, UT will be able toachieve its milestones and to realize its visioneffectively and efficiently. As a consequence,such autonomy would of course need to be
implemented with increased transparency
and accountability.

MANAGEMENT
Organizational Structure

UT has a headquarter in the capital cityof Jakarta and 39 ROs spread throughout
Indonesia (Figure 1). To support the new
PTNBH status, UT’s organizational structureneeded also to be updated, and it is now
still in the making process. The current
organizational structure is the one officiatedby the Decree of Minister of Research,
Technology, and Higher Education ofIndonesia No. 16, 2017Juncto Decree of
Minister of Research, Technology, andHigher Education of Indonesia No. 84 of 2017
which lays out the statutes of the university
as well as the organizational structure. In
implementation, some additional working
units were added to the official organizational
structure in line with UT needs.

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Figure 1
Universitas Terbuka’s Regional Offices

As shown by Figure 2, there are four main
bodies in UT’s structure: (1) the Academic
Senate, (2) Rector, (3) Internal Supervisory
Unit, and (4) Board of Trustee. As a BLU,
UT also has an External Supervisory Board
which oversees UT’s program and financial
accountability. UT has four faculties, namely
the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Law,
Social and Political Sciences, the Faculty of
Education and Teacher Training, and theFaculty of Science and Technology. UT also
has two institutions, namely the Institutefor Educational Quality Development andAssurance and the Institute for Researchand Community Services. Administrative
supports are performed by two Bureaus(namely the Bureau of Finance, General
Administration, and Cooperation, as well as
the Bureau of Academic, Student Affairs, andPlanning) and four technical units (namely
the units of Information and Communication
Technology, information services/library,
Human Resource Professional Development,

Universitas Terbuka (UT)the Archive). Most importantly, the backboneof UT’s operations in the regions are the 39
Regional Offices (RO) that spread throughout
the country.

Academic and Administrative Affairs

Admission and Registration. Admission andfirst registration can be done either online
or in person in the RO. Every registeredstudent will automatically receive an official
email address (ecampus.ut.ac.id), username
and password. Students are expected to use
the official university email address for theircommunication regarding their learning
at UT. Course registration can be done
throughout the year and students can access
all their academic records at https://sia.
ut.ac.id/

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Academic Programs. UT offers both degree and non-degree educational programs. In 2021,
UT offers a total of 43 degree programs: two diploma programs, 32 bachelor programs,
seven master programs, and two doctoral programs. For non-degree programs (certificate
programs), UT offers continuing professional development programs, and course-based
independent study (where general public can register for individual courses without admission
process). UT also offers several massive open online courses (MOOCs) as part of community
service activities. The general instructional system is designed where students study thelearning materials independently, participate in tutorials, complete course assignments,
and take the course final examinations. The academic year is designed semester based, andstudents have the flexibility to take time off from their study at any time.
Figure 2
Universitas Terbuka’s Organizational Structure

Learning Materials. Learning materials better
known as Modules are the main learning
medium which are produced and distributedin both printed and digital form. UT’s
modules are designed to be self-instructionaland self-contained, which mean that themodules are comprehensive in accordancewith the curriculum and can be studied by

students independently. In addition, UT
also develops and provide students withvarious supplementary materials in form ofaudio, video, animation, as well as televisionand radio programs. The latest form of UT
modules is the interactive digital books,
where the modules are enriched withmultimedia (video, animation, simulation).

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To maintain the relevance and novelty, UT
has the policy of revising and updating themodules at least every five years. UT’s digitallearning materials can be accessed and canbe downloaded using various devices suchas smart phones/tablets or laptops so thatstudents can read them offline. The accessand download of the digital modules canbe done through the website at http://bahanajar.ut.ac.id/ or through the “BA Digital
Open University” application, which can be
downloaded on Google Playstore. Modules
are also available in the virtual reading roomat the university digital library at https://pustaka.ut.ac.id/lib/.
Student Support Services. Students
would receive support services from the
beginning of joining UT until they graduate.
New students would receive a package oforientation package and a full-day face-toface orientation programs (replaced withvideoconferencing during the Covid-19
pandemic). During they study at UT, they
can consult and interact with UT’s staff in
the RO, by either face-to-face meeting or
online. UT also establishes a contact center
known as ‘Hallo UT’ that can be contacted
24 hours using a trackable ticket-based email
system and a telephone number at 1500024.
Periodically UT also organizes various
workshops and clinics to enhance student’s
capacity and skills in conducting distancelearning.

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

Learning Support Services. Tutorial is themain learning support for students. All
courses are accompanied by online tutorials,
and each course can have more than one
online tutorial (known as Tuton) class.
Tuton can be accessed at https://elearning.
ut.ac.id. Several courses (especially thoseof the Bachelor Program for upgrading the
Elementary School Teachers– S1 PGSD), due
to the spread of the students in more rural
areas where internet infrastructure is not yet
adequate, are supplemented by face-to-facetutorials (known as TTM). TTM is organized
by ROs in cities closed to the domicile of thethe students. During the Covid-19 Pandemic,
all face-to-face tutorials are replaced byvideo conferencing (known as TUWEB) wherestudents can participate with simple device
such as handphone.
Practical Works/Practicum. Some coursesthat require practical works or practicum.
Practical works or practicum allows students
to have hands-on experiences and performthe required skills. UT has established longand strong collaborations with various
institutions (universities, schools, training
centers, etc) which have laboratory andworkshop facilities to accommodate students
do their practical works in their nearest
location. Currently, UT has 106 coursesthat need practical works /practicum. In
the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic,
the policy that UT applies is following theGovernment’s Covid-19 preventive healthprotocol standards, where online practicum(Praton) is used whenever possible.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Course Examination. The default system ofcourse final examination (known as ujian
akhir semester or UAS) is pencil and paper
test, which is face-to-face in examination
locations throughout the country. The second
examination is a paid online examination
where students can take it either from the ROs
or from other locations of their choice (uponapproval and meeting certain requirements)
with semi and full online proctoring system.
UT has developed an item bank system thathas a collection of 6-10 sets of test item
for each course. Therefore, UT is able toadminister examination simultaneously invarious locations using unique and distinctive
set of examination items to prevent thepossibility of cheating created by differencesin students’ time zones. During the Covid-19
pandemic, UAS was conducted through open
book take home examinations (THE) method.
Students can do THE anywhere, as long as
there is internet access, by downloading
the UAS THE documents, complete the THE
within the allocated time (about 6 hours
per course), and uploading their responses
before the deadline. THE is implemented
while adhering to and upholding applicableacademic integrity.

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Community Services. As a university,community service is one of the threepillars of all Indonesian higher education
institutions: teaching and learning, research,and community services. UT’s community
services can be categorized as nation-widecommunity services and local community
services performed by individual lecturers invarious disciplines and programs throughout
the country. The nation-wide community
service mostly done online by opening up
UT’s various academic products (books,
journals, enrichment materials, videos/UTTV, etc) as open educational resourses (OERs)
through a dedicated OER website called
Sumber Pembelajaran Terbuka (SUAKA) at
https://www.ut.ac.id/OER/, offering MOOCs(at http://moocs.ut.ac.id/), and organizing
open webinar in various subject matters. The
local community services mostly in the field
relevant to the lecturer’s field and expertiseand in accordance with the local community
needs.

DELIVERY SYSTEM AND TECHNOLOGYUSE IN UNIVERSITAS TERBUKA

Open education is a concept of opening
educational access to all, which is basedon the acceptance that education andknowledge are public goods and thateveryone has the right to access quality
education (Belawati, 2014). As previously
mentioned, UT was founded to implement
the open education concept as stated in
the objectives of UT’s establishment: (1) toprovide expansive opportunity for Indonesian
citizens and foreigners, wherever their placeof residence, to attain higher education,(2) to provide higher education services for
those who, because of their work or due to

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

other reasons, are not able to further theireducation in face-to-face higher education
institutions, and (3) to develop academic andprofessional programs to satisfy the national
development needs that are unaddressed byother universities.
As an open university that was conceptualized
during the pre-internet era, UT’s delivery
system was initially based on the independent
learning approach. Following the modelfrom the United Kingdom Open University(UKOU), UT delivery system is relying on the
pre-produced learning material packages,
face-to-face tutorials, and examination. UT
students are expected to learn independently
using the main course materials (modules)
and watch the television programs aired by
the national television broadcast. Students
were also obliged to attend face-to-facetutorials, which soon to be found unpopularfor certain courses. The face-to-face tutorials
were then only provided for certain courses
with high difficulty level and on-demandbasis. As technology developing and became
available, other media such as audio, video,
animation, and later even interactive
digital materials are developed. The maincourse materials or modules are graduallyconverted into interactive digital e-books
that contain text integrative with still images,
video, animations, etc. Figure 3 shows themilestones of UT’s learning materials in
relation to the technology use evolution.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Figure 3 also highlights the changing technology use for student and learning support services.
The era of online learning system at UT started in 1997 when UT introduced online student
support services through its website. Following up this initiative, UT began to develop a more
expansive web-based learning support systems including those registration, tutorials, andexaminations. Even though information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure
was very limited and unevenly distributed, UT continues to exploit the possibility of using
ICT to enhance both administrative and academic services to its students. At present, as thefigure shows, UT is in the initial stage of utilizing the latest technology such as augmented
and virtual reality/extended reality for delivering the academic content. The latest discussions
among faculties at present are around the idea of developing a metaverse of UT to enhance its
virtual physical presence. Table 1 further elaborates the evolution of UT delivery system andtechnology use in relation to Taylor’s five generations of DE.
Figure 3
Delivery System and Technology Milestones

It is also worth mentioning that as a distancelearning university, UT also developed andimplement mobile technology as an integral
part of its online learning system. In addition
to its mobile interface website, online tutorials
are also made accessible through mobile aswell as hand-held devices. In other words,
UT students can literally study through theirmobile devices from the very first activity ofregistering for courses, paying the tuition fee,
obtaining digital learning materials, accessing
the digital library, reading online journals, aswell as participating in online tutorials. With
the continuous development of increasingly
sophisticated smartphone technologies, it isimportant for UT to continuously improve
its online learning system. The developmentof UT’s mobile learning, which was started
in 2013, has gone through several phases(Padmo, D. & Belawati, T. & Idrus, O. &Ardiasih, L.S., 2017).

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Table 1
Delivery System and Technology Use in Universitas Terbuka (modified from Pannen, 2016)
Distance Learning Model

Years

Delivery System

First Generation
The Correspondence Model(Printed)

1984

In the beginning of UT
establishment, communication
between student and tutor
uses correspondence via postal
service.
UT provided audiotape as asupplement for printed modules

Second Generation
1986
The Multimedia Model• Print• Audiotape• Videotape• Computer basedlearning (CAI/CAL)• Interactive video
Third Generation
1986
The Telelearning Model• Audio teleconferencing• Videoconferencing• Audio graphic
Communication• Broadcast TV/
Radio and audio
teleconferencing

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

Since 1986, UT used radio fortutorials, with limited frequency.
Then in 1991, radio and television
tutorials became regular throughthe national radio station or Radio
Republik Indonesia (RRI) andthe national television station or
Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI).

Technology
Used
Postal service

Audio TapeRadio andTelevision
Transmission/
Broadcasting
Systems

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Distance Learning Model
Fourth Generation
The Flexible Learning Model• Interactive multimedia(IMM) online• Internet-based accessto WWW resources• Computer mediatedcommunication (CMC)

Fifth Generation
The Intelligent Flexible
Learning Model• Interactive multimedia(IMM) online• Internet based accessto WWW resources• Computer mediatedcommunication (CMC)
using automatedresponse systems• Campus portal accessto institutional
processes andresources

Technology
Used1999 UT started the internet-basedInternet:
access to www resources in 1997, mailing list, mailhowever the mailing-list based
gateway, webtutorials were started in 1999.
based LMS
The mailing-list based tutorials(known as electronic tutorial
or Tutel) were conducted oncourse basis, i.e. each course
was offered through a specificmailing-list account

Years

Delivery System

In 2001, UT started to offer online
tutorial using open-sourced
learning management system(LMS) called Manhattan Virtual
Classroom or (MVC), and in 2004,
UT changed to Moodle until now
2004 Nowadays, UT has several
learning materials to support theprinted modules as main sourceof learning and implemented
the fifth generation of media in
distance learning.
The media such as:• Online Tutorial using moodle
based application• Webinar Tutorial using
Microsoft Teams, in thistutorial there are interaction
between tutor and student• UT Radio, internet streaming
tutorial• UT TV, YouTube channel fordelivering learning materials• However, other program still
under development

Internet -based
multimedia
learning
materials,
interactive
digital materials,
web-basedtutorials, webbased online
examination
system,web-basedadministrative
systems, highspeed network
connection,
contact centerwith chatbot,
etc.

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MOOCs AND OTHER OPEN EDUCATION
PRACTICES

Since its establishment in 1984, UT hascontinuously embodied the spirits of“education for all” and “lifelong education”,
which are the philosophical foundation as
well as the Indonesian government’s mandate
for UT. Furthermore, the development oftechnology and the change of educational
paradigms have spawned various models
of innovations in education. The definitionof ‘open’ in open education itself haschanged and nowadays is understood as also
containing the concept of open access (read:free). The most phenomenal movement withregard to the notion of openness in educationis related to the ‘sharing paradigm’, which
has resulted in two globally accepted andadopted educational models: OERs dan
MOOCs. As mentioned previously, in orderprovide the nation-wide community services
through online platform, UT develops andoffers OERs and MOOCs since 2014 (Belawati& Bandalaria, 2018). In 2020, UT offers 23
MOOCs which can be accessed at http://moocs.ut.ac.id and hundreds of OERs invarious media formats (Figure 4). Startingfrom 2021, there have been some additional
MOOCs, and in the future, it is planned all
MOOCs are designed in the credit earning
scheme.

Figure 4
The Profile of UT’s MOOCs

Source: http://moocs.ut.ac.id/course/index.php?categoryid=2
UT offers two categories of MOOCs, i.e. community service MOOCs and course affiliatedMOOCs . The first category refers to MOOCs which subjects are not directely related to UT’s
course. Certificates earned upon completion of this MOOCs category cannot be used to getcredit earning at UT. The course affiliated MOOCs on the otherh hand were designed based on
existing UT courses and therefore can be used for credit earning at UT through the mechanismof ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ or RPL since 2020.

Universitas Terbuka (UT)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

Table 2 presents the characteristics of each category and based on the above characteristics,
there are currently 21 community service MOOCs and three course-affiliated MOOCs.
Table 2
The Differences Between Community Service and Course Affiliated MOOCs
No.
Community Service MOOCs
1.
Coursed are decided based on popular
themes/titles/materials that are solely
aimed at educating the public regarding
the understanding/mastery of importantskills, both in the form of knowledge andpractical/applied skills.
2.
No parts associated with the competencesof any degree courses offered by UT
3.
Interaction in MOOCs is minimum andwithout instructor guidance
4.
Free, uncertified, and non-transferable
into UT’s degree courses.

Course Affiliated MOOCs
MOOCs are identified based on certain
popular courses which are developed
into several MOOCs according toessential competencies.

Designed to be transferable towards
relevant UT’s degree courses
Interaction in MOOCs is structured
within a certain learning time
Free with additional scheme forparticipants who wish to obtain acertificate must:(1) do assignments and take part in
the evaluation of learning outcomes(exams), and be declared to have passed
the course.
(2) pay the examination fee according
to the conditions for each MOOCs
program.
Once series of MOOCs in one course
have been completed and each has acertificate of completion, they can betransferred to the relevant courses.

To further advocate the open education practice in Indonesia, UT with the endorsement
and support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology has foundeda consortium with other higher education institutions through UT’s latest unit called theIndonesia Cyber Education Institute or ICE-Institute. Through ICE, UT is confirming its
commitment to provide free and accessible university courses using MOOCs model.

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Figure 5
The Homepage of ICE Institute

The ICE Institute is an online marketplace foronline courses under the supervision of the
Ministry for Education, Culture, Research,
and Technology of Indonesia. It provides
a variety of online courses from many
partner universities within the consortium
throughout Indonesia and overseas. The
consortium of the ICE Institute is under the
management of 14 founding institutions
with Universitas Terbuka as the chair. Table
3 shows the name of member institutions of
ICE and the providing of courses in the ICE
marketplace.

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

Table 3
ICE Institute Consortium Members andPartners
The current
membersof the ICE
Institute
Consortium(foundinginstitutions)

Universitas Indonesia (UI),
Universitas Pelita Harapan(UPH), Universitas Terbuka(UT), Universitas Gadjah
Mada (UGM), Universitas
Bina Nusantara (Binus
University), Universitas Negeri
Jakarta (UNJ), Atmajaya
Catholic University (UAJY),IPB University, Universitas
Pradita, Institut Teknologi
Sepuluh November (ITS),
Universitas Negeri Surakarta(UNS), Telkom University,
Universitas Diponegoro, and
the Association of IndonesianBusiness and Economics
Faculties (AFEBI).

OnlineLearning
Providers

edX, Regional English
Language Office (RELO)US Embassy Jakarta, AsianDevelopment Bank, Kaliber,and Microsoft.

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

At present, the most interesting programfrom the ICE Institute is the scholarship from
Ministry of Education, Culture, Research,
and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia
with “Freedom Learning for All” tagline. Thisscholarship enables students at universities
in Indonesia to choose and enrol in any freecourses developed by well-known Indonesian
universities and other partner institutions.

RESEARCH FINDINGS IN
THE LAST FIVE YEARSLike other universities in Indonesia, lecturers
at Universitas Terbuka are obliged to conduct
research. Research and Community Services
at UT is coordinated by UT’s Institutefor Research and Community Service(Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada
Masyarakat, abbreviated as LPPM). Thisinstitution has two Research Centres: Centreof Scientific Research (Pusat Penelitian
Keilmuan, or PPK), and Centre of Research andInnovation for Open and Distance Education(Pusat Riset dan Inovasi Pendidikan Terbuka
dan Jarak Jauh or PRI-PTJJ). The Centre of
Scientific Research manages research related
to all fields of knowledge in all faculties andstudy programs at UT, whereas the PRIPTJJ, which was newly established in 2018,
manages research specifically related to thefield of open and distance learning and digitallearning ecosystem.
UT has a Research Master Plan (called RIP),
which strategically guides the flagshipresearch topics for the next five years. With
RIP, it is expected that all research would
have direct and significant contributions toachieving UT’s vision. All research is fully
funded by either UT, the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Research, and Technology, or otherfinancial sources through competitive-based
and assignment-based schemes. It is also
important to mention that several lecturers
also conduct research with personal funding.
To illustrate UT’s commitment to research,
every year UT allocates a significant researchbudget and for the past 5 years (2016-2020)
UT has allocated research budget of over
IDR 80 billion. Table 4 presents the numberof research conducted by UT’s lecturers forthe past five years categorized by funding
resources, which shows that the number
ranges from 250 to 430 titles.

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Table 4
Research Conducted by UT’s Academics from 2016-2020
Research Category
Funded by UTFunded by the Indonesian Ministryof Education, Culture, Research, andTechnology
Personal Funding
International Research Collaboration
Total

2016
309

2017
283

2018
379

2019
414

2020
260

11

7

7

1

0

7
5
332

4
4
298

29
4
419

11
4
430

0
4
264

As mentioned, research topics are guided by the RIP and in general can be categorized into
six groups: curriculum evaluation, assessment, student, learning material, learning support
system, and management (of distance education). The last one is institutional research
category. Table 5 shows the proportion of number of research for each category.
Table 5
Numbers of Research by Category (2016-2020)
Category
Curriculum Evaluation
Assessment
Student
Learning Material
Learning Support System
Management (in Distance Education)
Total

Numbers of Research
29
22
66
118
111
188
534

Percetages (%)
6
4
12
22
21
35
100

For each research category, UT has conducted relevant topics whose findings are beneficial for
UT’s continues improvement and development. The following paragraphs present highlight ofmajor findings for each category that have been adopted and implemented by UT.

Curriculum Evaluation

Curriculum is at the centre of every academic program as it comprehensively formulated
the programs’ core competence to be achieved, the content of the learning materials, theoverall plan and arrangement regarding learning process, as well as the design of the learningassessment. Curriculum is dynamic in nature as it always has to be adjusted to any changes

Universitas Terbuka (UT)Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

that come either from the subject mattersthemselves or from the changing policies
set by the Directorate of Higher Educationof Indonesia. One of the significant findingsof researches on curriculum reveal that
UT’s curriculum need to be more updated
in accordance with the latest scientificdevelopments and stakeholders’ policies suchas those suggested by Ministry of Education,scientific associations or organisation,
students, and alumnus (Lestari et al., 2016;
Mikdar et al., 2018; Utami et al., 2017; andWindrati et al., 2016).

Assessment

Student assessment is essential forstudent’s learning process, which is tomeasure the achievement of the targetedcompetencies. In the last five years,
UT has conducted research on various
development of assessment models, suchas online proctoring and question and test
interoperability (QTI) models (Suhartono,2020) and test development on online exam
(Santoso et al., 2018). The proctoring system
is used to facilitate the ease supervision
during online exams, so that examinees andexam supervisors do not have to be in thesame place. Currently, online exam in UT
has been implemented in a semi-proctoringmanner, in which supervision is conducted
online through Microsoft Teams application
with active web camera and microphone,particularly during Covid-19 pandemic, forseveral courses in selected areas or regional
offices. Through this method, UT ensures thatstudents do not cheat during exams. Basedon the research findings, UT is now planning
to apply the online examination with fullonline proctoring system for all students.

Students

UT students come from various social anddemographic backgrounds. Research topics
related to students affairs include learning
style (Marsinah et al., 2018, and Royandiah& Majidah, 2018), learning readiness(Purwantiningsih & Sardjijo, 2019 andRohmah, 2019), and personal factors which
could affect their study (Bintarti & Rahardjo
2019 and Alwi et al., 2018). Even though UTprovides tutorials for almost all courses, oneof the important findings of those studies
relates to the need of students for moreguidance from tutors or instructors (Setiani,2020). Analysis on the learning process inonline tutorials indicated that the interactions
are mostly still one-way without meaningful
feedback from tutors. This was felt to cause
the feeling of loneliness among the students.
Therefore, UT then requires all the tutors to
respond and provide meaningful feedback
to student within certain time (24 hours).
Another finding is that students also imply
to need more guidance in making choices of
their course of study, which is also responded
by UT positively. Counselling services
have been intensified in both the ROs andelectronically through the contact center.

Learning Materials

There are two types of learning materials
developed by UT: printed (bahan ajar cetakor BAC) and digital (bahan ajar digital or BAD).
In the past five years, a lot of research havefocused on finding the best model of learningmaterials using a more advanced technology
such as interactive digital learning materials(bahan ajar interaktif or BAI), which allow
student to actively interact with the learningmaterials (Rahardjo and Hasanuddin, 2017;

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Said, 2019; Suciati et al., 2017; Belawati,
Padmo, & Prasetyo, 2019). BAI is designed
to enhance the quality of students’ personallearning experience by interacting withthe content through self-instructional
materials. Because of many advantagesin BAI, especially in improving student
learning, the development of interactive
learning materials or BAI become one of UT’s
top priorities. Each study program is now
obliged to develop BAI, particularly in a new
textbook or revised edition of the textbook(Said and Ayuni, 2018). Other research on
learning materials have also been focusing
on the experimentation and developmentof prototypes of materials using virtual/augmented realities. Lately, a research
project dedicated to study the possibility ofdeveloping a metaverse leaning environmentis also being conducted.

Learning Support System

One of the most essential infrastructures
to facilitate students’ independent learning
is to provide a systematic and seamlesslearning support system. UT provides various
learning supports including tutorials, contact
centre, digital library, as well as radio andtelevision programs that allows students
to learn from different sources. One of themost popular learning supports was theface-to-face tutorials which are conducted di
the regions. The global COVID-19 pandemic
has forced UT to make adjustments in theimplementation of the face-to-face activities
and converted the face-to-face tutorials into
synchronous web tutorials, which basicallyconducted face-to-face meetings via videoconference platforms. Research related tothe implementation of web tutorials was

Universitas Terbuka (UT)

carried out in several aspects: developmentof web tutorial models (Rahayu, 2021),
user experience and student satisfaction(Muflikah, 2021; Widuroyekti, 2021; andYusrizal, 2021), and implementation (Rachmi,2021). The results of those studies indicatethat students like and felt comfortable withthe web tutorials method. This has madeUT consider continuing employing the web
tutorials method even after the pandemic is
over.

Management in Distance Education

Research related to institutional management
and administration during the last five years
has been mostly carried out with the focus
on the development of various technologicalor software applications. The decision to
focus on such application development wasmade because UT is determined to becomea cyber university which required effective
and efficient management. Some examples
of applications developed in the last five
years are related to academic administration
and asset management: development andimplementation of database security (Sufandi,
2016 and Wicaksono and Susanto, 2017),
facilities and infrastructure management(MESRA, Manajemen Aset dan Prasarana)(Wicaksono, 2019), and system informationon learning material transaction, including
production, distribution, and inventory(SITTA or Sistem Informasi Tiras dan Transaksi
Bahan Ajar) (Sufandi and Priono, 2019).

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

CONCLUSIONAs an open and distance education institution,
Universitas Terbuka (UT) always strives toimprove its quality, including attempts toalign its quality with international distanceeducation implementation standards. To
achieve these goals, UT aspires to have astrong digital education system in placeby 2035, focusing on the digital learning
ecosystem. Academic services, learning
processes, learning support, as well as
financial and asset administration, have all
benefited from the digitization process. UT
is now completing the transition to a State
University with Legal Entities (also known as
PTNBH). UT will have complete autonomy inboth academic and non-academic aspects as
a PTNBH. With this level of autonomy, UT has
the potential to provide better services, suchas developing/establishing new major study
programs, hiring new lecturers and scientists,
and, eventually, raising the number ofstudents or the participation rate of highereducation students. Finally, in light of therapid changes in ODL theories and practices,
as well as the recent global pandemic of
Covid-19, UT continues to make changes
and innovations in order to meet the diverse
needs of students, reach the unreachable,
and improve the quality of graduates so thatthey can compete globally. Furthermore,
via continuous research and innovation, UT
aspires to become a globally known ODL
institution, as well as an advocate for the
global open education movement.

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Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

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Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)

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