Institutional Profile: Open University of Malaysia

Institution Name  Open University of Malaysia
Contact details  Main Campus
 Open University Malaysia
 Jalan Tun Ismail
 50480 Kuala Lumpur
 Malaysia
Website/URL  www.oum.edu.my
Brief Overview

The Open University of Malaysia (OUM) is the seventh private university in Malaysia. Although incorporated as a private university under the Private Higher Education Institutions Act 1996, the University leverages on the quality, prestige and capabilities of its strategic partners - a consortium of the 11 public universities. OUM adopts the motto "University for All" which is consistent with its philosophy on democratisation of education. This philosophy underlies the belief that education should be made available to all, regardless of time, place, age and social economic background. The open and distance learning (ODL) mode is specifically targeted at working adults who need to take care of their families as well as manage their careers while pursuing higher education. Under the able stewardship of the then founder and President/Vice-Chancellor, the late Tan Sri Dr. Abdullah Sanusi Ahmad, OUM has positioned itself as an alternative avenue for the public to gain quality tertiary and lifelong education. As an open learning institution, OUM subscribes to the following principles:

  • Flexible entry requirements to provide more opportunities for the members of the society to pursue their aspirations;
  • A student-friendly academic system where the constraints and needs of working adults are well understood;
  • A learning mode that incorporates learners' interaction with lecturers, online learning and self- study, thus enriching learning experiences.

OUM's strengths span a wide range of disciplines, from IT and Engineering to the Arts and Social Sciences, Business and Science. Employing the latest approaches in the teaching-learning process, it offers academic programmes that cater to the demands of industry and the marketplace in general. Initially opening its doors to 753 learners in 2001, OUM has over 79,000 students in 70 academic programmes in its eighth year of operations, a record of some sort. Through OUM, working adults can upgrade their knowledge and skills for the purpose of career progression, career transition or pursuing lifelong learning ambitions, all within the comfort of their homes.

Distance Education History In Malaysia, the provision for education is the biggest challenge for the government as the nation strives to become a fully developed country by the year 2020. One solution is to use technology as an enabler to bring education to the masses. Universities are taking up the challenge by updating the content of their programmes but more importantly, utilising the latest technologies to improve the delivery systems. One of the emerging delivery systems much talked about is Open and Distance Education which is fast becoming the way of providing education to the masses. As a result of this new phenomenon, in August 1999, the Minister of Education invited Multimedia Technology Enhancement Operations Sdn. Bhd. (METEOR), a consortium of 11 public universities in the country, to set up an open university. The move by the Minister led to the establishment of Open University Malaysia (OUM) in August 2000 followed by its official launching on 26 August 2002 by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Teaching and Learning Profile

Degree level focus  Bachelor degree
Expenditure on teaching  30% of yearly budget
Orientation of degrees  general formative
 100%
Range of subjects  comprehensive
 11 disciplines

Student Profile

Distance learning students  31,692
Mature students  predominant
 80%
Part-time students  predominant
 100%
Size of student body  not reported

Research Involvement

Doctorate production  not reported
Expenditure on research  1% of yearly budget
Peer reviewed publications  not reported

Involvement in Knowledge Exchange

Cultural activities  some
 2
Income  not reported
Patent applications  not reported
Start-up firms  not reported

Regional Engagement

1st year bachelor from region  not reported
Graduates working in region  not reported
Importance of local/regional income sources  some

International Orientation

Foreign degree seeking students  not reported
Importance of int'l income  some
Incoming students  not reported
International academic staff  some
 7
Outgoing on exchange  not reported

DE-related Institutional Information

Number of Students not reported
Number of Students by DE mode 31,962
Number of Academic Staff 4821 (Full-time staff + tutors)
Summary of External Quality Assurance Processes OUM is legally established and all programmes are accredited by Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA). A few departments are certified with MS ISO 9001:2008.
  • In Malaysia, the national quality assurance or accreditation framework for higher education is under the purview of the MQA a statutory body established under the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Act 2007 to accredit academic programs provided by educational institutions providing post secondary or higher education and facilitate the recognition and articulation of qualifications. It is an independent autonomous body with a mandate to assess the quality of all facets of tertiary level institutions including universities. The MQA was formerly known as the National Accreditation Board (LAN), established under the Lembaga Akreditasi Negara Act 1996 prior to its merger with the Quality Assurance Division, Ministry of Higher Education in December 2005.
  • The MQA administers the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) which is a unified system of post secondary qualifications offered on a national basis in Malaysia. The MQF is an instrument that classifies qualifications based on a set of approved criteria and benchmarked against international best practices, and which clarifies the earned academic levels, learning outcomes of study areas and credit system based on student’s academic load. These criteria are accepted and used for all qualifications awarded by recognised higher education providers. Hence, MQF integrates with and links all national qualifications. MQF also provides educational pathways through which it links qualifications systematically. These pathways will enable the individual to progress through credit transfers and accreditation of prior experiential learning, in the context of lifelong learning.
Summary of Quality Procedures

The following are examples of QA processes adopted by the University:

  • New programme development is based on market demand and international benchmarks;
  • Periodic programme review based on internal self-review, inputs from external examiners or Board of Studies;
  • Obtaining learners’ and tutors’ feedback;
  • Consultation with relevant industry or professional bodies;
  • Quarterly Management Reporting;
  • Conduct internal audits and participation in external audits such as International Standards Organisation (ISO), Academic Performance Audit;
  • Participation in external surveys.
Percentage of resources that are OER 2%
Intellectual Property Rights Position unclear or disputed IPR position
Expected changes for DE from the current strategy
  1. Entry requirements to different cycles
  2. Internationalisation
  3. Rankings/league table
Any future considerations for DE OUM organises dialogues and forums with its learners and tutors frequently to identify their perception and satisfaction level. The findings are used as benchmarks to initiate new plans and development to bridge the gap. The digital library has a vast collection of printed and online learning and reference materials to aid in the learning process. The collection of e-books, journals and novels (English and Malay) are increased steadily to cater to the learning needs of the learner population that is on the rise.
Summary of the impact of technology on distance education Technology is very important to OUM
  • Innovation is adopted as part of the University’s culture so that there is no shortage for new ideas. Technology is the conduit for OUM to excel as an ODL institution, therefore the University encourages innovation to keep improving on its teaching and learning process. Plans are also underway to explore new territory by leveraging on mobile technologies that will set the stage for m-learning.
  • OUM keeps enhancing its learner assessment system to produce graduates with higher-order thinking. The University brings together its academics, tutors and SMEs on brainstorming platforms to put in place a suitable assessment system. The assessment system of the University plays a crucial role in distinguishing the good and weak learners therefore OUM is in the midst of revamping its undergraduate assessment system.

Technologies

  Technologies currently in use
ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION  
Blogs  
E-mail
Microblogging (e.g. Twitter)
Online Forums / Threaded discussions
Personal Portals (e.g. iGoogle)  
Podcasts
RSS feeds
Shared Calendars / Meeting Scheduling (e.g. Doodle)  
SMS / MMS
Social Networking Utilities (e.g. Facebook, MySpace)
Vidcasts  
Voicemail
Webinars  
Website  
Wikis  
SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION  
Chatrooms  
Instant messaging (e.g. ICQ, MSN)
Online forums (eg Eluminate)
Shared Whiteboards  
Teleconferencing
Telephone
Video Conferencing
Virtual workspaces  
Voice-over IP (e.g. Skype)  
RESEARCH TOOLS  
Citations/References (e.g. Endnote, Zotero)
News Sharing (e.g. DIGG)  
Notification Services (e.g. Google Reader)
Online databases or directories
Search Engines (e.g. Google)
Social Bookmarking (e.g. del.icio.us)  
Web Annotations (e.g. Diigo)
DOCUMENT SHARING & MANAGEMENT  
Document Repositories / Management Systems  
Document Sharing (e.g. Google Docs, Google Apps)
Grid/Cloud Computing  
Learning Management System
Sharing Geographic Content (e.g. GoogleMaps)
Sharing Image Content (e.g. Flickr)  
Sharing Presentation Content (e.g. Slideshare)
Sharing Textual Documents (e.g. GoogleDocs)
Video Sharing (e.g. YouTube, TeacherTube)
OTHER  
Password Management (e.g. OpenID)
idium webpublisering