On Vision and Singularity of Purpose
Dr David Lim [DL]: 2024 was a momentous year for OUM. Serving as the halfway mark of OUM’s Strategic Roadmap for 2022-2026, it saw a series of achievements across the board, including accomplishments in academic development and research under your purview.
As highlighted by Prof Dr Ahmad Izanee Awang, OUM’s President/Vice-Chancellor, in his ‘From the VC’s Office’ column in this issue, the 2024 milestones include the remarkable take-up rate of the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT), the graduation of nearly 6,500 learners, the launching of exciting new programmes such as the cutting-edge Master in Data Science, the signing of strategic collaborative agreements with institutions of higher education in Kazakhstan, Brunei,
Ethiopia, Nepal, and China, and a series of
research awards conferred on OUM academics.
To cultivate thinking that enriches all aspects of the University’s operations, we launched OUM’s Strategic Research Alliances (SRAs) as a flagship initiative in early 2024.
OUM has proactively initiated measures to reinforce its leadership in the field and to distinguish itself from newcomers who may not yet fully grasp the nuanced theories and best practices underpinning effective ODDE.
Prof Tajudin Md Ninggal (TN): Thank you, Dr
David, for the opportunity to share my thoughts
in inspired. Entrusted to support the vision of the
President/Vice-Chancellor as Vice President and
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academic and Research
at OUM, I oversee broad-ranging efforts – from the
creation and expansion of academic programmes
to graduating lifelong learners prepared for today’s
challenges, and fostering strong partnerships with
external collaborators – all of which are intrinsically
linked. These individual efforts build upon one
another, much like the classic metaphor of the
chicken and the egg – each success fuels the next
initiative, creating continuous cycles of progress.
What ultimately roots and sustains these
cycles is intellectual labour, which refers not only
to the act of thinking but also to the creation of
the thing of thought. It entails directing thought
toward generating, problematising, refining,
and applying ideas both to the world and to
its own processes. This involves looking both
inward and outward to engage with complexity,
approaching problems with creativity and rigour,
and challenging conventions when necessary.
Purposeful intellectual labour of this kind is far
more demanding than most people give it credit. It
requires nurturance, discipline, critical engagement
with other minds, and the audacity to question.
Just as vital are the conditions of time, space,
funding, and a supportive cultural environment for
it to take root, flourish, and enrich all areas of the
University.
To cultivate thinking that enriches all aspects
of the University’s operations, we launched
OUM’s Strategic Research Alliances (SRAs) as a
flagship initiative in early 2024. This initiative also
exemplifies how intellectual labour materialises
through real-world collaborations. By bringing
together diverse stakeholders – academic teams,
industry leaders, and global partners – and
providing multifaceted support, the SRAs aim to
foster synergies that address pressing real-world
challenges.
OUM’s Strategic Research Alliances(SRAs)
DL: That is certainly a refreshing way of framing intellectual labour and exemplifying it through research at OUM. Too often, research is seen as a mechanical exercise undertaken out of obligation in textbook fashion for extrinsic rewards. In contrast, the SRAs you established promise to cultivate deeper inquiry and inform all aspects of OUM’s operations. You have, in fact, written about the SRAs in Issue 22 of inspired, albeit from a different angle. Could you revisit the basics of the SRAs for the benefit of readers who may not have read that piece or fully recall its content?
TN: Certainly. Four SRAs were launched in early 2024 to position OUM at the forefront of knowledge production. For each SRA, five subgroups were formed. In total, then, we have 20 subgroups. The themes for the four SRAs were strategically identified based on the research strengths and interests of OUM academics, as well as emerging trends in research, and the broader institutional priorities of OUM. The SRAs are organised around the following themes:
Each research alliance is designed to
encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among
OUM academics across faculties. This structure
facilitates the novel integration of ideas, theories,
methods, and perspectives to address complex
problems, issues, and questions.
In the year since their launch, the SRAs
have markedly boosted the intensity of OUM’s
intellectual labour. The number of workshops,
seminars, and training sessions has increased
appreciably in 2024 compared to previous
years, as has participation in international
conferences and global collaborations. Research
publication output has also grown substantially,
with many articles appearing in indexed and
top-tiered journals. Similarly, in 2024, several
OUM academics have been recognised for their
groundbreaking research. A team from the Faculty
of Technology and Applied Sciences (FTAS), for
instance, won the Best Paper Award at the 6th
Open Society Conference held at Universitas
Terbuka, Indonesia, in September 2024.
We are proud of our achievements in
2024, especially given that we are a relatively
small institution with a modest pool of full-time
academics as is characteristic of the open
university model. We anticipate 2025 to be even
more productive, factoring in the typical lag time
for research output to be published and the array
of activities we have lined up.
One of the efforts that my office has embarked on is to develop an evolved ODDE model that encapsulates OUM’s current practice in the post-pandemic era.
An Evolved ODDE Model
Figure 1: OUM’s ODDE Model
DL: Post-COVID, many traditional institutions
of higher learning have belatedly incorporated
open, distance, and digital education (ODDE)
into their offerings. Some have even claimed
to be ‘pioneers’ in the field, despite being
newcomers and lagging decades behind the
practices and cultures long established by open
universities. Alarmingly, some institutions seem
to have neglected to ground their practices in
evidence-based theories that underpin the field.
Even more concerning, a number of them seem
unaware that such theories even exist.
As the premier open university in Malaysia
that literally introduced technology-leveraged
open and distance education to the masses
in the country, and took it to new heights of
credibility and recognition through adaptive
evidence-based practices that put the human
rather than technology at the centre of its
mission, OUM has recently embarked on a
project to raise public awareness about the
fundamentals that make the human-centric
education it offers work. I have been made to
understand that your office has also developed
an evolved ODDE model that captures OUM’s
current practice, presented diagrammatically to
illustrate its core components and operational
framework, ensuring accessibility even to non-experts.
Could you share more of this, please?
TN: [Laughs] It does feel like a bit of marketing
overreach, doesn’t it? It’s quite remarkable how
some institutions are suddenly touting themselves
as ‘pioneers’ while overlooking decades of
established ODDE practices and theories. But
in all seriousness, this isn’t just a matter of
branding; it raises genuine concerns about ethics
and academic rigour. ODDE isn’t new – there’s
a rich body of research and theory behind it.
When institutions jump in without grounding their
approaches in that foundation, they risk delivering
substandard learning experiences and undermining
the field as a whole.
Recognising this, OUM has proactively initiated
measures to reinforce its leadership in the field
and to distinguish itself from newcomers who may
not yet fully grasp the nuanced theories and best
practices underpinning effective ODDE. Central to
these efforts is a reaffirmation of our commitment
to human-centric education, a philosophy that
regards technology as a tool to enhance learning
rather than an end in itself. This commitment
has guided us since our founding, which is why
this year’s silver jubilee is themed “25 Years of
Humanising Digital Education” [see separate
opening article in this issue].
One of the efforts that my office has embarked
on is to develop an evolved ODDE model that
encapsulates OUM’s current practice in the
post-pandemic era. This model [see Figure 1] is
presented diagrammatically to highlight its core
components and operational framework, making it
easily comprehensible even to the layperson.
The first of its kind in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and certainly among Asian open universities, CENDEF will drive OUM’s leap into the next evolution of digital education.
Grounded in decades of research, the model
incorporates proven theories of pedagogy, psychology, and instructional design to optimize
learning outcomes. It places the learner as the
centre, ensuring that every aspect – from content
delivery to support services – is tailored to
individual needs.
As shown by the inner ring of the model,
learning is facilitated in three modes: synchronous,
asynchronous, and self-managed and self-directed.
The outer ring – consisting of dynamic
interaction, cognitive competence, and
flexible teaching and learning – ensures that
the aforementioned learning modes reinforce
one another and produce the optimal learning
outcomes.
Lastly, the white space surrounding the
model represents the philosophy of digital
humanism that underpins it. This philosophy has
been foundational to OUM’s approach to digital
education since its inception.
Digital humanism recognises that digital
technologies, currently epitomised by
advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), create
unprecedented opportunities and wield profound
influence across all aspects of contemporary life.
At the same time, digital humanism emphasises
that the digital transformation of our world – and,
by extension, education – must be guided by
ethical, responsible, inclusive, and sustainable
principles that always put humans and their
dignity, rather than technology, at the centre
of progress. As phrased in the 2019 “Vienna
Manifesto on Digital Humanism”: “The stakes
are high and the challenge of building a just and
democratic society with humans at the center of
technological progress needs to be addressed
with determination as well as scientific ingenuity.
Technological innovation demands social
innovation, and social innovation requires broad
societal engagement.”
The Vienna Manifesto on Digital Humanism
was a foundational layer for the establishment
of the first UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism,
whose inauguration in 2023 highlights how
prescient OUM was in laying the groundwork for
human-centric digital education 25 years ago.
In 2025, OUM will launch a public awareness
campaign aimed at highlighting the critical
importance of designing digital education that
is grounded in credible research and tested theories. Aside from educating the public and
other stakeholders about what sets OUM apart
from newcomers to the field and why our methods
work, the campaign will also help them grasp
the philosophy of digital humanism that grounds
OUM’s ODDE model and 25-year practice of
humanising digital education.
Onward 2025
DL: To close, Prof, please could you share the initiatives your office has devised for 2025?
TN: 2025 is a special year for OUM, for it marks
our 25th anniversary. It is a time to celebrate our
achievements while charting the course for the
next 25 years. Under the leadership of OUM’s
President/Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dr Ahmad Izanee
Awang, and with the full support of OUM’s
Executive Management Committee, my office will
oversee the implementation of key plans for the
new year.
First off is the launch of the newly-established
Centre for Digital Education Futures (CENDEF).
The first of its kind in Malaysia and Southeast
Asia, and certainly among Asian open universities,
CENDEF will drive OUM’s leap into the next
evolution of digital education. As an intellectual
hub, it will collaborate with global experts in
critical interdisciplinary studies to explore possible,
probable, and preferable futures of digital
education, and disseminate our insights across
various platforms; and as a communication centre
and advocacy-driven consultancy, it will foster
public understanding of the complexities of digital
education, and engage key stakeholders including
policymakers to shape and align policies with
future needs and best practices.
OUM will turn 25 on 10 August 2025 and the months leading up to it will be filled with activities highlighting OUM’s quartercentury leadership and future visions of digital education.
On the academic front, OUM will introduce
dual-degree programmes in collaboration with
international universities. This initiative will not
only strengthen OUM’s global presence, it will also
expand opportunities for our learners and provide
them with valuable cross-cultural experience.
OUM will also expand its micro-credential
offerings, emphasising flexible, skill-based
learning pathways to meet the evolving needs of
learners and industries in the digital age. As well,
we will intensify efforts to promote joint research
and publications, particularly in high-impact
journals, by providing structured incentives for our
academics.
Last, but not least, my office will assist the
President/Vice-Chancellor in coordinating OUM’s
25th anniversary celebrations. OUM will turn 25
on 10 August 2025 and the months leading up to
it will be filled with activities highlighting OUM’s
quarter-century leadership and future visions
of digital education. Among the planned events
include a special series of public lectures and
roundtable discussions on “Leadership and the
Futures of Digital Education” by ODDE experts
from OUM and CENDEF’s newly-appointed Global
Fellows.
Additionally, to commemorate OUM’s 25-
year milestone, the management has decided
that the 25th issue of OUM’s flagship publication,
inspired, scheduled for release in May 2025, will
be produced as a special edition scaled up and
printed as a coffee-table book. The hardcopies
will be a limited edition while the digital version
will remain available for free download, as with all
inspired issues.
2025 will be a transformative year, and
I warmly invite all – learners, alumni, board
members, friends, partners, supporters, the public,
policymakers, and other stakeholders – to join us
in celebrating this milestone.
DL: Thank you, Prof. You have certainly heightened our excitement for the upcoming events and celebrations.
TN: Thank you, Dr David. It’s been an honour.
