Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011

The management and staff of OUM Perak would like to wish all our students "Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2011".

New Year Message from the President and Vice Chancellor of Open University Malaysia
YBhg Emeritus Prof. Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Anuwar Ali



As we bid farewell to 2010 and welcome 2011, let us once again take stock of all that has happened at OUM over the past year — the challenges we have encountered, the struggles we have faced, and more importantly, our successes, both great and small. It is time for us to review and to reflect, so that we may look back for lessons learnt, and forward to prepare ourselves for new challenges in order to continue with more strength and tenacity towards our goal – which is to make higher education attainable for as many people as possible.

The year 2010 has been a noteworthy one for OUM as we have chalked up many memorable achievements. The establishment of the Institute for Teaching and Learning Advancement (ITLA), for example, is one bold step forward that should move us further towards quality teaching and learning via its commitment to the continuous improvement of teaching, assessment and curricula design. As an ODL institution, the University recognises the need to fine-tune current assessment methods to actually reflect learners’ achievements. Only with an effective assessment system OUM is able to produce high caliber graduates who will be an asset to the nation and society.

While our blended pedagogical approach has proven successful in the past, the time has also come for the University to introduce changes. The current “one-size-fits-all” blended model may not be ideal in the long run in light of new developments taking place in the higher education landscape. OUM is looking at a new model which incorporates innovative features to enhance the current delivery mechanism to improve teaching and learning, one which caters to the needs of individual learners. Our online resources initiatives including Mathematics Resource Centre (MRC) and electronic Gateway to English Resources (e-GATE), mobile learning via SMS and Open Educational Resources (OUM OER) speak volumes of our commitment to serve our learners better.

Infrastructure wise, we added a new building in Shah Alam to our portfolio of learning centres throughout Malaysia. Launched in June by the Minister of Higher Education YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin , this state-of-the-art learning centre currently caters to approximately 3,000 learners. Our range of programmes has also diversified, with the addition of new, value-added programmes such as the Diploma in Pre-Hospital Emergency Care, specially designed for paramedics and offered in collaboration with St John Ambulance Malaysia.

Among the other highlights of the year, we hosted a public lecture by YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in August. This leading statesman had the audience in awe with his take on the impact of technology on the future of higher education. And more recently, we held our very first International Conference on Nursing, which explored the use and impact of technology and innovation in this caring profession. Both these events are symbolic of the key role we have assigned to technology in helping us provide high quality education.

Besides making new inroads in the local arena, we are also spreading our wings abroad. We now offer our programmes in Yemen, Bahrain, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Hungary. Our next destination might be Zimbabwe, where we have sensed keen interest in our programmes. We also plan to venture into India, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in the near future.

Our latest accolade is the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Award of Excellence for Institutional Achievement in Distance Education that we received in November. This award was in recognition of OUM’s institutional achievements in the innovative and effective application of learning technologies and ODL methodologies to reach students who might otherwise not participated in the learning or training experience.

Overall, 2010 has been a good year backed by solid performance. We have kept our footing in a shifting landscape, responding with agility to the winds of change while remaining steadfastly focused on our mission. Let me take this opportunity to say a big “thank you” to OUM staff for their untiring contributions and to all our learners, past and present, for investing in their education with us.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season with families and friends. Let us return, refreshed, to start working together again to make 2011 another great year!