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Malaysia Education Blueprint

(Higher Education)
Chapter 9: Globalised Online
Learning
Draft Version 3

Discussion Document
02 March , 2015

For internal Ministry of Education review only. Subject to

changes pending comments from stakeholders.

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Chapter 9: Globalised Online

Learning
Online learning is revolutionising the world of education. It is an
instructional delivery system that provides opportunities which are
responsive to the needs of different type of students from all over the
world 1. This is called globalised online learning (GOL) and, it is
considered as the true democratisation of knowledge2. Malaysia wishes
to expand this technology-enabled mode of education and contribute the
local content and expertise to the global community.
This chapter discusses the importance of globalised online learning (GOL)
and where Malaysia is in the development of GOL. It proposes key
initiatives to improve GOL in order to enhance the quality of course
delivery, enable lowering the cost of delivery, bringing Malaysian niche
areas and expertise to the world, enhancing the branding and visibility of
Malaysian HLIs as well as to acculturate the life-long learning among
Malaysians. Due to its significance in the national policy on GOL, this
chapter focuses on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

Why this matters

The growth of online learning
In 2013, it was reported that the world internet users stand at 2.33 billion,
representing an overall of 34.3% internet penetration 3. The growth of the
use of Internet in education is phenomenal. It is estimated that by 2019,
50% of all classes taught in higher education institutions in the USA will
be delivered online and many of these will be available for free to
students. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are already available
such as EdX from Harvard and MIT. The growth of this digital natives is
similar in Malaysia and the Malaysian higher learning institutions (HLIs)
must prepare itself for this generation.
Widening access of higher education

1Edmundson, A. (2007). Globalised e-Learning Cultural Challenges. London: Idea

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B-EFayAA5_0
3 Please look for the reference
2

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GOL provides a vehicle to extend the reach of courses offered by

Malaysian HLIs. The implementation of GOLs allows widening access and
liberalising education and in support of the lifelong learning, where the
education is now freely available beyond the confines of physical and
time boundaries, and for the privileged segment of the society only. GOL
can reduce costs as the on-campus courses offered by an HLI can now be
accessed by students of other HLIs, eliminating the need for multiple
offerings of courses. The implementation of GOLs also alleviates the need
for extra physical spaces to accommodate higher enrolment. In addition,
GOLs can also ease the pressure on over-subscribed courses especially
the first year common courses.

Malaysia education through GOL

The usage of GOL enhances the quality of T&L as it indirectly transforms
educational delivery towards a more interactive and engaging one thus
improving educational outcomes. A meaningful learning environment can
also be created through interaction between local and international
students, thus creating a community of learners with different
perspectives and worldviews.
The Malaysian higher education is
expected to increase in quality through blended learning, lowering the
cost of delivery, bringing Malaysian niche areas and expertise to the
world, enhancing the branding and visibility of Malaysian HLIs. The global
visibility of and access to Malaysian niche areas and expertise such as in
Islamic banking and finance, tropical themes and eastern cultures will
help Malaysian HLIs to global prominence.

Where we are
e-Learning among Malaysian HLIs
The National e-Learning Policy (Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara, DePAN4)
was launched under the National Higher Education Strategy Plan or
PSPTN. DePAN provides the framework for quality e-learning deployment
at Malaysian HLIs it was also intended to support the strategic objectives
of the 10th Malaysia Plan and Malaysian Agenda for Innovation. DePAN is
made up of five pillars i.e. Infrastructure, Structure of Organisation,
Curriculum and Content, Professional Development and Enculturation to
enable HLIs to implement their e-learning initiatives.

4 Please find the reference and page.

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A study on the achievement of DePAN implementation shows room for

improvement, especially among the polytechnics and community
colleges. The findings are summarised in Exhibit 9-1.

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Exhibit 9-1
Success of DePAN implementation

MOOCs at Malaysian HLIs

Since the launching of DePAN in 2011,
MOOCs have grown worldwide in
significance and impact. Thus, while not
explicitly included in DePAN, some
public and private HLIs have started
experimenting in this space. Taylors
University launched the first MOOCs in
Malaysia in March 2013. They offered a
subject entitled Entrepreneurship and
used Open Learning platform. This
online subject ran in tandem with their
conventional course. It was an offering
that proved to be incredibly successful,
attracting students from more than 110

Where is Malaysia Relative

to its Peers in terms of
MOOCs initiative?
Many of the prominent universities in the
region propelled forward in MOOCs
initiative by putting their courses in Edx
or Coursera and this create the global
branding and help in the global
positioning of their universities.
In South Korea for instance, Seoul
National University - the countrys first
national university - is one of the prime
movers of MOOCs in the nation. In 2014,
it offered three courses in edX and a
course in the Coursera platform.
In
Japan, the University of Tokyo offered two
MOOCs in 2014 using the Coursera
platform while the University of Kyoto
offers a MOOC using edX.
In Singapore, their MOOCs initiative
began in January 2014 when the National
University of Singapore joined Coursera
by offering three MOOCs. This was
followed by NTU, which offered two
MOOCs. The success of NUS and NTU are
commendable as they managed to
attract more than large number of global
students to their courses, which in turn
help to brand and position their
universities globally.

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different countries. At of end of 2014, Taylors University offers 8 MOOCs 5

utilising the same platform.
In September 2014, the Ministry launched four 1st year undergraduate
common compulsory courses offered by UKM, UPM, UiTM and UniMAS
using the MOOCs concept. The first of its kind in the world, this
undergraduate course brings together all first year students from twenty
Malaysian public universities on a single platform. This launch is
significant as it marks the first foray of Malaysian public HLIs into MOOCs.
The way forward for DePAN - GOL
Malaysian HLIs have the opportunity to further harness the potential of
GOL and MOOCs. DePAN will be revised accordingly so that GOL agenda
will be incorporated so that the focus will include enhancing the quality of
teaching and learning, developing Malaysia education brand, position and
increase the visibility of Malaysian HLIs in the global platform through
their niche areas and expertise. Furthermore, implementation of GOL will
also contribute to efficiency in course delivery and subsequently lead to
the liberalisation of education. This will also support the national agenda
to build a knowledge society and aspiration to be the nation lifelong
learners.

Objectives
Malaysia aspires to be a premier educational hub through globalised
online learning platforms. This platform will see the increase of access to
quality education for Malaysians and global community, provide efficient
course delivery, and build Malaysia education brand and prominence for
the Malaysian higher learning institutions, especially in niche areas and
expertise.

Principles, strategies and key initiatives

In order to achieve the objectives for GOL, several principles, strategies
and key initiatives are proposed.

Principles
The principles consists of:
5 Find reference to the report and page number please.
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i. Online learning will be and continue to be an important mode for

education delivery;
ii. The current and technology in the future will make GOL to be
effective pedagogy where it can do wonders in interactive and
blended learning; and
iii. GOL is the most efficient way for the massification of education
as access to higher education is widened through better
flexibility and choice.
The strategies proposed are in line with the principles and are formulated
to achieve the objectives of GOL.

Strategies
Strategy A. Improving support for GOL ecosystem
The Ministry will facilitate the setting up of a comprehensive and
sustainable GOL ecosystem. A successful GOL agenda will require high
degree of awareness from all stakeholders on the huge potential of online
learning, competent workforce who are capable of utilizing and advancing
technology and develop course content, and a reliable cyber
infrastructure. These three component i.e. awareness, capacity building
and cyber infrastructure are part of the GOL ecosystem. The Ministry and
the HLIs will address these to enable successful MOOCs initiative
deployment, and enhance the quality in teaching, learning, branding, and
positioning of Malaysian HLIs.
Strategy B: Establishing GOL administrative structure
The Ministry will facilitate in the establishment of a coordinating body or
governing structure for a successful and sustainable GOL agenda. The
proposed structure will oversee the policy and the management or
implementation of GOL, including proper planning for infrastructures as
well of capacity and capability of personnel.
It also involves in
establishing a national e-Learning platform to spearhead the e-content
development, coordination, monitoring as well as establishment of
international linkages.
Strategy C:

Enabling global prominence through GOL

The HLIs will increase quality course offerings through online learning so
that more students can be attracted to register and follow this mode of
learning. The Malaysian HLIs will identify and develop the courses in their
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niche or areas of strength so that the courses they offer can be truly a
globlised. The HLIs will also find strategic partners in building the course
content to ensure wider course acceptance and students can obtain
credit transfer.
The HLIs will exercise greater flexibility in recognising
and accepting courses offered by other institutions.

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Key initiatives
There are key initiatives proposed under these strategies in order to
achieve the objective of this Shift.
A1: Upgrade cyber infrastructure
The Ministry will collaborate with the relevant agencies and institutions to
improve the following elements:
i. Infrastructure: improve bandwidth to enable video streaming;
teleconferencing to be supported
ii. Info structure: provide hardware and software for e-content
development;
iii. Platform: work with a range of platform system from existing
open learning platform to a higher range such as Coursera and
Edx; and
iv. Devices and equipment: support for procurement learning
devices
A2: Enhance awareness and recognition
The Malaysian HLIs will collaborate to develop common courses
leveraging the expertise available in the respective institutions and
establish mutual recognitions of courses. The HLIs will expand the use of
MOOCs to be adopted across the for blended learning. The Ministry will
facilitate the increase in awareness on the potential and benefits MOOCs
through various incentives, especially in the areas where the HLIs are
able to achieve global recognitions or prominence through their online
course offerings.
A3: Strengthen capacity and capability to deliver new
pedagogical methods
Courses offered through MOOC will indirectly eliminate outdated
pedagogical methods. Lecturers will be required to innovate in teaching
and learning practices in order to create a conducive learning
environment. As such, there is a need to improve the professional
development programs for academic staff provided by AKEPT, as well as
those by individual HLIs. The capacity building will focus on expanding
blended learning across HLIs, leveraging MOOCs for generic or foundation
courses.
B1: Strengthen governance and co-ordination
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The appropriate governance needs to be in place for the effective

management and implementation of the GOL initiatives. The Ministry will
explore the establishment of a co-ordinating body to plan, develop and
deploy GOL among Malaysian public and private HLIs. This body will also
be responsible for monitoring relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
and for building international partnerships and collaborations.
B2: Update the national e-Learning policy
Successful deployment of GOL will be dependent on an implementation
framework guided by international best practices. The Ministry will
facilitate the updating of the National e-Learning Policy (DePAN) to align
with and incorporate MOOCs. The HLIs will keep up with the current best
practices and technologies for the deployment of GOL.
C1: Enable credit recognition
The course curriculum at every Malaysian HLIs needs to be revised
accordingly to allow for the recognition of courses completed by students
via MOOCs. This should be done in consultation with the Malaysian
Quality Agency (MQA). HLIs will also be encouraged to undertake
international benchmarking with the target of having Malaysian MOOCs
become part of international MOOCs consortium.

C2: Support Life Long Learning

The Ministry will develop a common platform to enhance the utilisation of
MOOCs for lifelong learning. The Malaysian public can then enrol in lowrisk and low-cost courses which will provide them the opportunity to
access to high quality credit-bearing courses. These credits could, in turn,
be put towards a diploma or even a degree programme.
The MOOCs initiative of Malaysian HLIs can be also extended to the
training of Malaysian public servant under Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) in collaboration of various governmental training
agencies. In this way, the MOOC initiative can become the catalyst the
enculturation of the life-long among Malaysians.

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Initiative implementation roadmap

The Ministry will monitor the implementation plan for the strategies and initiatives within
this shift according the proposed roadmap shown in Exhibit 9-2.
Exhibit 9-2
Implementation roadmap to achieve the objective of
globalised online learning

Tracking measures
The Ministry has identified a set of key performance indicators that will be
measured and tracked to assess progress:
# of universities involved in MOOC common course delivery
# of Malaysian HLIs in Top 200 Webometric rankings
# of students (Malaysian and International) enrolled in Malaysian
MOOCs
Percentage of blended learning courses that have up to 70% of
course content offered online
Percentage of common courses delivered through MOOCs
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Conclusion
-

Objective of the shifts

Area covered
Major strategies and initiatives

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