Page 12 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

x 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 a
result of the accessibility of the Internet
and the development of information and
communication 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 for
various aspects of the OUs’ operations.
Digital transformation among OUs can also be
seen 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 for
people who otherwise would not have access
to 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 is University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), Sukhothai
continuously evolving, creating a significant Thammathirat Open University (STOU) of
amount of human capital and economic Thailand, University of the Philippine Open
growth, it is imperative to track this progress, University (UPOU), and Universitas Terbuka
particularly as it is practiced by open (UT) of Indonesia - are included in this book.
universities. As the largest OU association Each chapter provides a thorough explanation
in Asia, AAOU, feels compelled to do this. of the origins, growth, and development of
The book would initially include chapters DE in the respective country as well as the
produced by each institutional full member of evolution of the country’s open university.
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), Open

Introduction