Page 18 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

xvi OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

beyond serving as a simple communication teachers’ qualifications and to increase
tool for students. In 2007, the UPOU fully Indonesian students’ access to higher
transitioned to the digital format, digitizing education. Therefore, it is not unexpected
all of its contents and operations, particularly that the majority of UT students were initially
those that involved students. The discourse working adults and practicing teachers.
about openness and attempts to offer open However, that has shifted over the last few
online courses started at UPOU at about years to favor younger adults in a variety of
the same time as online learning in 2001. In professions. The era of online learning system
2013, the first MOOC was offered by UPOU at UT started in 1997 when UT introduced
under the partnership with one of the leading online student support services through its
mobile service providers of the country, website. At present, UT is in its initial stage
SMART Telecommunications. Since then, of utilizing the latest technology such as
UPOU has created a variety of MOOC sets augmented and virtual reality/extended
in partnership with other partners, including reality for delivering the academic content. In
MOOCs on the Service Management Program addition, since 2014, UT has developed and
(2014), MOOCs on Child Rights Protection and made available OERs and MOOCs in order to
Promotion (2015), and MOOCs on teacher deliver nationwide community services via
preparation for online teaching (2015). As online platforms. Through its most recent
part of its articulation of open education division, the Indonesia Cyber Education
practices, UPOU also began publishing an Institute (ICE-Institute), UT has established
open journal, the International Journal on a collaboration with other higher education
Open and Distance eLearning (IJODeL), in institutions in order to further promote the
2015. In 2017, the UPOU began to offer open education practice in Indonesia. This
MOOC Certification programs, which are consortium is encouraged and supported by
actually 3 or 4 related MOOCs combined to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research,
deliver a specific set of knowledge and skills. and Technology. Through ICE, UT reaffirms
its dedication to provide open access, free
Indonesia - UT university courses.
The Education Radio Program and the teacher
training program by correspondence were
the first DE in Indonesia, which started in the
1950s. The type of correspondence course
was replaced more than 30 years later in
1984 with the founding of UT. Before 2001,
when all institutions of higher learning were
allowed to provide distance learning courses,
UT was the only university authorized by
the government to offer higher education
through this method. UT was established
with two specific aims: to improve in-service

Introduction