Page 58 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

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

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AT OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
OUM is funding most research projects at the university. The university allocates RM 600,000
research fund every year, and hope to raise it up to double it to RM 1.2 million in 2026.
At present two of the research projects are funded through the Erasmus+ programme. The
identification of niche areas in Table 2 will help the university to achieve its targeted research
landscape (shown in Table 3) and support the growth of PhD candidature. OUM has a clear
expectation of the funding given to its researchers in terms of the outputs and outcomes.
At present, most projects produce at least two indexed-journals and two other form of
publications. OUM expects greater outputs with the new initiatives that it is strategizing at
the present.

CRI targets for each niche areas (targeted 25) grow into research clusters with at least three
research projects that are headed by three different PIs to support the landscape in Table 3.

The identification of niche areas is crucial to the realisation of such aspirations.

Table 2
Strategic Niche Areas at OUM

FIELD NICHE AREAS
EDUCATION PEDAGOGY Proposed
ADULT EDUCATION AND ODL Proposed
21 CENTURY LITERACIES Proposed
st
(+CURRICULUM)
MEANINGFUL LEARNER EXPERIENCE IN New
SMART LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
TECHNOLOGY SMART LEARNING ENVIRONMENT New
- CREATING MEANINGFUL LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR ALL
USER EXPERIENCE New
CREATIVE CONTENT AND INCLUSIVITY Proposed
SMART SOLUTIONS Research in progress
NICHE AREAS UNDER THE FACULTIES
FOE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Proposed
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Proposed
DIGITAL EDUCATION New
DISTRIBUTED ASSESSMENT FOR ODL Research has been initiated

Open University Malaysia (OUM)