Page 59 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) 39

FIELD NICHE AREAS
FSSH PYSCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING Research has been initiated
ISLAMIC STUDIES – SYARIAH Research has been initiated
COMPLIANCE
COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL SPACE New
WORLD LANGUAGES New
FTAS SUSTAINABLE AND GREEN SOLUTIONS Research has been initiated
OPEN EDUCATION FOR STEM/STEAM 2 Proposal
nd
DATA SCIENCE New
GOOD HEALTH AND WELLBEING New
FBM FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING Research projects have been initiated
FUTURE SKILLS (+EMPLOYABILITY) New
DIGITAL MARKETING New
ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL AND Proposed
GOVERNANCE

The first two fields, Education and Technology The first phase in establishing a niche area
were strategized based on the importance at is identification of a team under a leader.
university level. Four niche areas have been The eight niche areas under the university
identified under each field. An example is focus will be under the purview of CRI
the niche area under Creative Content and through a selected researcher. The rest will
Inclusivity under the Technology field. CRI be under the purview of an identified expert
is working on these through two different researcher. There can be more than one
projects with two partners: research teams research project under each niche areas.
and the Creative Team from CIDT. The first The expert researchers may or may not be
project that was initiated under this theme the principle investigator (PI) of the projects
is the Virtual Orientation, while the second is under the niche area he is attached to. Each
on Basic Competency Model that developed niche area is at a different phase.
the OER on 4C (Ismail et al., 2022). A page
from the OER is depicted in Figure 5. The CRI is responsible to manage all grants
niche areas under the faculties (FOE, FSSH, (internal and external) at the university. Initial
FTAS, and FBM) were drafted based on the grants are provided by the university. CRI
strength of the programmes offered. supports the growth of all PIs to be become
successful PI with meaningful research
outcomes.

Open University Malaysia (OUM)