In this talk, Professor Tham Choy Yoong will set the stage by giving the current state of play with respect to open education and briefly tracing its historical development. Building from this back ground he will examine open education’s role in contributing to a changing society towards sustainable development. In 2015 the international community, under UNESCO, adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A key SDG is the global education agenda (SDG4 - Education 2030) which calls to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Prof Tham will examine the points in the 2015 Incheon Declaration and its accompanying Framework for Action. This document spelt out the action plan in detail to achieve SDG4. Looking at the latest trends in open education, Prof Tham will then discuss the OER and MOOC (massive open online courses) landscape and proposals to apply these to address the main problems which may hinder the role of open education in achieving the global education agenda. The proposals will touch on issues of telecommunication infrastructures, its accessibility and cost, accreditation of skills and competencies, ultimately market response and employability will be examined. The conclusion will look at the expectation of the international community on how developed countries can provide the leadership in this endeavour.
MEET THE SPEAKER
Former Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor
Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia
Tham Choy Yoong's career spans across industry, business and academia. He began his involvement in tertiary education, particularly in the area of science and engineering, in various capacities since 1995 while he was working in industry. He had acted as external examiner and member of academic quality validation panel for franchised British university programmes in Malaysia. He still serves as a member of the industrial advisory panel of and external programme assessor for such programmes offered by a college in Penang. |
Co-Author: Dr Ishan Abeywardena
Adviser, Open Educational Resources
Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada
Dr Ishan Abeywardena joined the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) on January 1, 2016 as the Adviser on Open Educational Resources (OER) in the field of International Development. In this capacity, Dr Abeywardena works with governments, institutions and organizations throughout the Commonwealth assisting them with OER policy development; strategic implementation of OER nationally and institutionally; capacity building in OER reuse and repurposing; and course material development. |
This event is presented by The HEAD Foundation, a Singapore-based think tank devoted to research and policy influence in education and leadership, for development in Asia. Admission is free.