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Change is inevitable. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has mandated The Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) to implement the 'MOOCs plus credit recognition and transfer' initiative, which would enable all MOOCs courses from Malaysia and other platforms such as Coursera, Edx, Canvas, etc, to be registered into the Malaysia's MOOC platform and be given credit (MOOCs is the acronym for Massive Open Online Courses). The question is, are we ready? Yes, and No. As someone involved directly on the ground, helping to lead the Malaysia MOOC initiative for the 20 Malaysian public universities , I can see the challenges ahead, but as Anthony Robin said, “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin”. MOOC is a big thing. I believe it is a game changer. Twenty two of the top 25 US universities in US News World Report rankings are now offering courses online for free. In 2014, the so-called Big 3 MOOC providers, Coursera, Udacity, and edX, introducing their own creden...

There has been an intense discussion in many higher education forums and social media revolving around the issue of re-examining and re-thinking our future direction, as far as undergraduate programme and employability are concerned. Graduate employability is always taken as a good measure to show the ‘quality’ of education and reflect the reputation of the educational institution. Is it true? Yes, it is important and relevant but to me, that's not THE ONLY reason for the existent of a university. In addition to the issue of graduate employability, there are deeper questions that do not often get addressed in public dialogue about higher education: What is the purpose of higher education today and for the future? What do we want to achieve for all the young talent we are nurturing? Or are we (educators) really nurturing them in a true sense of providing wholesome and holistic education? These questions challenge us to re-imagine the role of university and educators (lecturers) beyo...

"A SMOOTH SEA NEVER MADE A SKILLED SAILOR" When I came back and joined Universiti Sains Malaysia (Food Technology Division, School of Industrial Technology) in 1994, I was asked to teach the laboratory class. I took over and changed some of the experiments (and the manual). I spent most of the time in the laboratory, observing and helping with the hands-on. It was an enriching and valuable experience for me in building my career as an academic. Many new lecturers asked me what to do if they are asked to teach courses that they don't like or they don't have expertise. My standard advice always 'take it, grab it, don't complaint'. It's part of the learning curve. What do you expect — smooth sailing? "A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor". To me, as an academic, it's important to get a broad-based knowledge and at the same time specialize in a few subjects (maybe a bit later). So, it's a kind of "Jack of many trades and a master...

Young academics? How young? Well, it doesn't really matter. One can be young by age, or by year of service in the academic or educational institutions. I have a mission to accomplish. I have been teaching at the university (Universiti Sains Malaysia) close to 22 years now. It was a journey with lots of ups and downs, a fair share of disappointment and failures but with lots of joy and satisfaction as well. Reflecting on my journey, I realised that I'm here now because I have been blessed with kind colleagues and mentors who guided and supported me in many different ways. No man is an island... I have a mission to accomplish. I want to play a more active role to help young academics who are still struggling to find their footing in the academic world. They need guidance to facilitate their journey. They need mentors to share their experience and wisdom to keep them on the right track. These mentors should be sincere and honest to lend their ear and hand, to listen and to talk, t...

The mass university is good for equity, but must it also be bad for learning? Hannah Forsyth , Australian Catholic University When universities began expanding, they became more inclusive. While this is a good thing, scholars often look at their large class sizes and lament that many of the students won’t set foot in the lecture theatres or libraries thanks to technology, and grow increasingly frustrated at the shallow assignment responses. They ask: whatever happened to learning ? Is there still a place for old-style, face-to-face education, good clear thinking and real, tangible books? Students: responsible for their own learning? Professor of philosophy David Armstrong fondly observed what he thought was the best part of learning from his academic career that spanned the 1950s to the 1990s: I like for the Faculty of Arts the idea that you sit around for a long time discussing things in coffee shops and pubs and quadrangles and anywhere else that you can get some seating and, finall...

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enrol in my FREE COURSE 'FLIPPED CLASSROOM' on Openlearning to learn more -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember the droning lecture in Ferris Bueller's Day Off ("Anyone? … Anyone?") ? The scene maybe exaggerated but I think quite typical in most classroom. The sage on stage scenario is, by and large, still prevalent. Lectures are not necessarily bad ; in fact in some cases lectures are appropriate and relevant. However, in the traditional classroom, class periods are too short (typically 50 minutes) and usually the focus or the tendency is giving content to the students. There is not enough time for questioning and reflecting, interaction and discussion, and less opportunity for active learning. Would it more meaningful if the constructivist approach...