Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor and current President of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), attended a convening of the Asian MOOCs Steering Committee from 20 to 22 February 2018, in Chiba and Gunma Prefectures, Japan.
Hosted by the Open University of Japan, the three-day meeting centered on initiatives and current situations of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Asia, which continues to be a crucial area of interest to the AAOU. Also present during the meeting of the Asian MOOCs Steering Committee were Dr. Li Kam Cheong, Director of Research from the Open University of Hong Kong; Prof. Kandarpa Das, Professor from the Department of Foreign Languages and Former Director of the Institute of Open and Distance Learning, Gauhati University; Dr. Tsuneo Yamada, Professor from the Department of Informatics and Center for Open and Distance Education from the Open University of Japan; and Asst. Prof. Myra Almodiel from UP Open University.
During the meeting, Dr. Bandalaria’s presentation focused on quality assurance initiatives. Also included in the discussion were the Asian MOOCs portal and research initiatives on credit transfer mechanisms (CTM) for MOOCs. Along with participation in the Steering Committee’s meetings, Dr. Bandalaria also facilitated a presentation about UPOU’s research on MOOCs to students and faculty of OUJ.
Other activities included a dinner meeting with OUJ President Shin Kisugi and Vice President Tatsuhiko Ikeda, as well as a visit to the Gunma Study Center to meet with its director, Prof. Yoshikuni Onozato. (AMFlores)
