Open, Distance and E-learning : global partnership and enhancing opportunities for all

• Main Author: Anuwar Ali,
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: LC5800 Distance education
• Online Access: http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/913/1/library-document-913.pdf; http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/913/

Education is universally acknowledged as a basic human right. The attainment of education directly influences a country’s ability to participate in the global economy. It is thus unsurprising that higher education is unanimously considered the foundation for national development, and fundamentally needs to be made available and accessible to every individual. The notion of an accessible, affordable, equitable and quality education has often been linked to open, distance and e-learning (ODEL). Within the past several decades, ODEL has paved the way for an unprecedented number of people to access learning opportunities and obtain a university degree. While much has already been achieved in a relatively short time, the challenge at this juncture is to ensure that ODEL can overcome traditional obstacles and barriers to indeed make learning an opportunity for all. One of the mechanisms through which this can be achieved is global partnerships, where institutions can leverage on the openness and flexibility of ODEL to reach out to an even greater number of people and provide access to learning and education. This paper will explore the idea of education without boundaries as well as discuss partnerships in the context of various educational stakeholders, the advantages of partnerships and collaborations and how ODEL institutions can explore partnerships to create their own global brands. Finally, this paper will also describe how, as Malaysia’s premier open university, Open University Malaysia (OUM) has been able to make its own mark in the international arena.