Academic Tea Talk 2/2009, 19 February

IQRI's sec and academic tea talk in 2009 was officiated by Y.Bhg. Professor Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, Vice-Chancellor and President, Open University Malaysia and attended by Prof Mansor Fadzil, Senior Vice President as well as other GMC members, Puan Hajjah Kamariah Mohd Noor, Prof Ramli Bahroom and Encik Che Omar Hj Ahmad along with about 50 faculty and administrative staff members.

The papers presented include:

- A study learner readiness for mobile learning at Open University Malaysia by Danny Chng Loi Peng

- Implementation of m-learning: Pedagogical perspectives by Harvinder Kaur Dharam Singh

- A conceptual framework for OUM m-learning portal by Yuzery Yusoff

- Smart Tool for Virtual Learning by Dr. Safiah Yusof

- Demo of the Pulse Smartpen by Mr. Mike Lim, Big Ant Sdn Bhd

The papers on OUM's mobile learning initiatives will next be presented at the IADIS International Conference Mobile Learning 2009 in Barcelona, Spain, 26 - 28 February 2009.

The purpose of the presentations at the tea talk was to, among others, to solicit any suggestions on how to improve their presentations during the conference.

IA Retreat, 5-7 February

IQRI's first retreat for OUM internal auditors was held at Awana Genting. It was officiated and declared open by YBhg Professor Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, President and Vice-Chancellor at 3pm. Tan Sri emphasized the need for OUM to ensure quality in all aspects of our work at OUM when catering to the needs of our learners. He stressed the need for workshop participants to also deliberate on how they can further contribute to OUM's quality journey.

The workshop started with a panel comprising the heads of the four departments that have ISO certification and the Chief Financial Officer. Chaired by Prof Madya Dr. Wahab, the panel members shared some of their experiences and issues surfaced during auditing or in preparation for audits. This provided some of the input necessary for further deliberation by OUM internal auditors.

Attended by about 50 internal auditors, the retreat aimed to provide and enhance skills in finding the root cause of problems, such as those uncovered through audits. The workshop was facilitated by two external facilitators along with Prof Madya Dr. Wahab and Puan Ruzita, our chief internal auditor and deputy chief internal auditor, respectively, together with Prof Zoraini, IQRI Director and Tn Hj Mohd Izanee, PP Kuantan Director, the workshop achieved its objectives.

The resolution from the workshop were shared with SVP and will soon be presented to the members of the GMC.

Other January Events

15 January

OUMH 1103 students informed of OUM's mobile learning initiative. View m-Learning portal at http://mlearn.oum.edu.my/

Attended meeting on E-Learning Strategies chaired by Prof Ahmad Hashem.

16 January

Updated the Senior Vice President on the m-Learning initiative.

19 January

Presentation of Faculty SOPs.

20 January

Demonstrated the usefulness of the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen to the Senior Vice President, Deans of FBM and FITM in creating online learning objects.

22 January

Presentation to GMC on MQA’s COPIA (Code of Practice for Internal Audit). Delineating action and steps to be taken by OUM for MQA audits.

Attended meeting on the Asian Journal on Open Distance Learning chaired by Prof Rosli.