The Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) launched the “Asian MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)” during the the recently concluded 30th AAOU Annual Conference held on 26-29 October 2016 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Manila, Philippines.Dr. Kam Cheong Li, Secretary-General of the AAOU and member of the Asian MOOCs Steering Committee, explained that Asian MOOCs is an initiative of the AAOU to promote open education and use open educational resources in Asia. It is an online portal which serves as a hub integrating MOOC offerings of AAOU-member institutions. This portal allows the institutions to promote their courses. and reach more learners around the world. Asian MOOCs aims to advance open and innovative education, and is accessible through www.asianmoocs.org.
Asian MOOCs was conceptualized in 2015 when surveys, explorations of options and planning were done. In 2016, the Asian MOOCs Steering Committee was established leading to the launch of the portal on 26 October 2016 during the Welcome Dinner of the 30th Annual Conference of the AAOU in the Philippines.
Members of the Asian MOOCs Steering Committee includes Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, Chancellor of UP Open University; Prof. Daryono Daryono, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Science of Universitas Terbuka, India; Prof. Kandarpa Das, Former Director of the Institute of Open and Distance Learning of the Gauhati Univerity, India; Dr. Kam Cheong Li, Director of Research of the Open University of Hong Kong; Dr. Andy Liew, Registrar and Director of the Directorate of Quality Assurance and External Relations of the Wawasan Open University, Malaysia; Dr. Tran Thi Lan Thu, Director of the E-Learning Center of Hanoi Open University, Vietnam; and Prof. Tsuneo Yamada, Professor at the Center for Open Distance Education of the Open University of Japan. (Anna Cañas-Llamas)
