The five parties aim to work together to promote
knowledge sharing and online learning
UTAR inked a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ASEAN Academy of Science and
Technology (AAET), Academy of Engineering and Technology for the Developing
World Sdn Bhd (AETDEW), Malaysian Service Providers Confederation (MSPC),
and CourseNetworking Asia Pacific Malaysia (CNAP) via Zoom on 4 February
2021.
Under the MoU, the five parties will work together to
promote knowledge sharing and online learning for the benefits of members
and the public using CourseNetworking’s online learning platform with the
support from UTAR, as well as to share online courses and webinars organised
by AAET, AETDEW and MSPC with UTAR which will be uploaded onto
Inspire@Learning of UTAR that is powered by CourseNetworking.
The MoU was signed by UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, AAET President Ir Academician Emeritus Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, AETDEW President Academician Dato’ (Dr) Ir Lee Yee Cheong, MSPC President Dato’ Ts Abdul Radzak Abdul Malek, and CNAP Director Yong Mien Dee; in the presence of UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang, AAET Fellow Ir Yau Chau Fong, AETDEW Secretary-General Ts Ir Dr Choo Kok Beng, MSPC Council Member Ts Ir Yam Teong Sian, and CNAP Chairman Datuk Ir Yong Ah Huat.
Prof Ewe emphasising the importance of collaboration
and networking for the University’s growth
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Prof Ewe said, “The
five-party partnership today was inspired by our shared objectives in
promoting and accelerating the progress of research, education and training
which is aligned with the sustainable development goals - SDG4 Quality
Education and SDG9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. We see this form
of collaboration and networking as a vital growth for the University, as
well as creating a holistic experience for our students, especially when
they participate in the online courses and webinars.”
“On 3 August 2020, UTAR and CNAP launched Inspire@Learning to endorse UTAR’s commitment to provide a platform for e-learning and continuous professional development courses through online modes. I am happy to note that this collaboration has continued to today’s MoU with further ventures and additional collaboration partners,” he added.
Tan Sri Dato’ Chuah
mentioned that the partnership will
contribute to SDGs with all the supports from the partners
“I always believe we must do the right thing. Although it might be a small
thing at the beginning, it could snowball and become important. All of us
are trying our very best to create a platform for us to contribute toward
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),” said Tan Sri
Dato’ Chuah in his remarks.
He continued, “We hope, through the support of UTAR and all our partners not
only from academic but also from the industry, we will be able to contribute
to the SDGs of UNESCO.” He exemplified the commitment of academic
collaboration to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and said,
“Education is one that will be very important to uplift the social status
and properties of students and their family.” He mentioned that they were
contributing to not only quality education and affordable course, but also
towards SDG5 Gender Equality, SDG8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, as well
as SDG10 Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries.
Dato’ Lee
expressing his hope to connect universities with the project under
B&R
initiative
On the other hand, Dato’ Lee said, “AETDEW is a very new academy. In 2016,
the minister of education has actually promoted a project for industry and
university cooperation called Hundred Universities Project. This was meant
for giant digital cooperations, such as Alibaba, Hua Wei, etcetera to go to
the technical universities.”
The
project involved 100 universities throughout the Belt and Road (B&R)
countries which are connected to 100 counterpart universities in China for
installing big data and artificial intelligence (AI) application innovation
centers.
“I am very happy that UTAR is one of the first to participate in this
venture. So I hope that China through their giant digital cooperation can
provide resources to set up big data and AI centre in universities in the
developing world in order for us to upgrade the indigenous human capacity
building in digital skills and also entrepreneurship,” he said.
Yong emphasising that now is
the time to adapt to the changes, reinvent the way of learning, and innovate
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Yong said, “I want to emphasise that
now is the right time. We had never seen such a huge usage ever since we
started building this online CourseNetworking platform from the scratch with
the CN US team. We have seen almost 200% growth in the usage and adoption
rate from teachers and students all over the world.”
She continued, “CNAP ensures people are comfortable with the platform and
embrace the platform because it is a very powerful platform that can help
people learn and go global. What we did was we provided a lot of online
training for people to adapt and adopt the platform.”
Dato’ Abdul Radzak
believes that the collaboration would contribute to
industry, community and future generations
Savitha
(left) and
Dr Lim
introducing the online platforms—CourseNetworking
and
Inspire@Learning
respectively at the ceremony
A presentation was then given by Client Experience Manager of
CourseNetworking Savitha Sanathanan on CourseNetworking, followed by another
presentation from UTAR Director of Centre for Extension Education (CEE) Dr
Lim Jee Hock on Inspire@Learning.
Also present at the ceremony were AAET Executive Secretary Dr Fok Kuk Fai,
UTAR Division of Community and International Networking (DCInterNet)
Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn, DCInterNet Deputy Director of Kampar
Campus Dr Chen I-Chi, CEE Business Development and Administration and
Operation Unit Head Joleena Chong binti Muhammad Chong and UTAR staff.
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