Category: International Partnerships

On 29 November 2022, the Memorandum of Agreement between the member universities of OU5, including Open University Malaysia (OUM), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Universitas Terbuka (UT), and Hanoi Open University (HOU) was signed at the OU5 Meeting 2022, held at STOU main campus in Nonthaburi. The MOA signing ceremony was witnessed by Ambassador Millicent Cruz Paredes and Vice Consul Susan Phoebe Sabado of the Embassy of the Philippines, Mr. Bong Yik Jui, Minister of the Embassy of Malaysia, Drs. Muhammad Sofian Sori, Office of Education and Culture Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.

The MOA was signed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Izanee Awang, President/Vice Chancellor of OUM, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Manit Jumpa, Acting President of STOU, Dr. Melinda dP. Bandalaria, Chancellor of UPOU, Prof. Ojat Darojat, Rector of UT, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Nhung, President of HOU.

Hosted by Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, the OU5 Meeting 2022 was held at STOU Nonthaburi during 29-30 November 2022. Other than the signing of MOA, the meeting included the Presidents’ Meeting, 2022 Research Projects Report, 2023 Research Meeting, Discussion on ‘University of the Future,’ and the OU5 Coordinators’ Meeting.

The partnership among the OU5 member universities has stood for over ten years through continuous research collaborations and academic activities. The opportunity to sign the MOA reaffirmed the members’ close relationship. The OU5 member universities will continue to collaborate in research and other academic activities. The next OU5 Meeting will be hosted by Open University Malaysia in May next year.

The Open University Malaysia (OUM) hosted the OU5 Virtual Meetings via Google Meet featuring OU5 Researchers Meeting on 21 July 2022 and OU5 Presidents Meeting on 25 July 2022.

The OU5 Virtual Meetings were organized to follow up the works under the OU5 cooperative scheme between Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Universitas Terbuka (UT), Open University Malaysia (OUM) and Hanoi Open University (HOU).

The OU5 Researchers Meeting allowed the researchers from five universities to discuss the ongoing projects, which were presented in the Presidents Meeting by the representatives of each project. The OU5 Presidents Meeting also reviewed the project’s execution in the past and discussed the projects to implement in the following year.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University will host the next OU5 Meeting face-to-face from 29-30 November 2022 at its main campus in Nonthaburi.

SEAMOLEC and STOU jointly conducted an online training on “Digital Learning Material Development: E-module & lnfographics” on 20-21 July 2022.

SEAMOLEC has been a long-standing partner of STOU. The training on Digital Learning Material Development has been conducted consecutively for two years to support the needs of the new paradigm happening in teaching and learning in the 21^st century.

The objective of this year’s training is to allow the participants to learn about e-module and infographics and be able to plan, do and share them, as well as adapt to their teaching.

The training was a success thanks to the trainer, Ms. Zahrani Balqis, and all participants.

27 June 2022 – Asst. Prof. Dr. Gan Chanyawudhiwan, Acting Vice-President for Academic Services, Cultural Preservation, and International Affairs, together with Mrs. Rattip Phukkeson, Acting Director of the Department of International Affairs and Miss Warakan Thanarak, Head of Protocol and New International Initiatives, had the opportunity to meet Prof. Libing Wang, Chief of Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development, Ms. Heejeong Ahn, Program Specialist in Higher Education, at the UNESCO Bangkok Office.

The visit provided an opportunity to learn about UNESCO projects engaging in distance learning and to discuss possible cooperation between STOU and UNESCO Bangkok.

STOU-PUP OUS 4^th Joint Multidisciplinary Online Research Colloquium: The Internationalization of education and research management for Ph.D. in Information Science

Despite the critical COVID-19 crisis, the Ph.D. Information Science program of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) did not stop the internationalization scheme for our students, alumni, lecturers, and academic network.

On 14 July 2021, the STOU School of Liberal Arts co-organized the STOU-PUP OUS 4th Joint Multidisciplinary Online Research Colloquium with Polytechnic University of the Philippines Open University System (PUP OUS). The event has been held consecutively for 4 years under the MOU between the two institutions. Led by Prof. Emeritus Dr. Chutima Sacchanand, this year colloquium is held virtually via Microsoft Team. There were over 190 participants from STOU and PUP OUS. STOU also conducted additional activities carried out in Thai language to add more productivity to the event.

The STOU-PUP OUS 4^th Joint Multidisciplinary Online Research Colloquium 2021 is themed “Optimizing Research Engagement and Virtual Classroom Experience in Open and Distance Learning.” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pranee Sungkatavat, Distinguished Member of the University Council, Acting President of STOU presided over the Opening Ceremony and gave a welcome speech. Dr. Manuel M. Muhi, President of PUP OUS, then gave the Introductory Remarks. Asst. Prof. Vasan Rattanapoka, Dean of the STOU School of Liberal Arts also joined the Opening Ceremony and attended several sessions in the colloquium.

The program started out with a lecture by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamolrat Intaratat, Director of the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM) from the STOU School of Communication Arts. This was followed by a lecture by Dr. Anna Ruby P. Gapasin, PUP OUS Vice-President for Research, Extension, and Development. The program continued with the presentations of the academic work by the Ph.D. students and the graduates of STOU and PUP OUS. There were 107 presenters joining the virtual colloquium from Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.

This year, STOU conducted the pre-colloquium workshops on “Effective Presentation in English” continuously before the event to equip the presenters with the skill to make presentations in English, which is not their mother language. on 31 July 2021, a post-colloquium discussion was held to review the lessons learned from the virtual colloquium.

The event not only benefited the current Ph.D. students, but also the alumni. There were also lecturers, and international guest professors joining the activities. This made the colloquium reach out to more audiences. The virtual platform also made it convenient for the participants. The activities have successfully created a research atmosphere in open learning and distance learning. The assessment showed that the participants were satisfied with all the sessions carried out.

Additionally, the event was beneficial to the internationalization of education and research management for the Ph.D. in Information Science program and the School of Liberal Arts. It also played a part in the university’s academic outreach mission.

Comments from participants

“Excellent! Congratulations!”
“Congratulations to the organizers! Excellent work!”
“Great event”
“Congratulations and thank you for sharing us this colloquium.”
“Great job. I love it!”
“Superb partnership.”
“Thank you for this wonderful and informative collaboration. :)”
“Very informative!! excellent!”
“Well-organized. Very engaging. Like everything”

The SEAMEO Congress 2021 for Education, Science and Culture, gathered regional and global leaders and experts virtually on April 28-29, 2021. Honorable speakers invited by the Ministry of Education of Thailand and Malaysia and SEAMEO, as well as academia invited through selection of submitted abstracts, presented papers and initiated discussions under the overarching theme of “Transforming Southeast Asian Education, Science and Culture in the Digital Age”.

SEAMEO CONGRESS 2021 provided a platform for conversations on innovations, breakthroughs and best practices in Education, Science and Culture to achieve SDG4 2030 into and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Congress also examined sustainable development platforms, networking and strategic collaboration among education actors and stakeholders in Southeast Asia and beyond for enhancing the quality of learning and ensuring wider access and relevance of education in the region.

The Congress featured diverse topics that supported the transformation of Education, Science and Culture that could effectively contribute towards the promotion of human development at the community, country, regional and at the global levels. SEAMEO Congress 2021 had 6 plenary sessions and 13 parallel sub-sessions, each with paper presentations and discussions corresponding to one of the 9 sub-themes chosen for the congress – 1. Reimagining People Transformation Toward SDGs; 2. Building back better: Actions for Digital Transformation in AI Era; 3. Transforming Education in the Post-COVID 19 Era; 4. Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and the New Normal: Balancing Reforms for Achieving the SDGs; 5. Southeast Asian Education and Future’s Agenda; 6. Transforming Education System and for Quality and Excellence; 7. Building A Future for the Alpha Generation; 8. Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Reform and Innovation; 9. STEM Education Design for Improving the Quality of the Workplace. More than 15,000 participants from 65 countries with diverse backgrounds in education attended the 2-day event. More than 104 speakers from 22 countries presented at the SEAMEO CONGRESS 2021.

Speakers also included leading policy makers, education leaders, researchers, teachers and youth with more than 60 paper presenters from the region and beyond. As similar as face-to-face conferences, in this event participants could also visit 50 virtual booths provided by the SEAMEO partners, as well as 50 e-Poster presentation booths. Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) joined the SEAMEO Congress 2021 as a SEAMEO Partner. There were 3 speakers, 2 presenters and a number of interested personnel joining the virtual sessions. STOU also organized virtual booths showcasing the university operations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

On 31 March 2021, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pranee Sungkatavat, Acting President of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and Prof. Wang Ju-Ming, Vice-President for Academic Affairs of National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, signed an MOU in a virtual MOU signing ceremony via Microsoft Teams.

STOU, in cooperation with the Thailand Cyber University Project or TCU, under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand Professional Qualification Institute, and Institute of Community Colleges, have been developing online courses on caring for the elderly through the Thai MOOC for public learning in order to meet the needs of aging society in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Thai MOOC has worked with NCKU in the exchange of open online courses to provide for Thai learners. NCKU is a leading university in Taiwan, offering a variety of teaching and learning programs and being particularly renowned for its medical expertise. Therefore, the two agreed courses, which are “Child Care Course” and “Elderly Caregivers Course”, have been developing and producing high-quality online courses. In order to encourage other possible cooperative efforts, a formal cooperation agreement between NCKU and STOU has been established.

Dr. Anothai, stated in the report that: “the MOU signing between the two universities this afternoon will become a solid foundation for our academic cooperation, so that our joint efforts and cooperation will be enhanced further, and our education cooperation will not only deepen but also broaden.”

The MOU provides a framework for the two universities to undertake joints activity concerning academic and technical staff exchange, joint research on e-Learning and ICT, cooperative research activities promotion and training research material on e-Learning and ICT exchange.

The signing ceremony was joined by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Somporn Puttapithakporn, Acting Vice-President for Education and Learning Support, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anothai Ngamvichaikit, Acting Vice-President for Research and Innovation, and STOU administrators, as well as Assoc. Prof. Shin, Jyh-Wei, NCKU Director of Center for Continuing Education, and Dr. Huang, Chi-Jung, NCKU Project Assistant Research Fellow.