07. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 7 (PCF7), 2013
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Browsing 07. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 7 (PCF7), 2013 by Subject "Commonwealth Executive Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Public Administration Programmes (CEMBA/MPA)"
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PublicationChallenges in Introducing ICT in Professional Academic Programmes of a Distance Education University( 2013-11)Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is Mega University which has been providing educational facilities from basic to PhD level to the deprived segments of the society within and outside the country under distance learning system for the last four decades. Targeting to reap the benefits of synergy, the COL took initiative and assembled four national open universities of South Asia during late 90s to collaborate in developing and launching CEMBA/CEMPA. The AIOU launched this programme in 2003 under ODL with enhanced face-to-face component. The programme assessment and monitoring was set as a foundation stone to assess its impact on all stakeholders including students, faculty, employers and society. The feedback from the learners indicated over 70% satisfaction level with the delivery mechanism. However about 30% expressed reservations on the available learner support facilities due to professional nature of the programme, disperse localities and personal commitments of the students. To address the problems of this dissatisfied segment, the AIOU decided to conduct multifaceted research to develop an improved delivery system tailored to learners’ needs in 2007. The stakeholders suggested ICT medication to overcome these barriers. Thus the AIOU started working on this. In 2008, online mode of CEMBA/CEMPA programme was added based on open source LMS augmented with moderate features like text chat and presentation. The continuous feedback from learners steered the AIOU towards further up-gradation. In 2012 LMS was upgraded to the latest version based upon web 2.0 and linked it to separately established web conferencing server enabling students to engage in more virtual classroom like environment with audio/video chat, desktop sharing, presentations, support for multiple document formats, recording of lectures for future reference changing the experience of learning for the students. This study will document the challenges faced during this endeavour. // Paper ID: 377 -
PublicationOpportunities and Challenges of Higher Education through ODL: A Study on the MBA programs of Bangladesh Open University( 2013-11)With the rapid changes in the global economic environment, every firm or business enterprise is facing competitiveness from the local and global rivals. To cope with the local and global changes and competitiveness, the people engaged in top level and mid-level managerial positions must be equipped with proper knowledge and skill of administering businesses. However, due to hectic pressure of works, they are almost unable to attend any on-campus courses for their professional development. Therefore, ODL courses for professional enhancement are getting more popularity day by day. Bangladesh Open University (BOU) launched some professional graduate programs like MBA, Commonwealth Executive MBA (CEMBA) and Commonwealth Executive MPA. A significant number of students are attending these programs. Some students have already been graduated too. It is now important to know how these programs contribute to the professional skill development of the learners. // This paper aims at addressing the following issues: 1. Importance of the professional higher education through ODL in Bangladesh 2. Effectiveness and potentials of the MBA program offered by BOU through ODL 3. Challenges (including quality aspects) appeared in the development and delivery of the MBA program of BOU – quality, recognition, accreditation, sustainability and flexibility 4. Strategies for overcoming the challenges faced by the MBA program – scope of collaboration, ICT use, and social mobilisation // Paper ID: 354
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PublicationStudy on Learners’ Support Services of CEMBA/CEMPA Programme at the Bangladesh Open University( 2013-11)The Commonwealth Master of Business Administration and Public Administration (CEMBA/CEMPA) Program is being offered to South Asian executives and business professionals from 2002 to meet the growing demand for post-graduate human resource training in South Asia. This program has been offered through four South Asian open universities: Allama Iqbal Open University (Pakistan), Bangladesh Open University, Indira Gandhi National Open University (India) and the BOU. The Program is the outcome of collaboration between the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and these four open universities in South Asia. The CEMBA/CEMPA Program is now expanding through partnership with universities in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and South America. This program uses CDs containing the contents and presents it to the learners as a supplement to the print. In addition, radio-TV programs are also broadcasted on a regular basis on the BOU ‘chunk’ at the national radio and television. The CEMBA/CEMBA have been very popular to the mid-level professionals of Bangladesh and to some extends learners prefer these than BOU own MBA programme as it is provided with quality learner’s supports. This paper presents a complete evaluation of learners’ support services of CEMBA/CEMPA programme at the Bangladesh Open University and it has an impact on management of systems responsive to learners. In addition, this paper discusses the dynamics of the partnership ODL programmes what contributes to institutional development in BOU. // Paper ID: 105